Leaving Aswan can be done in style on a 5 star Nile cruiser or the good old way on a Felucca. Feluccas have ploughed the Nile since ancient times and there is a good reason for this. Which one I don’t know but I guess it must have something to do with the high oil price and the fact that Feluccas have sails. Well guess what, we chose the Felucca. We were quite lucky and had only two other Japanese guys on the boat. This gave us plenty of space to lounge around. A Felucca isn't the biggest boat around and 80% of the boat consists of the cargo hold which for the purpose of lugging tourists around is covered with floor boards onto which mattresses are laid. That's about it. No toilet no kitchen nothing. ... read more

The Egyptian museum deserves the title of the museum with the worlds best collection presented in the worst possible way. The items in the museum are stunning and extraordinary but somehow someone forgot to stop and all rooms are overflowing with exhibits. There are often four Sarcophagus stacked on top of each other and at one stage you have 30 of them in view. There really is too much of a good thing. You also better have paid lots of attention in history class as the labels on the exhibits must have been the work of an underpaid art history student or the janitor. Apart from all that the museum is fantastic. You certainly can get your overdose on amazing Egyptian exhibits here. The most famous of which are the treasures found in Tutankhamun's tomb. Judging ... read more

After all the hustle and bustle of Cairo and a serious overdose of culture we needed rest and relaxation (yes again). What better place to go than the desert. Not being Laurence of Arabia and having no inclination of spending the night on sand we opted for the version of the desert with water, palms and donkeys. An oasis like in the fairly tales would be a nice option. The closest to that must be the Siwa Oasis in the western desert. It is a fairly large oasis with some 23.000 inhabitants (yep I also thought an oasis is small) which still has the advantage that donkey carts outnumber cars and not many tourists come here as 5 star cruise ships do not plough through the desert. The only thing missing here to complete the oasis ... read more

Lalibela is certainly the most famous and the most visited place in Ethiopia. There were at least 30 tourists in the town… It deserves to be that famous as it contains 11 absolutely amazing rock hewn churches within 10 minutes from each other. The churches were built on the order of King Lalibela which as the legend has it visited Jerusalem and on his return wanted to build a Jerusalem in Ethiopia. There is even a River Jordan ... carved out of solid rock! Allegedly all churches were built in the early 13th century within 23 years by the King himself with a little help from Angels. Whoever did and however long it took they did a great job. The churches are built into solid rock and in some cases that means 11m down. That together ... read more

I traveled many days in buses but the drive from the Simien Mountains to Aksum was one of the scariest in my life. The road was carved by the Italians into the steep mountain side and any mistake of the bus driver would result in a long drop and certain death. Once I unclenched my hands and the white knuckles were pink again I could enjoy the scenery which is equally spectacular. Luckily for us the bus driver was good and we enjoyed the scenery and our health. Aksum was Ethiopia’s second capital and marks one of the biggest achievements in Ethiopian history. Aksum was from 400BC for close to 1000 years the capital of the Aksumite Empire. It is also said to have been Queen of Sheba’s capital in 1000 BC. Queen Sheba plays quite ... read more