We arrived into Cairo at about 7am from our overnight bus from Hergada. To say we were a little tired and agro is an understatement. The bus ride was horrible...9 of us crammed into a little mini-bus, the air con was on half the night, and the driver hit every pothole and speed bump from Hergada to Cairo. Rach got an 'ok' sleep and I was on and off for about 4 hours. We got to our hotel, had a shower to freshen us up and commence our day of tours at 8am. The first stop was the Egyptain Museum. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take cameras into the museum and we didn't risk sneaking them into my day pack as they were checking everyone's as they came through. Our guide showed us a replica of ... read more

Our first stop today was the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. We had to drive a little way out of town and into the desert before weaving our way through the mountains to get to this famous valley. The site itself does not look like much. Big rocky sandy mountains and nothing really resembling ancient royalty. The site was used as an ancient burial ground for the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt between 16th-11th century BC. Our guide advised us that about 64 burial chambers have been discovered. He told us that when a king started his reign, valley workers would start carving out the king's burial tomb. Over the period of his reign, they would dig and dig and dig until the day that the king died. At such time, the artists/carvers would arrive and ... read more

Ring ring...that's our wake up call. 2.45am!! We somehow roll out of bed and try wake up with a quick shower. We gathered some pillows and staggered onto our bus to head into Aswan and joined the “Police Convoy”!! There we are met by heavily armed police officers and cars ready to transport us and the 25-odd buses and mini-buses 300km south to Abu Simbel. I'm thinking to myserlf, where the hell are we going that we need a police convoy! Approximately 70km north of the Sudan border...hmmm, that's probably why. We started our convoy, and it was explained to us that the police were there to 'assist if a bus broke down en route' however the hidden message was that its safer travelling in a convoy with police there to deter any potential kidnapping attempt! ... read more

We started our first full day in Cairo with a trip out to Shakkra, the site of some of the very first pyramids. Being on the roads in Cairo is an experience in itself! There are literally no road rules, except for anything goes if you can stick your vehicle into a gap. Pedestians walking across highways, cars driving down the wrong side of the road, honestly, I don't know how people get a licence let alone get around in place! On arrival at Shakkra, our guide, Michael, gave us the first of many warnings about the local hastlers, seedy looking Egyptain men that try to sell you crap as soon as we walked off our bus. Even as Michael was trying to tell a story, there was a muppet in the background trying to flog ... read more

Olly Murs blasts through the room singing Troublemaker at 7.15am this morning! The only song that gets me up in the morning! We thought wed better switch it off so we didnt wake everyone in the building so unfortunately didn't get the full wake up experience necessary for me in the mornings! But even so, we got us cos Ivo had told us last night that we needed to get a train to Levanto before 9am when the trains were beginning their strike for the day, and the last train out of Vernazza before 9 was 8.15am. So up we got and struggled a bit with our packs going down the ridiculously steep flights of stairs out of Ivo's but made it and even found some coffee and croissants to take with us to the station. ... read more