Egypt was great! It was also tiring, smelly, dusty and made Scott and I sick.
We started our 15 day tour in Cairo, I must say it was a bit of a eye opener the first time we entered the city. We could barely see anything as we flew in as there was lots of cloud although we found out later it is actually smog (oh yay!). But what we could see, was a sea of sand. With the occasional sand coloured building and bitumen road.
When we arrived on the ground it was full on, the traffic is much like Thailand they have road rules but no one obeys them and they have a complicated honking system with about 20 different types of horn blasts that let you tell other people what you think of them on the road. At what first appears to be random noise soon turns into people speaking to each other through these honks.
We had 18 fun and
friendly people on our tour group and everyone got along well. We started the tour in Cairo and went to the pyramids which are right on the edge of the city - it's a bit weird. You would think they are right out in the desert, but no. You have people living and working right next to the pyramid
s. (Photo) We then went to the museum in Cairo and its huge and there are lots and lots of things in there. But it was pretty cool we got to see all Tutankhamen's treasures and many other artifacts, our tour guide said that if you stopped and looked at everything in the museum for 10 seconds it would take you 5 weeks to view everything.
We then set off for Aswan and the train which was an overnight trip and man was I cold. Aswan was much better than Cairo, it was cleaner and less busy and overall more pleasant. We went to Abu Simbel which i was a little bit disappointed at. Its fantastic and the artwork in the temples is really good and well preserved, but it has lost its awe factor since it was moved. I think it would be much more impressive left where is was except we wouldn't be able to see it because they built a dam and the whole thing would be under water.
(Scott getting Henna)
We went to a Neputu dinner and show which was great and very funny and got a henna tattoo Scott's took 3 weeks to wash off!! Mine washed off after about 3 days.
We then jumped on the felucca and started sailing down the Nile to Luxor (it was great) 2 days of not doing anything but floating along the Nile. We had two boats between the groups so we spilt up and crossed across each other as we travelled down the Nile. The first day involved a lot of drinking on the part of my fellow travellers and after being up most of the night partying the next day was quite sedate.
On the second afternoon I decided I would join a few others and go for a swim in the Nile. Holy crap was it cold, it felt like I had been dunked in a bucket of ice. The others who had already jumped in did not mention this to me before I jumped. Even though it was cold i was one of the nicest smelling people on the boat that afternoon. After two days of not showering and going to the toilet on the river bank (this was actually a lot more difficult than you would think because you had to make sure the people on the boat could not see you and the people who appeared to come from no where along the shore line would not see you. Because there are villages and farms all along the edge of the Nile what you thought was an empty area could quickly turn into a herd of cows and some Shepards) we were all ready for a hotel.
Nefertitis temple and a section of the Valley of the Kings
The next day I was feeling much better and Scott got sick (DOH!!!) he ended up with a cough/cold thing and only some of the tummy bug I had. So he stayed in the hotel all day and I went off with the rest of the tour group to Karnak Temple which is a groupd of about 5 or 6 temples all built next to each other so they just make this one huge temple. It was also one of the early worship places for the Christian religion in Egypt. It was really good although it just could have been the fact that I was feeling better.
(Karnak Temple)We also went to an essence center which was really interesting it is where they make all the essences which go into perfumes they had some really nice typical Egyptian ones as well as some of the mixes that we use like Hugo Boss and Channel which was pretty cool. I resisted and didn't buy anything though very proud of myself for that.
We then left Luxor and took the night train back to Cairo (I got in my sleeping bag this time and was toasty warm) and then a bus to Dahab (oh that was a long trip with the bus and train it was18hrs in total) we where meant to take the ferry across the Red Sea but it was broken so 18hrs it was. At least I wasn't really sick anymore. Although on the trip over we did pass under the
Dahab was great, I learnt how to scuba dive, I have my scuba licence which is not my full licence but half way to an open water license and I must say that my instructor told me I was really good and that I am very relaxed under water (mum I suppose I should thank you for introducing me to water so early). Anyway during the time I was learning the ins and outs of Scuba Scott was sleeping, eating, watching TV and hanging out with the other members of the tour. I know such a hard life. (Debbie Scuba Diving)
We also had our cheapest meal in Dahab it was great 10 Egyptian Pounds and that included 3 drinks which works out to be about $2.20 Australia what a bargain.
The last part of our journey in Egypt took us to Mt Sinai and man was it worth it. It takes between 2-3hr to get to the top depending on how fit you are (you can ride a camel but I consider that cheating) we started at about 2.30am it was surprising light we had an almost full moon to hike to and we hardly had to use our torches at all. We got there before sunrise and sat in a little hut at the top waiting for the sun to come up. The have huts all the way up the mountain selling drinks and snacks and issuing out blankets and pillows to sit on when you get to the top. Its pretty organised.
We got the the top and the wind was freezing we managed to find ourselves a little spot out of the wind so we could sit in reasonable comfort. It was pretty amazing and quite spiritual too. Being good Friday we didn't get to see inside the St Catherine monastery but that was OK but I have been promised photos from a member of the group who went a few days before just to see the monastery.
(Sunrise atop Mt Siani Good Friday)We were glad to have done the tour instead of trying it by ourselves it is not a place that you would want to get stuck. I must say though 15 days is definitely enough of Egypt.
Highlights
- Climbing Mt Sinai on Good Friday
- Dahab and Scuba Diving
- Camel ride around the pyramids
- Felucca
- Debbie being sick for 2 days with a 39.2 degree temperature in a strange country and having to travel on a cramped mini bus (I would just like to add that I greatly appreciate Scott putting up with me).
- We did not see one belly dancing show
- Debbie didn't get to ride the donkeys
- Did you know that there doesn't appear to be anywhere in Egypt that you cannot get mobile phone reception and I am talking about places in the middle of no where.
- Egyptian toilets were worse than the ones in Thailand!
