Egypt

 

….. and so that is the end of Egypt. I type this as I'm looking across the Red Sea at Saudi Arabia from the Bayview (Mecure Inn) in Dahab.

Arrived on the 28^h April at the quiet airport of Cairo, normally bustling with 100s of tourists. ((Oasis Hotel)

We went into town by shuttle to get our first glimpse of the city of Giza and what an eye-opener that was. Their taxis are suped – up combi vans with the engine bonnet up and the sliding door wide open so passengers can jump on and off easily. We were looking for Tahrir Square but heading in the wrong direction thanks to some locals who did not understand us.

First day we did a tour of the Egyptian Museum ( you need at least 2 days to see everything) which is beside Tahrir Square, where from inside the grounds we could see the burnt out police building and the building where Mrs. Mubarak had all her documents .( they burnt that too). Our hightlight was the trip to the Sound and Light Show at the pryamids. The story was about ancient Egypt and we only listened to about half of it (the same story was repeated throughout our tour )but we sat gazing at the pryamids and the sphinx for 2 hours with only about 50 others as they were lit up in different colours. The journey to get there was interesting in itself as we wove our way through the back streets of Giza.

The following day we went out again to the pyramids ( with an armed guard )and took heaps of photos and paid an Egyptian to take some funny photos that all tourists take. We went into one of the tombs and I went for a camel ride in front of the pryamids.

That night we went to the dingy train station to catch the train to Aswan, the cabin was about 1metre wide and 2 metres long with an open toilet to the track for all passengers to use and not in good shape. The bunks were flipped out after dinner(yuk) to sleep on sand we spent the night chugging along to Aswan.

Once at Aswan we went aboard our cruiser to spend 3 luxurious nights drifting down the Nile in about 40+ heat. We could sit up top or relax in air conditioning and watch the activity along the Nile.

There is a severe shortage of tourists in Egypt and so at least 60 boats were

moored at Luxor. One benefit for us was that wherever we went there were no crowds. At markets we were often the only 30 tourists there which is quite sad for Egypt.

On one occasion we took a taxi to a market and the cunning taxi driver took us to a completely different one ran by the government where he gets a commission for dropping tourists and extra commission for a sale. Luckily there was 15 of us and after looking around at their request we convinced them to take us for free to the right place. (safety in numbers)

The temples are all beautiful but we have seen so many we are over them. We saw Tutankhamun's remains at the Valley of the Kings and his mask and coffins at the Egyptian Museum- no crowds so we could take as long as we liked.

Security does not seem to be over done and we have been told that a lot of the Tourist Police have not returned to work since the revolution, but since we have arrived in Dahab we have been through several check points where there have been several armed guards. (I'm pretty sure that this is normal)

On Monday we went by jeep to the Blue hole for a snorkel in amongst camels walking up and down and kids trying to sell us jewellery - great day.

Tuesday was our big day – our trek up Mt. Sinai(what was I thinking)

We started off about 1.00pm after visiting St. Katherine's Monastery armed with plenty of food. After experiencing walking up 900 steps at Petra I decided that after walking 2kms that taking a camel was a good option. Jack was very brave and walked the whole way up while sweating profusely and breathing heavy.

I really enjoyed the views from the top of the camel and some said they thought it was better than the Grand Canyon. On reaching the top we had 4 hours to sit and relax and wait for the sunset. Eager to get down the 700 steps while there was still a bit of light we set off straight after the sun set. By the time we reached the bottom it was very dark and we appreciated the light from the torch.

Before we had reached the top the guide fell and injured his knee and was unable to go to the top so he sat at the beginning of the steps to the summit and waited for us to come back.

There are loads of things to tell you all about our fantastic journey but all that I can say is that I feel we have taken a giant step back in time and that Sovereign Hill appears to be quite modern compared to what we have witnessed- farming by hand, goats outside shops in Luxor, Bedouin people living in the desert with nothing around them, donkey and dray for transport, severe shortage of women on the streets, Egyptians desperate to sell anything, camels straying on the side of the roads, rubbish in and around Cairo and the Nile. Bemos and vans overloaded with people and a stray bull running down the street.

Forgot to mention that I was nearly robbed, the kid had his hand on my money in my bag which had been done up, but I yelled so loudly he dropped it - they got the next group that came along and managed to get score 200 E pounds.

We have met a banker for wealthy families in London(no hope with us) and a Canadian crime analyst with a retired Canadian cop.

We can say that we are so lucky to have had the most wonderful experience but we do have it good in Australia and I think it might be the best place to live. Off to Cairo at 4.00am in the morning and on to Greece on the 12th May.

Love  C &  J