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Day 1

The Egyptians drive rather erratically through their roads not obeying the lines of the road and it seemed chaotic but somehow they manage to do it with a mixture of honking and awareness. How they don’t crash into each other I would really like to know!

We made it to the hotel in one piece and the holiday kicked off. I found Cairo rather dusty, polluted with car fumes and a fair amount of litter on the streets. The first interaction with a local was somewhat strange, I don’t know if he was trying to sell me drugs or just asking for money. But never-the-less I proceeded into the hotel of old English design. How long had it been standing? A hundred years sounds about right, with the floors of old broken royal red carpet and a film of dust floating about stuck in curtains and cracks just asking to be cleaned! My guess is that there is a whole industry of cleaners waiting to be employed to do the dirty work that some people can’t or wont do.

The room had a high ceiling, long curtains and bed made holey by cigarette burns. I had a look in the bathroom which was adequate but it really needs refurbishment. After taking a peak at the view of another greyish building opposite and a drop that was knee numbing I tried out the TV. Ouch my ears started to hurt from the high pitch sound coming from that, which was so unbearable that I thought my head was going to explode! The TV ‘So’ needed replacing along with everything else as far as I am concerned.

Day 2

I couldn’t even sleep. Was Cairo partying all night long? Well I found out later that there was a nightclub directly below me by 2 floors. That was extremely helpful in keeping me mad! Then at 5am as I was getting close to some sleep the sound of prayer echoed through me like a knife plunging into my mind. It was dull and sharp and that kept me awake even more till the wake up call on the phone arrived!

Breakfast was a mixture of French and English foods, from scrabbled eggs to croissants which didn’t seem very Egyptian to me. I didn’t eat that much because I felt a little ill from the lack of sleep sustained during the night.

The pyramids slowly came into focus and they got bigger and bigger until the bus stopped. Okay so they are big… No they are HUGE! If the city wasn’t so close they would be even more fascinating. To think that a people could build so high and at the time when you would think it wasn’t possible. There is also a massive boat which is extremely old which is impressive in its own right. In the end I was impressed but I wasn’t yet feeling the magic. Onward we went… The tour came to a photo point where the pyramids look even more impressive from a distance than close up.

The sphinx seems even more impressive than the pyramids to me. That fact that someone was able to carve that out of stone and make it look that good is just incredible.

Slowly we wound our way back into Cairo from Giza. We came to a papyrus museum, which was more like an art gallery. After viewing how papyrus was made I took a stroll around the art and took in some interesting works. Although there where a lot of papyrus art I decided against buying anything for I felt that none of it was suitable for my walls at home!

For lunch we had Egyptian falafel (which was green!) in petabread, with a spread of humus. which tasted like normal falafel.

After that we headed to the main Ancient Egyptian Museum. This is where I lost my mobile. Was I pick-pocketed or did it just fall somewhere? That I will never know! We followed the guide inside and she seemed to have many fans. As we where going around one of her previous students commented on how lucky we where to be in the presence of a master! This seemed impressive in its own right. So much to see in so little time, the museum was massive and no one could view everything in just one day. It would probably take at least a year! After our guided tour we had a look at the treasures of Tutankhamen. This small but amazing collection is a show of amazing wealth for such a young pharaoh. It makes you wonder how much could have been stolen from the previous pharaohs. Maybe one day other treasures will turn up.

That evening we all went out to a restaurant to have dinner. Is it my imagination or am I eating Lebanese food? I can only think that the Arabic world has the same types of foods between the different countries in the Middle East. Because I was so tired by then I was probably not very good company! Maybe I can get some sleep tonight!

Day 3

Getting up early we took the train for a 9 hour trip from Cairo to Luxor! Yes that’s right, 9 hours! It was a sleeper train with upright seats! We where put in first class, although I wouldn’t call it that. The toilet was so filthy it made me feel really very ill! I couldn’t even get lunch I felt so sick! The person who was supposed to look after this toilet was asking for tips! I really think he should be fired!! Most of the time I was falling asleep, but when I was awake, I saw views of the green fertile farm land and the construction of new villages and towns. When the train stopped at the train stations the locals either waved at us or where transfixed by the ladies in our party.

When we got to Luxor we boarded chalesh (Horse drawn carriage) which took us to the boat. This was a nice, comfortable little ship, with fair size cabins. Although those people who were sharing probably felt it was far too small! That evening we had dinner on the boat, which was (bottled water) washed salad, pasta, rice, chicken and a few other bits and pieces. This was rather nice and I felt a lot better after eating.

Day 4

Today was the day to remember. Getting into calesh’s we trotted towards Karnak temple. Entering this amazing place I was astounded by the shear size and magnitude of the main pillars. They where huge, rising high, and when you look up you can see more hieroglyphs. The wonderment of how they managed to build such vast structures and then decorate them is just incredible. And the fact that this temple was constructed thousands of years ago just goes to show that the Ancient Egyptians must have been an amazing race.

Afterwards we took a bit of a rest and then I went on one of the optional excursions to visit Workers Village, Valley of the Queens and another temple. In Workers Village I saw two worker tombs. They looked like they where painted yesterday, but in fact they are over a few thousand years old. This reason is because they get very few visitors to this unique location in the Egyptian history. After the village we went to the Valley of the Queens. This is where the queens are buried and the tombs seem to have degraded a fair bit here. But the guide we where with believes there are more queens tombs and has made it his mission to find another whole Valley of the Queens. I found the valley interesting but because of the poorness of the tombs they didn’t seem that impressive. Finally we went to another temple had our guided tour then some free time to wonder. I took a few pictures here. Right after the temple we viewed a specialist shop, trading in stone carvings of alabaster and sorts. Here I got 2 orange alabaster bowls and was also given a free small paper-weight pyramid.

Later that evening I visited Luxor temple which was found accidentally and has had a mosque build on the top of it! The temple looks rather nice in the dark with the lights illuminating it.

Day 5

Getting up very early! We took a small boat across the Nile. Everyone seemed fast asleep on it and I kept dreaming I was in a marine’s squad going into a battle! When we where near the other side and the team where disembarking I decided to try and wake them up a bit. “Fall out team!” and I got a few laughs. We found the donkeys waiting on the other side and as we where selected by height and weight in the dawn of the new day I was starting to wakeup myself. Everyone had a donkey now, except those that went by car to the Valley of the Kings. The donkeys set of searching for their places like a horse race. I started at the back with mine, but we slowly made our way up the field. I don’t know about the others in the group but I found my donkey rather easy to control. Using this to my advantage I decided to get up to the front but slowly. When we where trekking into the mountainous area of the journey, it started getting fun and interesting. The views where outstanding and you could see for miles. As my donkey and I got near the edge I kept keeping him to the side of I path I wanted so I felt safer. But then again being that close and that high was very exhilarating.

We came to the end and I finished in 3^rd place and I felt great. So great in fact that it made the Valley of the Kings seem rather boring. I took a look at the tombs and the hieroglyphs but it didn’t feel that special to me. The valley was so packed with people that it was horrible. I am sure there must be over 100,000 going through a day and that can’t be good for the tombs. After the valley we went to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the view of the front looked amazing. From a distance the entrance to it was amazing. Once you get inside it didn’t seem so great and there was a lot of damage. We couldn’t stay that long know because we had to go back to the boat for we were disembarking for Eduf, Kom Ombo and then Aswan.

Day 6

Relaxing on the boat some of us did a spot of bird watching and I also did a lot of reading. The most common bird I saw was the black and white Nile Kingfisher. Its impressive seeing this bird hover and then dive for its prey

More temples and more temples! I could tell you about them, but I think you should go see the pictures instead!

Day 7

Arriving in Aswan we disembarked from the boat for the last time. We stayed in a new hotel which was very nice and the rooms where very nice. But I am sure I had the worse room in the whole of the hotel! There was a pillar smack bang in the middle of the room. The bed was squashed against the window and the bathroom seem only that little bigger than the boat! What I thought was bad is the technician for the hotel came into the bathroom, but he didn’t even turn on the hot water tank! What the worse part was is that the water tank only holds 5 minutes worth of hot water!!

During the day I took a stroll around the streets and went into an English hotel on the Nile front. The gardens where well presented and the hotel its-self was old English high ceiling.

That evening we went to a Nubian village and had dinner there. We took a small boat through the wonderful little islands on the Nile. We got really close to some of the birds and it was a very peaceful experience. The Nubian village was made up of mud huts with satellite TV and air-conditioning! The dinner seemed exactly the same as the rest of the meals we had in Egypt!

Day 8

Getting up early again we went across the Nile to take a camel trek to the deserted Coptic monastery of St. Someon. It took me awhile to get use to the camel but I adapted by copying how the locals rode theirs. The camel with its proud smiley face is a great big animal. I manage to survive the small trek and get to the monastery. The place was built like a castle but the guide showed us around and pointed out all the functionality of it. He also tried to steel our lovely lady of the group. But unfortunately he couldn’t come up with the 5,000 camels!

Awhile later that day we took a visit to Kitcheners Island. This island is a project, a testing group to see how plants and tree’s can grow in the desert. I got right up close to take a picture of one of the birds on this island. This was on of the more pleasant excursions.

In the evening we went to a well known restaurant, where I chose poorly. This restaurant was on a floating platform on the Nile. I ordered a shish kebab which wasn’t hot at all when I got it. So I sent it back to be reheated. I really wanted it reheated but I guess they couldn’t fathom that, because what came back was another shish kebab of the same temperature! I ate what I could but I must of left most of it! I was a little bit to cold so I ordered a hot chocolate. This wasn’t even that good! I swear it was a cheap brand!

Day 9

Getting up early again…! We got a packed breakfast and set off on our 3 hour train trip back to Luxor. When arriving at the hotel I thought I was going to get another funny room but this time I was mistaken. For me, I got a nice size room, with a good bathroom and lots of hot water. I managed to have a bath and that really made me feel so much better. Before I saw the room I had to do one task and that was to go to the police station.

This had to be the most unique experience of the whole trip. I went into the police station and tried to explain to a few people that I needed to make a report about a lost mobile phone. I was invited into a room labelled ‘Sheriff’ (If only I had my camera!). The room was a fair size, with a big fattish man behind a big old English desk. His face was hardened dark, piercing eyes and a bushy moustache. The rest of the room was a collection of old things, paintings and lots of piles of folders and paper.

I tried to explain my problem to him, he gently said “Ok” After a minute or so silence I then queried “Are you busy?” and his reply. “No” I was laughing inside, it made me think that the Egyptian police force was the laziest in the world. Mind you they do have a massive presence on the streets of the major cities. We also did have armed policemen everywhere we went. After 5 minutes or so an interpreter came down and I explained my problem to him. He told me that I need to go to a special police department that deals with tourist issues. Basically I had to go to the tourist police! A plain clothes policeman escorted me there and I explained my problem and adventurely filled out my report.

It was about lunch time now and we finally went to a restaurant that had an Egyptian dish. This was rice, pasta, cheese, chickpeas, tomatoes with other bits and pieces. I spiced it up a bit and started eating it. It was fairly nice and I felt as if this was the first real Egyptian dish I have had and will only get the whole holiday.

After lunch I decided to go up to the roof of the hotel where they had a swimming pool. I sunbathed for a bit then took a swim. The water seemed chilling at first but I did about 6 length’s then got out.

That evening we went to another restaurant and I tried to get a group picture but those who wanted to go to the sound and light show were leaving and thus I couldn’t. Again I thought the service was bad and again I felt like I made a bad choice. The meat was over-cooked and I feel like no one in Egypt could cook a decent chicken dish. I really must have been spoilt in England with good meals. I really did miss my own cooking and my mothers cooking!!

Day 10

5 hours flight home, HORRAY! I am looking forward to my bed and a decent meal. I got home and its snowing! It’s a blizzard right now which is the 2^nd March today. This is some change in the weather!!