Sunday 6th May

We all met for breakfast as this was our last day and we were all leaving at different times. Most people were leaving at midnight with us and had decided to relax by the pool for the day. Kieran still wanted to get out and about and also get some Egyptian cotton towels and sheets. So we spoke to hotel staff and arranged a taxi. We had this guy for about 4hrs and we went to Cairo mall and also back to the bizarre. He kept asking us if we wanted to go to all the tourist sites and places we had already been and we had to keep telling him that we had done all that. For the whole day of this guy driving us around it only cost us £20 pretty good value. We did end up getting the towels and sheets too in the bazzar. We were over the crowds and the heat, headed back to the hotel where we had time for a swim and dinner by the pool. It was then off to collect our bags and catch our airport transfer at midnight. Where we caught our 2:30am flight to Istanbul had a 3hour stop over in Istanbul and then a four hour flight to Heathrow. We arrived to the beautiful rainy, cloudy, 15 degree weather of London wearing 3/4 pants and thongs with no umbrellas……….Welcome Back!

Saturday 5th May

We got back to Cairo late in the morning and went back to the first hotel we at in Cairo. Had yet another buffet lunch and then to the Cairo Museum. Which was fairly big and it was good to see the different statues and treasures that our guide had told us about on the way. We also got to see all of Tutankhamen’s treasures and understand why he is so famous. We visited the citadel, alabasta mosque and the hanging church. We topped off the day with shopping at the bazaar but were only there for about 1 and half hours. A lot of bartering and comments and looks from the men which gets annoying and still happens despite wearing long pants and long sleeve tops, and walking around with a MAN!.

That evening we quickly had dinner at the hotel and then headed off to the sound and light show at the pyramids which was really good and we got some cool pics. Glen took video of the whole show as he took his video camera in and had to buy a pass for it instead of leave it with the guards. As he paid for the pass he thought he would use it and tape the whole show. Here is part of it. Video

Friday 4th May

This morning was the trip to the Valley of the Kings but first we had our donkey ride. It was quite obvious that there were not enough donkeys as soon as we got there and in Egypt there is no organisation or step b, step instructions but rather get on a donkey and go. I was trying to stick with Glen but it didn’t work and me and Craig ended up with no donkey and the rest of the group were off down the road. Anyway Craig and I ended up getting donkeys and our guide left in the bus. We were lead by two boys all of about 11 yrs old that turned into disgusting little perves that kept trying to touch me inappropriately and I had to yell at them as well as hit them a few times yet this did not se! 5mins in to the ride Craig and I got off our donkeys told the kids where to go and started walking along a dessert road by ourselves…..the place to be! Luckily another tour bus came by and gave us a lift to the Valley of the Kings where we told our tour guide what happened and also found out that some of the other girls had also had the same problem. Needless to say the tour guides spoke to the owner of the Donkeys.

After all this we went to explore the Valley of the Kings. It was mega hot buy now but we went into three tombs. They were pretty amazing because the artwork inside is still all coloured where as most of the temples have lost their colour as they are exposed to the elements. Inside the tombs there was no air movement and it was like a sauna it was actually really nice to come out into the air despite it being about 50 degrees.

Tutankhamen’s tomb was there but to go into it you had to pay extra and our guide didn’t recommend it because apparently it’s not that impressive and very small. The tombs we did see were Ramses the 5th. Tutmoses 3rd and Merneptah they were all really gr8 to see.

After Valley of the Kings we went to the funeral temple of Queen Hatshepsut which was cool. Then the temple of Karnack and by this time we all wanted a swim.

That night we had to get the train back to Cairo and I was determined to get a 6 seater this time. I stood on the edge of the platform with my massive pack on for 20mins just to get it too. We shared with some of the girls we were on the felucca with and we slept much better than we had last time.

Kieran

Thursday 3rd May 2007

It was another early one 6am and we left the feluccas and boarded our bus to set off for another long day of temples and hot sun.

Firstly we visited Kom Ombo temple where we all used a ‘normal’ toilet. It was a cool temple where they worshipped the crocodile God and so had crocodiles in a well and also mummified crocodiles. There were pictures to show that they did surgery as well as pregnancy tests which I found interesting.

We then went to Edfu Temple which was huge and by this time it was very very hot! So we got some ice blocks like callippos yum!. In this temple we also had a guy who showed us up these stairs and randomly pointed to pictures on the wall: ‘Cleopatra, scorpion, cow’, because he showed us these things he wanted money glen gave him 1 Egyptian pound (10pence)
We then made our way back to the hotel for a long awaited shower. We did some washing and also went down the street to have KFC which was one of the best KFC meals I've ever had, they even brought it to your table. Oh and while on the subject of takeaway in Egypt they have Mcdeliver….McDonalds home delivery!

After lunch we went back and had a swim in the hotel pool with a bar in the pool so u didn’t have to get out of the water. That night we went to an Irish pub….weird I know. We had steak and chips and also the jewellery guy who makes up the cartouche with your name in hryoglyphics was there so we ordered ourselves a few pieces. There was also a night club downstairs and we stayed till about 11pm. Katrina and Steve left with us and we still got harassed on the streets for lifts even though our hotel was just a few hundred meters away..

Wednesday 2nd May 2007

This morning we woke up to the sun rising which was lovely. Another day of sun baking and relaxing. Glen was feeling better (with the help of tablets) which is good. The weather is beautiful, we have 11 people on our boat and it’s a really good group. We had expected today to keep sailing till evening but stopped for the day at 330pm. People were a bit disappointed about this but oh well. Instead we swam and slept and played cards and drank, even I had a few beers as it is very light and easy to drink. That night we had a bonfire up on the sand with all the boat crew and the tour leaders(see video, need quicktime). They played the drums and sang. But it was so HOT near the bonfire. There were games and singing competitions. The kiwis did the Hakka. We went to bed before it was finished…funny how doing nothing can make you tired.

During the night the drivers left the shore at around 12.30-1am. I didn’t wake up but Glen did and said we were just floating as the sail wasn’t up and it was really nice. I woke up when we hit the shore and you could here music in the distance. It was really nice.

Kieran

Tuesday 1st May

I woke up just before 3am to hear Glen throwing up in the bathroom. I went to see if he was ok. I had to give him an injection to help with the vomiting. He wasn’t sure if he should go to Abu Simbil because it was a three hour bus ride through the dessert. I got ready and Glen decided he shouldn’t go even though he really wanted too. So I went with Jen. There were a few people missing from our group, and it was a good thing Glen didn’t go because the seats on the bus were really uncomfortably and so was the drive let alone feeling sick.

We drove through the dessert and had to drive in a convoy. It was quiet hot when we arrived and a couple of people fainted too. Abu simbil was amazing which made me feel bad because Glen wasn’t there and he was looking forward to it. I took as much video and photos as I could but I was not aloud to film inside the temples.
When we got back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group Glen said he was feeling better.

We then walked down to the water at the back of the hotel to board our felucca boats. They were awesome and for the rest of the afternoon we just lay there in the sun and slept and listened to music it was really relaxing and peaceful.

All the feluccas stopped on shore at about 5pm. There were about 6 feluccas. We had dinner and swam in the nile. We hand to go to the toilet in the bushes. That night some of the boat drivers and crew were playing the drums and also we got to try the shisha- it was apple flavour.

Kieran

Monday 30th April 2007

The train pulled into Aswan it was meant to be an 11hr train ride but turned into 14hrs. As you can tell we weren't very happy. We got off the train and onto the bus to our hotel. Kieran and I got a room to ourselves and Jen shared with Sarah a girl who was by herself. We had only about an hour to have a quick shower and freshen up. We had a buffet lunch (again) at the hotel and then got on the bus to go to the unfinished oblisque which was not that special to see and u could see it from the car park. We went to the high dam (where u could not use a video camera but u can use a digital camera!) and then caught a boat over to the Philae temple which was interesting with its ancient hieroglyphics.

It was then back to the hotel to get ready for our Nubian dinner. We got boats down the Nile to a small village and went to the people’s house. It was really open and airy with a big straw roof and sandy floor. There was a baby crocodile there that we could hold. For dinner we had bread, chicken, veges, potato, soup. Then they had drums and dancing and costumes. All the local children were dancing and they were very cute.

We got back to the hotel about 11.30pm and we had to pack our bags for the felucca but be up at 3am to go to Abu Simbil.

Sunday 29th of April

It was an early start today we had to be up at 7am have brekkie, check out, drop off our bags and be on our bus by 845am. We also had to hand in our documents to get and ISIC student card, so we could see things for half price.

After a very quick breakfast we hopped on our bus to go and see the step pyramid at Sakkara and the Great pyramids and Sphinx on the Giza plateau. The step pyramid was the first pyramid and is the most ancient construction. It was very cool but we had to be wary of the men on donkeys and camels around the area because if you took pictures of them they wanted money, this was the same also for the great pyramids. At the step pyramid there was a freaky little man on a donkey he was weird looking and ppl took a picture of him and he chased them for money. In Sakkara we were also able to go into a pyramid which was quite cool but not very extravagant as the movies and TV depicts.

We then went to the great pyramid which was amazing and went on a camel ride (see video….but very shakey). Kieran kicked her big toe on part of the camel saddle as she was getting on the camel. So I was sitting on top of this camel with my toe stinging like hell because the top had come off and my toe was bleeding into my sandal and I was also trying to take pictures at the same time. Despite all this the camel ride was fun….Glen said I have a camel toe!

For lunch we had a buffet where we had a view of the Sphinx and the 3 pyramids. After lunch we went up to the Sphinx to get photos. It was not as big as Kieran had thought it would be, but was just what I was thinking it was. Its face is wearing away and the pigeons sit in the crevasses of its face. It has no nose because some crazy Christian guy broke it off 100’s of years ago because he thought the Egyptian people worshipped the Sphinx

Afterwards we went to and Egyptian oil-perfume place where they make the flower oils for designer perfumes, they smell the same but apparently last longer because there is no alcohol in them. We bought one each I got Kenzo flower and Glen got eternity. They also had lovely perfume bottles that kind of reminded me of I dream of genie bottles.

We then headed back to the hotel to prepare for our overnight train trip to Aswan. At 9pm we got our bus to the train station for our 10pm train. At the station they made us put our bags though an xray machine (the guy watching wasn’t even really looking at the screen) so u can imagine 110 ppl all having to put their hiking packs and suite cases into this thing. It took ages and was annoying. We got there early do we didn’t miss the train but as all trains this one was late and we didn’t get on till 10:30. Kieran was very annoyed because there were 5x 6 seater cabins and 2x 3 seater cabins. By the time we got on the train all the 6seaters were gone and only the 3 seaters were left which were small and had no leg room at all. So we were not happy and had a crap sleep with cramped up legs. See video of train cabin

Saturday 28th of April

Today we got up and had more yummy breakfast. We then met for a tour of Cairo in the lobby, an optional extra for the people who arrived early was only £4. We were taken into the centre of Cairo and shown a few shopping malls (nothing like at home, and way more men than women at these shops) as well as the city of the dead. The Egyptian people buried their dead in the West because they believed the sun ‘died’ in the West and the East was where people lived because the sun rose and became alive in the East.

In the city of the dead there are tombs and people who are mostly undertakers live around the tombs. We went to one family’s home there which was pretty nice inside compared to the outside. These people get to live there for free because the family that own the tomb near them do so in return for security and care taking of the tombs. We also drove around the city which is very dusty. The traffic is chaotic. There are cars, trucks, vans, donkeys and buses all using the same road. You understand now why they don’t use street lights as they would never move. At least the traffic is always moving.

All the house flats seem as though they are unfinished and look as though they will all fall down at any moment. The houses look unfinished because the families build more levels as there family grows. So there is always one extra floor in case the family gets bigger. After our tour we returned back to the hotel where we put on our swimmers and went down to the pool to have a swim and have lunch.
At 530pm we had our tour meeting and then at 7pm had our dinner cruise on the Nile where we also watched a belly dancer (again not that good) and other Egyptian dancers and music.