Egyptian Sun

7th Sep. And so the adventure begins! It was a nervous start to the day, after finding out that Paris air controllers are striking the same day I’m due to fly via Paris to Egypt! I arrived at the airport super early to make sure if my flight was cancelled id is first one on another!

Made it Paris safely- getting across the city was another story!

But as we descend into Cairo I realise it’s all good, cos I’m here, little did I know the next heart pounding moment was right upon me, the arrival hall was a shambles, I didn’t know where I was going, where to get money out, a visa, the exit, my tour guy. It was all slightly overwhelming! I collected my bag and headed through immigration and out into a crowd of excited Egyptian men, the barriers meant nothing to them as the clambered over to greet friends and loved ones, I was left pushing my way through the warm mangle of people, frantically searching for the sign TOP DECK I catch a glimpse of it over the balding head of a man and I think the guy could almost feel my relief! Oh how glad I was to see a familiar sign and a friendly face! And here I am now, being driven (not overly fast as there is a lot of traffic) to my hotel for a well needed comfy (hopefully air coned) sleep!

8th Sep. The tour started after breakfast, we were driven first to the Egyptian museum. It was bigger than I had thought. We spent a couple of hours wandering thru the endless tombs and collectives. We then went to a buffet restaurant where we tried some salads, hommous and meatballs and chicken. It was ok; I was more excited to try some Egyptian sweets for dessert. After lunch it was a short drive to the edge of the city to see the infamous pyramids. I couldn’t believe how close they were to the city! We had some free time around the biggest one, the great pyramid, we got hassled a bit by guys trying to sell us crap or trying to get us to take a camel ride. We also got harassed by the police; they offered to take our picture then asked for money! We had to apologize then quickly turn and walk back to the bus all the while thinking how big the guns were they were carrying. From there we drove to a spot where we could take good pictures of all 3 pyramids and then onto the sphinx. After taking photos of us kissing the sphinx we went to a factory that makes paper out of the papaya flower. Then we were taken back to the hotel to relax and be ready to leave at 9pm for our 10pm overnight train. On the way to the train I saw a lady carrying a Heineken keg on her head walking down the road. When we arrived at the station the 1st train to pull up was an amazing looking sleeper train, with rooms and beds... Not ours. The next train to arrive, hundreds of people made a mad dash to get onto the train- one man pushing his 2 sons through the window to get on. Once our train pulled up, it was slightly better we did have to force a little and ray (our guide) had to ask a lot of people to move seats for us to have the seats we paid for. Once settled, our bags at our feet and our passports safely around our necks we were ready for some sleep.

9th sep. 4am was awoken to 4 Egyptian men staring at us while we were sleeping, found it hard to go back to sleep with them standing there! It was a long slow morning on the train, our pre made packed breakfast wasn’t all that appetizing and the smell of the dirty toilets was starting to make me feel ill. After 15 hours of not peeing we braved the toilets, we had to walk 4 carriages ahead to find some half decent ones, and by half decent I mean the floor not swimming with pee and poo and god knows what else. We arrived in Aswan around lunchtime, our hotel only a few minutes from the station, we stepped off the air conditioned train and into the scorching 40 something degree heat.We had 4 hours to burn off before our next meeting. So I showered and went for a wander down the street, making sure to cover up not that it made any difference I still got harassed by the guys who I walked past. I met some of the others and we walked into the market area bartered down some fruit and postcards then headed back to the comfort of an air conditioned hotel room (disappointed that the pool was not full)

At 4.30 we meet another guide and headed for the boats that took us on a cruise down the Nile and across to the island for an adventurous camel ride through the Nubian village. My camel was called alamat.

I was really nervous at first, thinking she was gonna take off running or hurl me off down the banks into the river but it was a fun half hour ride! We then went to a local school for a brief lesson in Arabic then it was to a local’s house for some delicious home cooked food consisting of veggies, soup, chicken, potatoes! It was all so yummy. We wandered through the market place, getting hassled by the owners to "come and look" at every shop. There were also kids walking past us asking for money, one girl asked me for my coke I was drinking, so gave her that. Then it was another boat ride back in the dark and an early night as we had to put our clocks forward one hour!

10th Sep. We had an early morning wake up call, 2.30am for a 3am departure to Abu Simbel. After an uncomfortable 3 hour sleep and a convoy which left us alone. We arrived at the secluded town at 7am and went inside the temple of Abu simbel was built by Pharaoh Ramses II and it was the temple that was re built and moved backwards so it didn’t fall into the river, they also misjudged the calculations and it used to be that the sun shone in through twice a year and light up the 4 gods at the back but not anymore. We also went inside the temple of Hathor built in honour of Ramses wife, Nefertiti. We took some photos and got back in convoy at 9am for the 3 hour drive back, I’m still not sure why they had the convoy cos every time I woke up we were on our own! We went back to the hotel to shower and headed out onto the felucca. They provided us lunch of pasta and veggies and we spent the next few hours sailing up the Nile towards the entrance at the red sea. After a toilet stop we were allowed to go swimming, I had been lying in the sun for the past hour so was extremely hot and was the only one of the group brave enough to swim in the Nile. I was nervous I would get sick but the temptation was too much and I jumped in :) I didn’t get my head wet and didn’t stay in for very long, it was definitely nice and refreshing. We docked at a random beach place for the night and had to wander off to find quiet hidden spots to pee every time. It proved hard as there were workers working on the land to the left and houses further on the right. Nat got caught in the trees by a worker which had us in stitches, and then later Bridget got seen by a man coming down the hill. We had dinner on the felucca which was chips and egg thing, had some beers then went to sleep earlish- 10pm. It was so warm still when I fell asleep

11th Sep. A day on the felucca! I woke up at around 4am freezing- and snuggled up inside my sleeping bag, only to be woken at 7am by the scorching sun shining on my face making my snugly sleeping bag sweaty and horrible! We had breakfast which was pita bread with jam or honey and an egg omelette thing and COFFEE! My first coffee or tea since I been here, it was so nice! While we were waiting to depart, a couple of boys came down to the boat and tried to sell us jewellery- they would say, "this one camel bone, it’s very nice see" they were cute and funny! Once we started sailing I read my book then fell asleep for an hour with the warm sun on my back. We had lunch along the Nile and stopped later along the shoreline for a swim. 3 of us girls were the first to get in our bikinis and into the water, and within 2 minutes of us being in the water we had attracted a crowd of young male admirers, I’m not sure where they appeared from but there were at least 25 of them, all sitting on the beach watching us! We didn’t stay in the water long and back on board we got into the beers and played some cards. Around 3pm we docked at a beach area for the night. There were cows in the grassy areas and one cow in particular loved being in the water. It was so funny to watch this cow sitting in the water with just his head poking out. After the gorgeous sunset, we had dinner and more beers and it was another early night- around 9pm. Around midnight I think, we were on the move, I’m not sure why they decided to move us in the middle of the night but we sailed a little bit further up the river to where the bus would meet us in the morning.

12th Sep. I had a rough night’s sleep, with the moving, the prayers (which were so loud) the horns beeping, dogs barking, then more prayers at 4.30am, I woke up at 7.15 absolutely exhausted! After breakfast, we were packing up to leave, and while brushing our teeth Nat dropped her tooth paste in the Nile and watched helplessly as it floated up stream

After sailing nearly 300km up towards the red sea, it was finally nice to get off the felucca and stretch the legs, bum and back. But it was another hour drive to our first stop the kom ombo temple. Which was huge, it was essentially 2 temples made for 2 gods. Normally its one temple per god, but this one was for 2. As we were driving through the small town we noticed the rubbish mounds everywhere and found out that the Egyptians have no waste system, the rubbish just piles up in the streets. On our way to the next temple, we passed (and photographed) allot of men, children, people riding donkeys! Our next temple was the temple of edfu The temple, dedicated to the falcon god Ho.rus On our way out of the town I was desperate for the toilet and ray stopped at a local hangout and asked if we could use the toilet, he informed us there was no running water in the entire town but we could use it if we wanted to. I was desperate! But that was one of the worst toilets I’ve ever come across! We arrived in Luxor just after lunch and decided to go find the internet, a guy from a shop got his son to take us to one that appeared to be in the slums of Luxor but we got there in the end. Then as we were leaving some boys followed us out, they must have been about 12 years old, at first they were talking to us nicely, then when we said bye they asked us for a kiss then when we said no they tried to touch our bums it was kinda scary, I mean no wonder women cover up, if 12 year olds treat women as a piece of meat imagine what their fathers are like. We fast-paced/almost ran back to the hotel but along the way ran into another 2 from the tour and decided to go for a wander on a mission to find a supermarket. Allot of people seemed like they wanted to help us but then we realised most of them just wanted us to pay them or go in their shop! It was very frustrating. We wandered through the bazaar which was a whole other story; the men keep yelling at us girls and trying to get us to look in their shop. I was getting kinda overwhelmed by them all. It was like being locked in a small room and their voices were the air that was taking over, I was almost at the hyperventilating stage when we hit the main rd. I guess I need to toughen up, but after those young boys trying to grab me and then the men hassling me, I welcomed the hotel for a nice shower and peace and quiet. We had dinner at the hotel, it was yummy- was nice to have some meat. Then ray took us to a jewellery store and then caught a local bus (a van basically with its side door left open and people jumping in and out every 5 mins) back to the dreaded markets. My haggling is definitely getting better. I’m not sure if that because I’m actually getting good or cos I’m running out of money and can’t afford what they want!! We had a shisha with ray then headed home bout ten

13th Sep. This morning it was another early start to get out to Valley of the Kings before it got too hot. We weren’t allowed our cameras in this one either; we visited 3 tombs, Ramses 6 and 3 and Thutmoses iii. The 2 Ramses ones where underground, Ramses 3 was 140m under and was interesting to see all the Egyptian gods painted along the walls. The thutmoses tomb was created in the walls of the area, different to all the others, we had to climb a set of steep stairs up then back down the other side inside the tomb, inside, it felt like a sauna. I would guess temp around 45 degrees! We didn’t stay in there long. Then we went to the temple of queen h, by this stage it was so hot out, and there wasn’t much shelter from the sun. From there it was a short drive to another temple and then to a factory where they make the stones etc. I refrained from buying anything due to lack of money! We then headed back into Luxor and we went to a perfumery and incense factory where we learnt about the flowers they use for different illness and pains, and of course smelt a lot of different yummy smells, I really had to stop myself buying perfumes, they are my weakness!

Dai and I were dropped back at the hotel and said goodbye to the rest of the tour. We wasted 4 hours doing basically nothing. We wandered round town to get some food, but it was too hot to just keep walking around. At 6pm a new guide came and got us from the hotel, but not before I refused to pay for a taxi to the station as they wanted me too. We had another overnight train back to Cairo, except this one wasn’t as long or as crowded. When we first got on we had the whole carriage to ourselves!

I managed to get a couple hours sleep for our 5am arrival in Cairo

14th Sep. So after about 2 hours sleep on the train, 5am we arrive in Cairo, we are passed onto someone else who takes us to the hotel and pretty much left on our own. I went up and went straight to sleep. I woke up every hour until 11am wondering when I should get up for breakfast. After breakfast and lunch I caught a cab in to the kan kahill markets and got hassled some more by Egyptian men, either asking me to "come look" or asking if I’m looking for an Egyptian husband!

After an hour or so of keeping the men away from me I decided to head back to the hotel to get packed up and shower and have a rest before my 10pm taxi to the airport for my 2am flight.

My experience didn’t end there, after arriving at the airport and agreeing to pay 50 Egyptian pounds on arrival, the taxi driver demanded more money, I gave him an extra ten but when he asked for more, I refused – I didn’t have any more to give!! He started shouting at me in Arabic but I couldn’t understand so just apologized and left!!

Highlight of the trip was definitely the camel ride and sailing along the river Nile!