I know I'm long winded... but its EGYPT, so deal.

Egypt. I had a constant desire to pick my nose. I learned the value of drinking water the hard way. I had a nagging desire to go South. I acquired new Kiwi parents. I learned a few Arabic words, including Thanks to God.I got 24 bug bites on my forehead in one night. I washed my hair in the Nile. A man tried to buy Bryce for 5 million camels. I learned to breath out of a tank. I went from sea level to 3,000 feet above sea level in two hours, walking. A guy to travel with is a new necessity in my life.

Now that I have some of the highlights and random thoughts out of the way, I will share with you more details from my trip, expanding of course on the thoughts above because, clearly there is more to share on each. And pictures of course.

Before I get super into Egypt however, there was another sweet part of the trip to share. My flight through Paris on the way down got changed, leaving me 9 hours or so in the Paris aeroport. So I decided to be a bit ballsy and try to get into Paris. I have never been to a city alone, much less where I can only say hello, no, yes, my name is Libby (thanks to Carrie's trip in Sex and the City), please, and thank you. So I managed to change some cash at a horrible rate, get on the B line into the city, and explore. I went and walked about the Notre Dame Cathedral which was pretty cool. I loved all the wee stalls selling paintings and sketches. But most of all, I was determined to see the Eiffel Tower -who wouldn't be on their first time in Paris?- and so I booked it about 2 miles or so down the Seine til I saw it. I think I gasped when it came into view. The thing is HUGE. I had no idea! But needless to say, amazing. Just walking around was wonderful. It was warm and sunny -a perfect Paris day. I would have loved to have found a wee crepe stand, but no such luck. In the end it was a blessing that my flight had been changed- even if it meant I got into Cairo later.

When I got into Cairo I was met by a guy from our tour company, who helped me get my sweet visa complete with cool stamps in the passport and get me to the hotel. Cairo is massive, dirty, and pure chaos. Driving is a free for all, no lanes, no stop lights, no real speed limit, no crosswalks. If you are a nervous car rider, some hard drugs might be helpful before you jump in a car in Cairo. Over the course of my combined 3 days in Cairo, I saw two people get hit by cars. There are people everywhere in the streets, including highways, selling things, crossing, or simply mucking about. I arrived in at 11.20pm and was amazed by the constant traffic. Cairo is a city of 22 million by day, 19 by night. This is the true city that never sleeps as everything is 24 hour. Everything.

We stayed in the Bostan Hotel in downtown Cairo, Bryce was already asleep/hanging out when I arrived. She had arrived about 3 that afternoon. The hotel was basic, nothing fabulous nothing awful. I slept like a baby that night, after leaving Belfast at 1am the night before and not sleeping in over 24 hours. The next day we went to see the Sakkara and Memphis, also called the step pyramid. It was awesome. Such a weird feeling to have heard and seen these places in pictures but to stand in front of them was such a cool experience. We then went to the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. The largest of the Giza Pyramids was unimaginable. It was so big you have to drive away to get the whole thing in a picture. The three together make a really cool set. The biggest pyramid was built first, followed by the son and grandson who built smaller to show respect for their fathers. Pretty cool. I would have assumed they would have wanted to top the one before them. So that was neat.

During the day we also stopped at a Carpet School, where children learn to make carpets. We were in a poor part of town, with donkeys and carts passing and houses made of palms. Carpet schools were one of the only things around, forget regular school. It was amazing how fast these kids could pull a string and make a row of carpet. Bryce bought a really cool camel hair weave, like a wall hanging. This is where I learned how amazing Bryce is at bargaining. She got the price from 1050LE to 150! So about $30. Pretty sweet. We also stopped at a papyrus shop, where we were shown how they use to make paper out of palm stalks. It was pretty sweet. I kept up my goal of getting a piece of art in every country I go to when I bought a sweet city scene painting on papyrus. It was a wee bit expensive, but worth it I think. We also stopped at a perfume place, where we were served Koshery, a typical Egyptian dish with macaroni, rice, lentils, chick peas, and lots of spices. It was pretty good, yet some what awkward because neither Bryce nor I really wanted to buy any perfume. There was one that smelled really nice, but I do not need anymore perfume, nor did I want to spend the money. But a very good day in Cairo.

A constant desire to pick my nose. Cairo is dusty. It is surrounded by desert. After being in Cairo not even a day, I learned that my nose hairs are there for a reason. Mine got their work out this trip. It was a very awkward feeling. Funny stuff. -Take tissues on your trip!

After a great day at the Pyramids, we took the overnight train to Aswan. The train was decent, minus the fact that it was freezing. I had every towel I had wrapped around me. I also learned the value of the free little eye mask that AirFrance gave me on my flight since they didn't ever turn the lights out. I slept alright, but was glad to get to Aswan. Aswan is a smaller city than Cairo, though similar. The driving is a bit more structured and stop lights are actually used. It is hotter than Cairo. A lot hotter. Our hotel was the Nile Hotel, a wee bit nicer than our previous one, but still basic. After some time to nap, we went to the Aswan High Dam. It was basically just a dam. The exciting part was that the lake that it formed was shared with Egypt and Sudan. So, I could see Sudan (or I pretended at least). Also, when they made the dam much of the land was flooded to make Lake Nasser. The area that was lost was Nubia and most of the Nubian people in Southern Egypt lost their land. Later in our trip we would visit a Nubian village where these people relocated.
When the dam was created many temples in the area were lost under Lake Nasser. One of the temples that was saved was the Temple of Philae, which we went to see. You have to take a boat out to it, which was pretty cool. Our guide told us all about the history. This temple was built for Isis. Each temple has a similar order, two big towers or pylons, which are decorated with pictures of the king killing people, then the large hall, two more big pylons, a small hall, then the holy of holy or sanctuary.

The Value of Drinking water. Our Guide was not 15 minutes into his intro when I knew something wasn't okay. I felt a wee bit dizzy and sat down. I asked him about getting water somewhere soon -Dumb of me not to have it!- and as soon as I asked I knew I needed it then. Everything went black and Bryce walked me towards the cafe part while our guide ran to get me drinks. We finally stopped half way there in the shade and I just waited. The cutest Asian woman started freaking out about me. She started fanning me, and went running to get some smelling salts stuff. I was really appreciative but Bryce said she was funny. After two fruit drinks and a big bottle of water I felt better. I learned my lesson that afternoon. As I sit here writing I have already had two glasses of water!

Once I felt better, we explored the temple. I was really glad we had a good guide that afternoon, since I blacked out and all. The temple was really cool and I am glad I felt good enough to still see it. We went back to the hotel and headed out to try to find some Kebabs for dinner. We walked all over the city, constantly getting harassed to buy things, stared at, asked about carriage rides, and marriage proposals. Eventually we settled on a wee stand near our hotel with shawarma type kebabs. We were both a bit iffy about road side stands and getting sick, but we took the chance because we were so hungry. Luckily neither of us got sick and they were pretty good. We also stocked up on water for the next day!

The next morning at 4am we left with a tour bus to Abul Simbel, one of the most famous temples in Egypt. It is Ramesses II's temple and his favorite wife Nefertari. The ride was about 3.5 hours south. The two temples were amazing! The entrances alone were so classic Egypt that I couldn't believe I was seeing them for real. You can't take pictures inside the temples, so the colours are still really good on the walls. I can't even imagine what they looked like when they were fully coloured.

Desire to go South. The edge of Abu Simbel is on Lake Nassar, with the water overlooking Sudan. The road itself is only 20km from the Sudanese boarder. The whole time we were there, I kept looking across the water, wanting to go to Sudan, down to Kenya, Tanzania. I learned to specify that my Africa obsession is with Sub-Saharan Africa and that being in Egypt was only a tease because I was at least on the continent. If I had been wild and crazy (and had my credit card with me- yep, all left in Ireland, Bryce was my sugar momma) I would have jumped a plane down since I was so close. Soon. Oh Soon.

After Abu Simbel, we returned to Aswan where we got on a felluca to sail up the Nile River for the next two days. Bryce and I had both been really anxious about who we would be sharing the felluca with, hoping not to get really odd or really boring people with us. I was ready for some new people and some good company. We met Donna and Ross, the cutest couple from New Zealand as we boarded. They are both mid 40's, and too fun. Ross works in Lebanon with the NZ army as a peace keeper, Donna a nurse who is moving to Afghanistan soon. They live on their yacht and travel extensively. Basically, I want to be them when I grow up.

Kiwi Parents. Along our trip, we stopped on the shore to pee and chill. On our first stop we met a man who was fishing in the Nile. He didn't speak much English, and thought Ross and Donna were our parents. The accent must not have been that obvious haha. So from then on, they were our parents. Donna would wake up and in her class Kiwi accent say 'Good morning daughters.' It was great.
The Fulluca was brilliant so it was. We just lied around on basically a huge mattress while we sailed. We stopped at two Nubian Villages, including the home village of our felluca guide. The villages were really cool. We learned a lot about forced hospitality- meaning they bring you a drink you don't ask for then you have to pay for it. I didn't mind so much, I know they need the money more than I do. The simplicity of life in these villages was amazing. It made me realize how little we do really need for basic survival. The Nile is the source of life for these people and they respect it so much. One of the great things about the felluca and everything it included was we got to ask lots of questions. We learned Humd Allah, pronounced like hum de Allah, which is God is good or thanks to God. You say it like after a good meal and something good, like we say. We learned about the Galibela (no idea if that's spelled correctly) which is the big dress that men wear. It looks like a button down shirt that just keeps going. The men basically wear it if they want to, most in the village do but put on western clothes when they go into the cities. It was cool to learn more about the culture, instead of just seeing the classic Egypt sites. The women served everything, their role very obvious at our time in the two Nubian Villages. Before we had very little contact with women as they are generally at home. Even if a man could reach his tea, if it was too far for comfort he would call the woman to move the table closer. I don't think I could live like that, although I bet these women don't know better. Interesting experience.

24 Big Bites. The first night we slept on the Felluca, anchored on the edge of the Nile, I got attacked with bugs. After two applications of bug spray -Donna got a kick outta using the word bug rather than insect for the repellent- I gave up and stuck my head under my covers. I woke up with a blazing red forehead and tons of bites. pretty funny- minus the itch!
Nile swim and wash. Against the guidebooks advice, we swam in the Nile our second day. Donna shared her baby shampoo and we washed our hair and our clothes. Pretty sweet. It was freezing. And I felt bad making their water source taste like soap. Although I doubt it really did. I loved it, I felt like such a local doing laundry and all in the Nile. Live like the people, that's the real experience.

After our second night on the Felluca we took a van to Edfu Temple. We arrived early and so Bryce and I decided we would go ahead without our guide, that way we didn't have to tip them and we figured all temples are similar so whatever. On our way through our guide came and met us. This temple was really cool because it had a lot of special rooms and passage ways. You could get all the way around the temple without going to the Holy of Holy, which was intentional. Only the high Priests were allowed there, so others had to avoid it unless making an offering. Pretty cool. This picture is of the first pylons, where the God Horus is fighting. Edfu temple is said to be the best preserved temple in Egypt.

5 Million camels for Bryce. We left Edfu to Luxor. We shared a van with our Kiwi parents and 2 Aussie guys. The two guys were pretty funny. On a stop along the way a man offered Steven one of the Aussies 5 million camels trade for Bryce who he assumed was Steven's wife. There are only about 4 million camels total in all of Egypt, so his offer was pretty amusing. Steven accepted and the whole thing was pretty funny. Bryce and I decided we would never marry Aussies because they will sell us off.

We arrived in Luxor at our fabulously swanky hotel, which was such perfect timing for a nice place. Our previous hotels hadn't been awful, the felluca was brilliant, but it was a good time for some pampering. We had a bath tub in our room, room service, and a pool to hang out at on the edge of the Nile. That afternoon we toured the East Bank of Luxor, including the Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple. The Karnak temple is pretty dang sweet, with the grand hall housing 134 HUGE columns. The Scarab Beetle is symbolic of the Sun God and is considered to give luck and life. There was a statue of a beetle that our guide told us you go around 7 times to make a wish. His suggestions of wishes included getting married or pregnaunt- cool, not. After going around, he was really really dodge to me about me marrying him and he grabbed my hand. Super Awkward. Oh Egyptian men. Bryce gave him a look of death, I shook his hand off, and we told him we would finish seeing the temple alone. Bryce was pissed because part of the reason you pay guides is so you don't have to deal with the whole sketch factor. We decided to see Luxor temple from the outside walls, as it was in the middle of the city and very open. The guide then invited us to meet him later than night for drinks and was so persistent when we flat out said no we didn't want to. So much for comfortable. It was nice to go back to the sweet hotel, sit by the pool, and get dinner at the hotel resturant where the staff were so nice and not dodgy!

The next day we went to the West Bank with another guide. We knew he was friends with our previous guide so we were ready for more dodginess. Our first stop was The Valley of the Kings. Out in the middle of no where, we entered and were surrounded by tombs. We went into three, climbing crazy steps down. The tombs were amazing. There was so much colour left on the walls, and then the huge mummy case things were awesome. The walls were covered with all kinds of food and the likes since they believe in taking everything you need with you for the next life. I have never been as hot as I was inside the tombs, but it was worth it. Bryce snapped some illegal pictures in a few of them when we were away from the bedouin gaurds. Check my webshots for more, clearly.

After the valley of the kings we went to a temple, which we were taught to call hot chicken soup. If you say it fast enough it sounds like the correct way to say the name of the Queen who has a pretty banging temple built into the side of the mountain. This temple had a lot of really colourful areas too which was pretty cool, plus the view out over the city of Luxor was really nice. The path up to it is really cool with a big staircase to the top. This temple was a nice change as its layout was much different than all the others we had been to. Plus as you can see the sky was a brilliant blue. So Queen Hatshepsut, your temple is class.
Our next stop was a little known temple where there was maybe only two or three other tour groups, Hobu Temple. This was much like the others we had visited. It was here that our guide turned sketchy- we knew it was coming. He kept asking me to hug him and I told him I was married and that my husband wouldn't like it. He still proceeded to bring it up about every 10 minutes however. On the way back to the hotel he invited us to lunch and when we turned him down he was just as persistent as his friend the night before. Rediculously enough he even told us that if the travel agent was at the hotel when we arrived he would wait for us outside so he wouldn't been seen. Creep. We ended up sitting chatting with him for two hours in the hotel lobby, trying to get him to leave. He finally got hungry enough that he was going to leave. He told me he was angry with me for not going, to which I simply said that I didn't care. I hate to be rude, but it was a bit over the top. Then he tried to get Bryce to go alone with him since I was the one saying I was tired. Honestly, I thought American guys struggled to take a hint sometimes at bars... not anymore!

That night we took the overnight train back to Cairo. We saw our Kiwi parents outside the train station so that was fun! They are super cool people, I gotta somehow go to NZ to see them in all my spare time and with all my money to travel on -right! Back in Cairo we checked back into the Bostan Hotel which was nice because it was familiar and we knew exactly where to get our croissants and pizza type things for dinner. That day we went to the Egyptian Museum, where we saw King Tut's tomb and mummy mask and all that crazy stuff that I know you have seen pictures of, the gold and blue. It was so crazy to see it all in person! That was on of the things I was most looking forward to seeing. Very Cool.

Then we went to the Citadel and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali there which was pretty neat. His grave is in the Mosque as well. We constantly heard the prayers from the mosques around the towns we were in. They have loud speakers that send the prayers out to those who can't make it to the mosque 5 times a day for prayer. The Mosque was huge, with all Egyptian carpets everywhere. Bryce had to put a big sheet type thing over her clothes. haha.

From the Citadel we went to the Coptic or Christian Area of Cairo. The most interesting was the hanging church and Ben Ezra Synagogue. The Hanging Church is build on the old babylon fortress gate. So under the church is just a bunch of columns supporting it. It was pretty neat. Holy week meant that the church was surrounded with black banners displaying the crucifiction. In order to go into the Synagogue Americans must have private police guards, so our guide told the guards we were Spanish haha. Basically, its safe but there have been some issues and the US gov. has some deal with the tourism police to protect its visitors. Ah, we couldn't be bothered and I am alive so no worries. It is said that the prophet Ezra wrote directly on this synagogue's copy of the old testament - cool. Also it is said that the box of baby Moses was found at this site. hmm who knows, but pretty amazing if so.

The next morning, we were to be picked up and taken to the bus station for our trip out to the Baharia Oasis and our Desert campout. The driver never came, so the tour company asked our hotel to put us into a cab out to the bus station. Our taxi driver spoke no english and we ended up at some tourist trap called Pharaonic Village. He told us there was a bus there and to get out. We made him go check with the guards but he came back and said to go, the bus would come. Very skeptical we got out, only to find the guards spoke little english but that there was no bus there. Sweet. Luckily they were super helpful and even though the village was closed they took us in to a guide who spoke brilliant english, who rang out tour company and told them to come get us. We had already missed our original bus, so we were then given the option to wait for a bus two hours later or to take a collective bus with the locals. Very cool, we were the only foreigners in the minibus crammed in with the shopping of these people from the big city. Think 15 passenger van, only smaller. I had no leg room, but the trip was really enjoyable. There were two wee boys two seats up from us who were having one heck of a time waving with us and playing peek a boo. They also loved to yell things to us in Arabic and point to things, and I don't think they really got that we had no idea what they were saying. Good times. Needless to say, we did it the authentic way on this trip.

We arrived in Baharia Oasis, to find not much. I expected tropical paradise, thats what Oasis means right? nah. We climbed into the highest lifted SUV I have ever been in and headed out to the Black, White, and Western Deserts. Our first stop was a sand bar in the Black Desert. It was really obvious what sand was blowing and what sand wasn't because of the colour. The Black sand was couse and heavy and didn't blow. The orangey sand was the drift sand. We did doughnuts and fishtailed all over the desert, it was brilliant. Our next stop was Panorama Mountain, which we climbed up. The view was brilliant, though cilmbing sand in rainbows was not too fun. We got to stop and see a huge pack of camels and I was so stoked when they stopped so we could take some pictures! We then headed into the White Desert, the contrast was rediculous. The white desert was insane with crazy limestone formations everywhere. It was pretty chill and sleeping under the stars was really cool.

The next morning we went to see the Western Desert, which is in between the Black and White Desert and we found the coolest rocks. They are all spikey, like those cool lightbulbs you can buy... only they are rocks. Apparently, the desert use to be underwater- pretty hard to imagine and the rocks are left from that time. Then we went to Crystal mountain, where it looks like the inside of one huge geode. Although I must admit, it sounds cooler than it is. We returned to the Minimar Hotel on the Baharia Oasis, which was pretty sweet because it was like a huge lake in the middle of the desert, thus the name. The hotel was pretty sweet and we hung out there until our private car came to take us back to Cairo. The owner of th tour company took us to dinner along with sending the private car because of the confusion we had in the process of getting out to the Oasis the previous day. Pretty sweet.

After dinner we headed to the bus station to catch our overnight bus to Dahab on the Sinai penensula. The bus ride was crammed, but it got us where we needed to go eventually, minus a crazy stop in Sharm El Sheik where a guy tried to get Bryce to marry him so he wouldn't have to join the military. Then he asked her if he could give her his number in case she met any other tourists who might be interested. HAHA. wow. We checked into Penguin Village in Dahab on Good Friday, and boy was it a good friday! I fell in love with that place and never wanted to leave. We met some great people and had great craic with the staff. It was cool to be able to joke around with the staff and not have it taken completely the wrong way or have anything dodgy or awkward said. Finally, some Egyptian men we could just be friendly to, rather than the rudeness I found myself always having to portray just so I could stand life.

Bryce was completing her advanced open water diving course, so I went with her shortly after we arrived and while she dove I snorkeled. It was freezing, but so awesome. The fish were wild colours, and I saw many Nemos! We hung out a the sweetest little cabana at Penguin and met some super fun guys, Eric and Tom. The next day Bryce had 3 dives and so I hung out with Eric all day and he even decided to go with me and do an introduction dive.

Breathing out of a tank. Diving was amazing! Once I figured out how to not blow out of my nose, even though I felt like I wasn't, Life was good. We went to 12 meters, and the reef was georgous!! We saw the coolest fish and Eric and I had a great time trying to communicate underwater! He and Bryce both took underwater pictures, so hopefully they will have some good ones for me to later share! I am now determined to get my open water certification, so we shall see. Overall Dahab was brilliant and I was super sad to leave. It was definitely a different side of Egypt but one that I would really love to see again. And of course I would go to Penguin Village! If you fancy a trip, seriously... GO THERE.

Easter night we climbed Mount Sinai, leaving the hotel at 11pm. We climbed from about 1.30am and got to the top about 4am. Bryce was feeling super sick the whole time. We kept trying to leave our tour group, partly because of the dodgy Lebanese guys who were walking with us and asking the oddest question -what is it with guys, seriously... But the group kept waiting for us. I told them over and over to just go ahead that we were cool just taking our time, no need to rush and sit freezing at the top, but whatever. The hike was pretty rediculous, since you start at sea level and go up to 3,000 something feet above it. The final stretch is 750 stairs up. Pretty cool. The path wasn't too steep, but long especially when your body is intended to be sleeping. The top was absolutely freezing, even with the borrowed jumper and hat from Tom. The sunset honestly wasn't all that impressive, but the view was brilliant. And it was just pretty cool to hike by moonlight. Having koshery for dinner was probably not the best idea. Nor was the milkshake for Bryce, although my mango shake was banging!

We climbed down in the morning, took a bus back to Penguin; had the amazing American Breakfast complete with scrambled eggs, cheese toast, and banana pancakes; the took the minibus back to the Cairo airport. The driver was super dodgy, asking us to come back to his house instead of waiting at the airport for Bryce's late night, my early morning flight. When we said no he got pissed and refused to take us farther than the bus station on the edge of the city. Luckily we had to Canadians who are teaching in Cairo with us who were use to crazy Egyptians and they called their hotel guy to talk to him and his company. We finally made it to the airport, and I attempted to sleep from about 10 til my flight check in at 4am. I was super ready to get on the flights and super ready to be home.

But, over all the trip was Brilliant. I would love to go back to Dahab, and maybe to see the Pyramids but overall I think Egypt was a one time deal. Maybe in like 30 years I will want to see it all again. And if so, I will hopefully have a boy to travel with. No more Arab countries without one, I can't handle that harrassment, its just completely uncalled for and in my book not acceptable.

So there we go. Now I am off to Scotland in two days, GAH. I apologize to those of you who read this as I revised it, it has taken me forever to write it all out and to figure it all out. I am sure there is more I can say but I know you already feel like you've spent ages reading this! haha. So ask if you want to know more about something! I will try to get my pictures up soon, but I can't promise anything.

For now, Take Care and for gosh sake, take a trip to Egypt: its such a must do location!