Day 9: Cairo - Dahab
Leave Cairo in the morning in an air-conditioned coach for a scenic ride from the Nile delta through the Sinai Peninsula to the seaside city of Dahab. Transfer to your hotel. Spend your day relaxing on the shores of the Red Sea, overnight at your hotel in Dahab.
We arrived mid morning at our hotel which looked quite nice, couches in the tiled foyer, big pool with bar, right by the beach. There was a problem with the booking unfortunately, not enough rooms available. We ended up getting rooms, but Pete had to stay in a different hotel.
W
e had a nap in the room, a nap by the pool and a swim. The rooms at the hotel were not the nicest, ours had electrical problems, but we had a room and the pool was nice. The other problem was that the hotel was about 10km from town. We headed into town for dinner and met Pete and Christina. The 6 of us ate at Funny Mummy, a chilled out restaurant on the beach, no chairs, just cushions and rugs. It was cheap and had cats running around the restaurant, but the best bit was the water spray bottles to spray the strays! 
Day 10: Dahab
This is a free day to be spent as you feel. Dahab is a relaxing small resort town. In Dahab there are many options available, snorkeling, swimming, sun-tanning, and scuba diving.
Christine had been talking about it a few times in different places around the world. And since we had 5 days we figured, what the hell. Christine went Scuba Diving. We were a bit nervous about the 
mouth piece and her dodgy jaw, but it was fine. She loved it, she was a natural, according to Christine! After the Great Barrier Reef, the Red Sea is meant to be one of the best snorkelling and scuba areas in the world. She saw coral, fish, sea horses and played with Nemo (clown fish), sadly no turtles! Now she wants to get her dive licence. Shelly and Christina also did the diving, but were starting the 3 day dive certificate. This left Damien and Brett to sleep, swim, drink beer and be lazy by the pool the whole day...nice!
When the girls returned and got ready it was back into town for a look around and dinner in the same restaurant as the night before. Town is very laid back, lots of restaurants, shops and sheesha places along the beach.
Day 11: Dahab
This is another day free to be spent as you see fit. With snorkeling, swimming, sun-tanning, scuba diving and good food and drink available you will find much to do; or nothing to do but enjoy the sun, overnight at your hotel in Dahab.
Again Shelly went scuba diving, Christina has dropped out of the course. Th
e other 5 of us hired snorkels and fins and headed to the ‘famous’ blue hole. This is a coral reef with a deep hole in the middle filled with fish and tourists. We had to get a 4x4 jeep to drive us there as there is no road, it was that or a camel. We had a guide, but he spent more time worrying about the other tourists, who couldn’t swim, than guiding us! The snorkelling was good, heaps and heaps of fish.
Day 12: Dahab - St Catherine - Sinai
Today you will be taken to the historic Mount Sinai, a place sacred to 3 religions. This evening we climb the mountain to its peak.
Shelly managed to finish the 3 day dive course in 2 days, so we headed back to the blue hole with Shelly and without the guide! We spent the day in and out of the water, spending the rest of the time in the coffee shops and lying in the sun. Was good to get back into the water, its hard to get sick of chasing fish, but still no turtles! It was then an early dinner at the hotel by the pool and then to bed to get some sleep before a big hike!
Day 13: St Catherine - Dahab
In the early morning you will see a sunrise over the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula that you will remember forever. After a brisk trip down the mountain you will enter one of the oldest functioning monasteries in the world, Saint Catherine's Monastery. Inside this monastery contains the famed location of the burning bush that spoke to Moses. Then enter an air-conditioned coach for the trip back to Dahab.
One of the reasons we chose this tour is because it had a night hike to the top of Mt Sina
i the highest mountain in Egypt. Leaving the hotel at 2am we were at the base of the mountain by about 3.30pm. We then had 2-3 hours walking up. There was the option of taking a camel some of the way. This was a pain as it meant we were dodging the camels much of the way up the hill. The hike was in the dark but it was not too bad as there was a full moon that gave some light. 
We were at the top in time for sunrise which was the point of the exercise obviously! It was cold but very nice. Amazing how quick the sun rises
after you have hiked in the dark for 3 hours! It really is something that we are glad that we bothered to do. Possibly the nicest part of the walk was the walk down, in the early morning sunshine. Unlike on the way up we could see all around the region. It was baron, rocky an orangey yellow color, amazing in the morning light.
After heading back down the mountain we visited Saint Catherine’s Monastery. This is at the base of the mountain. This is where the burning bush is and Mt Sinai is the mountain that Moses climbed to collect the 10 commandments. Again it was full of busloads of tourists, some of which were quite pushy and rude. Shoulder to shoulder in a monastery is not exactly idyllic.
It was around midday when we got back to the hotel. Seemingly short on time we decided to grab our snorkels and head into town to the ‘lighthouse’ diving area. This was another reef, but in the beach next to town. We sat in a restaurant on lounges, snorkelled, drank Turkish coffee, ate and swam for the afternoon. We then met up with Pete and Christina and the 6 of us had dinner in town, again in a restaurant by the beach.
Day 14: Dahab - Cairo
Today you will be driven back to Cairo in an air-conditioned coach.
We were up and ready for our bus by 8am, which we had asked for an early departure. We were hoping to be in Cairo in time for sunset over the Sphinx and pyramids. Not for the first time, Pete was late to pick us up, our only complaint about Expat Explore is regularly we were told a pick up time only to wait 30min-1hr before actually being picked up. The bus then had to get fuel and stopped for a few other things. We missed sunset.
The drive back was long and felt longer than the way for two reasons, it was day time so much hotter, and we were hoping to be back for sunset. We drove along the Red Sea, then inland through about 6 hours of desert, crossed the Suiez Canal, through about another 2 hours of desert before finally making it back into Cairo.
We still headed down to the Sphinx, to have dinner in the Pizza Hut, which has a view of the light show on the Pyramids and Sphinx. Well that was the plan anyway, the hotel put the 4 of us, (Brett and Shelly) us in a cab and told the driver where to go. Unfortunately something was lost in translation and he took us to the wrong Pizza Hut, so we told him, ‘No Pizza Hut Sphinx’. He then drove, and drove and drove. We had no idea where we were or where we were going. We knew the place we wanted to go was about 5min from the hotel, but this guy drove us for an hour. Eventually he pulled over, out front of another Pizza Hut. We all jumped out, relieved to be out of the car. We went into the Pizza Hut and spoke to one of the staff who spoke English. Apparently we had been dropped at ‘Sphinx Square’ about an hour out of Cairo! Pizza Hut then let us use the phone to call the hotel, so we could get Pete on the phone to clear things up. Pete had the drivers number, so got him to come back for us. The driver then drove at 150km/h along busy Cairo freeways, to get us to the right Pizza Hut, didn’t take that long! It was like something out of a computer game, sitting in this cab flying down the highway!
The cab fare was pre organised with the hotel, based on the 5 minute journey it should have been. We tipped him a bit extra but after nearly 2 hours in the car we paid about $10 Finally in the right place we had a classy dinner and watched the light show from the Pizza Hut rooftop. Thank god for the guy in the Pizza Hut that spoke English and let us use the phone, life saver!
After dinner we walked back to the hotel!
Day 15: Cairo
Enjoy breakfast in the hotel and then you will say goodbye to all your new friends.
We were up early again, this time to catch Brett and Shelly, who have become quite good friends of ours over the past 2 weeks. They were heading to the airport and on to London this morning. We spent the rest of the day with Pete, the tour guide. The tour is over but we told us he would take us to see his apartment, which is half built. He had some things to sort out with builders etc but was also showing a few of his friends the place. It is different in Egypt, the developer builds the building, but that is it, just a brick structure. The owner then has to organise doors, windows, gas, water, electricity, fittings etc... It explains a lot, while driving around Cairo you notice a lot of buildings that look half built, or half ruined. Pete’s place looks like it is going to be really nice, not far from the Pyramids, it still has a bit to be done but it is spacious, and we saw the tiles that he has just bought to put through out.
After this we said good bye to Pete and Christina, we had to take another cab into the centre of Cairo, as the hotel was fully booked. The company was supposed to organise our extra nights, but must have forgot. Our new hotel, for our last two nights wasn’t as nice, but was centrally located in the middle of Cairo, so not a bad result.
Our last day in Egypt we spent wandering around Cairo. It was a really good day. Travelling at our own pace and away from some of the tourists. We walked from the hotel, in search of a post box.
The hotel had given us directions that led us down a street which had lots of local markets, selling everything from books, board games, clothing and fish. Absorbing everything around us, we missed the mail box. We asked some more people who pointed us back the way we came. We even met a friendly German lady who was living in the area. After wandering past them 2 or 3 times, we finally found the overflowing mailboxes. When you know where they are, their kind of hard to miss! A local guy who was posting hundreds of letters helped us jam our mail in.
We continued walking, we saw some local butchers with full sheep hanging up, camels and sheep in side streets and ended up in a little local coffee shop.
After a coffee break we jumped in a taxi and headed across town to the Old Cairo Bazaar. Christine enjoyed the markets so much the first time that she wanted to head back. We weren’t as successful this time, having already bought a few things we wanted. We tried buying some beer t-shirts, but we couldn’t find the styles and sizes we wanted. We got some scarf’s and some more touristy items! After our shopping we headed back to the hotel for a beer and then out for dinner, one last Egyptian feed, Kufta! which is like lamb sausages.
After a wonderful time in an amazing country, the next morning it was our turn to get a transfer out to the airport for our flight home. As amazing as the Pyramids are we have learnt over the last two weeks, how much more Egypt has to offer!
Leave Cairo in the morning in an air-conditioned coach for a scenic ride from the Nile delta through the Sinai Peninsula to the seaside city of Dahab. Transfer to your hotel. Spend your day relaxing on the shores of the Red Sea, overnight at your hotel in Dahab.
We arrived mid morning at our hotel which looked quite nice, couches in the tiled foyer, big pool with bar, right by the beach. There was a problem with the booking unfortunately, not enough rooms available. We ended up getting rooms, but Pete had to stay in a different hotel.
W
e had a nap in the room, a nap by the pool and a swim. The rooms at the hotel were not the nicest, ours had electrical problems, but we had a room and the pool was nice. The other problem was that the hotel was about 10km from town. We headed into town for dinner and met Pete and Christina. The 6 of us ate at Funny Mummy, a chilled out restaurant on the beach, no chairs, just cushions and rugs. It was cheap and had cats running around the restaurant, but the best bit was the water spray bottles to spray the strays! Day 10: Dahab
This is a free day to be spent as you feel. Dahab is a relaxing small resort town. In Dahab there are many options available, snorkeling, swimming, sun-tanning, and scuba diving.
Christine had been talking about it a few times in different places around the world. And since we had 5 days we figured, what the hell. Christine went Scuba Diving. We were a bit nervous about the 
mouth piece and her dodgy jaw, but it was fine. She loved it, she was a natural, according to Christine! After the Great Barrier Reef, the Red Sea is meant to be one of the best snorkelling and scuba areas in the world. She saw coral, fish, sea horses and played with Nemo (clown fish), sadly no turtles! Now she wants to get her dive licence. Shelly and Christina also did the diving, but were starting the 3 day dive certificate. This left Damien and Brett to sleep, swim, drink beer and be lazy by the pool the whole day...nice!When the girls returned and got ready it was back into town for a look around and dinner in the same restaurant as the night before. Town is very laid back, lots of restaurants, shops and sheesha places along the beach.
Day 11: Dahab
This is another day free to be spent as you see fit. With snorkeling, swimming, sun-tanning, scuba diving and good food and drink available you will find much to do; or nothing to do but enjoy the sun, overnight at your hotel in Dahab.
Again Shelly went scuba diving, Christina has dropped out of the course. Th
e other 5 of us hired snorkels and fins and headed to the ‘famous’ blue hole. This is a coral reef with a deep hole in the middle filled with fish and tourists. We had to get a 4x4 jeep to drive us there as there is no road, it was that or a camel. We had a guide, but he spent more time worrying about the other tourists, who couldn’t swim, than guiding us! The snorkelling was good, heaps and heaps of fish.Day 12: Dahab - St Catherine - Sinai
Today you will be taken to the historic Mount Sinai, a place sacred to 3 religions. This evening we climb the mountain to its peak.
Shelly managed to finish the 3 day dive course in 2 days, so we headed back to the blue hole with Shelly and without the guide! We spent the day in and out of the water, spending the rest of the time in the coffee shops and lying in the sun. Was good to get back into the water, its hard to get sick of chasing fish, but still no turtles! It was then an early dinner at the hotel by the pool and then to bed to get some sleep before a big hike!
Day 13: St Catherine - Dahab
In the early morning you will see a sunrise over the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula that you will remember forever. After a brisk trip down the mountain you will enter one of the oldest functioning monasteries in the world, Saint Catherine's Monastery. Inside this monastery contains the famed location of the burning bush that spoke to Moses. Then enter an air-conditioned coach for the trip back to Dahab.
One of the reasons we chose this tour is because it had a night hike to the top of Mt Sina
i the highest mountain in Egypt. Leaving the hotel at 2am we were at the base of the mountain by about 3.30pm. We then had 2-3 hours walking up. There was the option of taking a camel some of the way. This was a pain as it meant we were dodging the camels much of the way up the hill. The hike was in the dark but it was not too bad as there was a full moon that gave some light. We were at the top in time for sunrise which was the point of the exercise obviously! It was cold but very nice. Amazing how quick the sun rises
after you have hiked in the dark for 3 hours! It really is something that we are glad that we bothered to do. Possibly the nicest part of the walk was the walk down, in the early morning sunshine. Unlike on the way up we could see all around the region. It was baron, rocky an orangey yellow color, amazing in the morning light.After heading back down the mountain we visited Saint Catherine’s Monastery. This is at the base of the mountain. This is where the burning bush is and Mt Sinai is the mountain that Moses climbed to collect the 10 commandments. Again it was full of busloads of tourists, some of which were quite pushy and rude. Shoulder to shoulder in a monastery is not exactly idyllic.
It was around midday when we got back to the hotel. Seemingly short on time we decided to grab our snorkels and head into town to the ‘lighthouse’ diving area. This was another reef, but in the beach next to town. We sat in a restaurant on lounges, snorkelled, drank Turkish coffee, ate and swam for the afternoon. We then met up with Pete and Christina and the 6 of us had dinner in town, again in a restaurant by the beach.
Day 14: Dahab - Cairo
Today you will be driven back to Cairo in an air-conditioned coach.
We were up and ready for our bus by 8am, which we had asked for an early departure. We were hoping to be in Cairo in time for sunset over the Sphinx and pyramids. Not for the first time, Pete was late to pick us up, our only complaint about Expat Explore is regularly we were told a pick up time only to wait 30min-1hr before actually being picked up. The bus then had to get fuel and stopped for a few other things. We missed sunset.
The drive back was long and felt longer than the way for two reasons, it was day time so much hotter, and we were hoping to be back for sunset. We drove along the Red Sea, then inland through about 6 hours of desert, crossed the Suiez Canal, through about another 2 hours of desert before finally making it back into Cairo.
We still headed down to the Sphinx, to have dinner in the Pizza Hut, which has a view of the light show on the Pyramids and Sphinx. Well that was the plan anyway, the hotel put the 4 of us, (Brett and Shelly) us in a cab and told the driver where to go. Unfortunately something was lost in translation and he took us to the wrong Pizza Hut, so we told him, ‘No Pizza Hut Sphinx’. He then drove, and drove and drove. We had no idea where we were or where we were going. We knew the place we wanted to go was about 5min from the hotel, but this guy drove us for an hour. Eventually he pulled over, out front of another Pizza Hut. We all jumped out, relieved to be out of the car. We went into the Pizza Hut and spoke to one of the staff who spoke English. Apparently we had been dropped at ‘Sphinx Square’ about an hour out of Cairo! Pizza Hut then let us use the phone to call the hotel, so we could get Pete on the phone to clear things up. Pete had the drivers number, so got him to come back for us. The driver then drove at 150km/h along busy Cairo freeways, to get us to the right Pizza Hut, didn’t take that long! It was like something out of a computer game, sitting in this cab flying down the highway!
The cab fare was pre organised with the hotel, based on the 5 minute journey it should have been. We tipped him a bit extra but after nearly 2 hours in the car we paid about $10 Finally in the right place we had a classy dinner and watched the light show from the Pizza Hut rooftop. Thank god for the guy in the Pizza Hut that spoke English and let us use the phone, life saver!
After dinner we walked back to the hotel!
Day 15: Cairo
Enjoy breakfast in the hotel and then you will say goodbye to all your new friends.
We were up early again, this time to catch Brett and Shelly, who have become quite good friends of ours over the past 2 weeks. They were heading to the airport and on to London this morning. We spent the rest of the day with Pete, the tour guide. The tour is over but we told us he would take us to see his apartment, which is half built. He had some things to sort out with builders etc but was also showing a few of his friends the place. It is different in Egypt, the developer builds the building, but that is it, just a brick structure. The owner then has to organise doors, windows, gas, water, electricity, fittings etc... It explains a lot, while driving around Cairo you notice a lot of buildings that look half built, or half ruined. Pete’s place looks like it is going to be really nice, not far from the Pyramids, it still has a bit to be done but it is spacious, and we saw the tiles that he has just bought to put through out.
After this we said good bye to Pete and Christina, we had to take another cab into the centre of Cairo, as the hotel was fully booked. The company was supposed to organise our extra nights, but must have forgot. Our new hotel, for our last two nights wasn’t as nice, but was centrally located in the middle of Cairo, so not a bad result.
Our last day in Egypt we spent wandering around Cairo. It was a really good day. Travelling at our own pace and away from some of the tourists. We walked from the hotel, in search of a post box.
The hotel had given us directions that led us down a street which had lots of local markets, selling everything from books, board games, clothing and fish. Absorbing everything around us, we missed the mail box. We asked some more people who pointed us back the way we came. We even met a friendly German lady who was living in the area. After wandering past them 2 or 3 times, we finally found the overflowing mailboxes. When you know where they are, their kind of hard to miss! A local guy who was posting hundreds of letters helped us jam our mail in.We continued walking, we saw some local butchers with full sheep hanging up, camels and sheep in side streets and ended up in a little local coffee shop.
After a coffee break we jumped in a taxi and headed across town to the Old Cairo Bazaar. Christine enjoyed the markets so much the first time that she wanted to head back. We weren’t as successful this time, having already bought a few things we wanted. We tried buying some beer t-shirts, but we couldn’t find the styles and sizes we wanted. We got some scarf’s and some more touristy items! After our shopping we headed back to the hotel for a beer and then out for dinner, one last Egyptian feed, Kufta! which is like lamb sausages.
After a wonderful time in an amazing country, the next morning it was our turn to get a transfer out to the airport for our flight home. As amazing as the Pyramids are we have learnt over the last two weeks, how much more Egypt has to offer!
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