Egypt - Part 1

It was a very pleasant flight to Egypt due to British Air’s entertainment system and mini bar. We got into Cairo very happy at around midnight. After getting our visa we were picked up by the tour company ‘Egypt Explore’ and taken to our hotel. We reached the hotel and were pleased to be put in a room with a view of the pyramids, but not pleased to discover there was no hot water. Day 1: Cairo
Arrive in Cairo airport, you will be met by our representative who will assist you through the formalities and then transferred to your hotel to meet your guide for briefing about the tour package; overnight at your hotel in Cairo.
We had a good sleep in the next day by finally got up to find some food. This resulted in a very long walk around the neighbourhood as the reception girls couldn’t give us a map and insisted a supermarket was too far to walk to. We did eventually find some water but had given up on food so ate in the hotel instead. This left us time to have a swim before getting ready to meet the tour group at 5pm.
This is the second tour we have been outnumbered by Kiwi’s. We were actually the only Australian’s which is nice for a change. The rest of the group consisted of a kiwi couple we got to know quite well, an older kiwi couple, a Saffa/English couple, the tour guides girlfriend and a Columbian girl. Everyone was very nice which made the trip more enjoyable.

For dinner that night we headed to the Nile River for a dinner cruise with live entertainment. This was a belly dancer and a male dancer who wears a very colourful cloak as a skirt and spends the whole time spinning in circles. I don’t know how he doesn’t fall over as he was spinning for around half an hour. The food was a nice combination of western and Egyptian. Our guide wisely recommended we hit the dessert bar quickly, before the bus loads of Indians cleared it out!
Day 2: Cairo - Giza Pyramids - Aswan
After breakfast you will start the tour by visiting the awe inspiring Great Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza plateau, then head to Sakkara to visit the Step Pyramid- the first completed Pyramid in Egypt and some other amazing tombs. After a day of seeing 4500 year old ancient structures, you will take the overnight first class train up the River Nile to Aswan. Our first day in Cairo was spent exploring the Pyramids. First stop was the Sakkara Step Pyramid. This pyramid was actually the first to be completed in Egypt. It is a tomb from the old dynasty. Originally it was to be a simple rectangle shape, about 5 meters high. This however would never be grand enough for a king, so an extra 5 or so smaller rectangles were layered on top, forming ‘steps’ in a pyramid shape. The entry was through a columnade, like a hallway with heaps of old limestone pillars and columns.
It was then off to a perfume shop for a drink. The guy who runs the store was pretty funny, he kept saying ‘get high before you die’, ‘hubbly bubbly’ and other random phrases in a very thick Egyptian accent. Damien’s sneezing ensured the guy didn’t get a sale from us!
The Great Pyramids were our next stop. These are the 3 biggest and most famous in Egypt. They are surprisingly close to Cairo, that or our hotel (Pyramid View Hotel) is a long way from the centre of Cairo, a bit of both I think! Our guide, Peter, explained a bit about the history and why they were built (apparently their not built by aliens, who would have guessed!). They are tombs for the kings with 3 smaller pyramids nearby for the queens. We were then free to walk around the first pyramid. This really is an amazing experience, not an easy one to explain. Damien actually got to go over and pose against it, although this cost him 5 pound ($1AUD) Egyptian to the Tourist Police who let him through in the first place. We quickly learnt that Westerners are looked upon as walking dollar signs and the Egyptians have had years of tourism to find the best ways to make you part with your money.

Back on the bus, we drove past the second Pyramid and stopped on a sand dune just past the third pyramid. This has a great view of the 3 big Pyramids as well as the 3 smaller Pyramids. It was also very exciting as we had vouchers for a free camel ride. It was cool to ride a camel at the pyramids, although it was a bit brief and very touristy (get on the camel, ride a few hundred meters, photo, ride back, get off camel).
As if this wasn’t enough for one day, we headed on to the Sphinx. That funny looking lion cat with a person’s head. Cool to look at from a distance, but the closer you get, the more tourists in a very small viewing platform.
Dinner was at a nearby restaurant, another buffet, similar food to last night maybe a bit nicer. It also caused a few concerns later that night on the overnight train. The first cases of ‘Pharaohs Curse’ for our tour!

Day 3: Aswan
Arrive in Aswan around 10:00, you will be transferred to your hotel in Aswan and start your Nile quest by visiting the Philae Temple, the Unfinished Obelisk and the famous High Dam of Aswan which after completion in 1971, created Lake Nasser. Free evening at your leisure, overnight at your hotel in Aswan.
The train, first class, by Egyptian standards, was ok, but hard to sleep. There were 6 seats in the little compartment, we shared with the Dianna, the Columbian girl, and 3 guys from a different tour group. The train was also 2-3 hours late to arrive to Aswan, although this is a reasonable time to arrive according to our guide, some days it takes longer.
We had an hour to check in, shower and relax before heading out to do the sightseeing. Damien opted out, still not feeling great. The group visited the unfinished Obelisk, which by all reports was a few rocks lying in the dessert (bit like an aboriginal watering hole, Dad might like it!). The High Dam of Aswan is quite amazing, although not to look at. It was built to control the Nile water, which previously would flood numerous cities for 3-4 months of the year. Not only this but all of the Crocodiles which were living in the Nile, on the northern side of the dam (all the way to Cairo), were relocated to the south side of the dam. The highlight of the day was the Philae Temple. This was a temple in the middle of an island. After a short boat ride, Peter gave us a rundown of what its all about before leaving us to explore. The walls are very well preserved, covered in carvings and hieroglyphics. Day 3 of the tour and everyone is exhausted! But no rest for the wicked, tomorrow morning is the side trip to Abu Simbel, with a 4am wakeup call! An early night and looking forward to a relaxing few days on the felucca.
Day 4: Felucca cruise from Aswan
After breakfast start exploring the Nile by boarding a traditional felucca, on which you will spend the next two nights. Onboard the felucca you will sail around the Elephantine and Kitchener islands, overnight on the felucca
We were up early, really early! The bus picked us up and we headed to Aswan to join the convoy. All the tours going to Abu Simbel must do so in convoy, surrounded by military vehicles. Some buses, not ours, even have soldiers riding in the bus. If your late to meet the convoy, the road is closed and you cant go. It was a 3 hour drive from Aswan to Abu Simbel, through the dessert with nothing to see except sand and the rising sun. Our driver was fast, very fast. This was a good thing. On the long straight roads, we passed many of the other tours, meaning when we arrived it was not as crowded as it would soon become. Abu Simbel is another Kings temple. It is made even more extraordinary by the fact that where it is today, is not where it was built. It was originally in the side of a mountain that is now covered in water, under the dam water. When the dam was being built this temple was also relocated brick by brick. Not that we saw it back in the day, but it looks like they put it back together properly, everything in the right spot and no damage, amazing. There is some damage to the exterior statues, however this occurred much later, during an earthquake.
So what is at Abu Simbel? Two tombs, the king and queen. The Kings has 4 giant (20m) statues on the outside. These are of the gods that are protecting him. The queens has 6 slightly smaller statues. They are built into the side of a hill, and the inside is filled with yet more statues and hieroglyphics and carvings. Very well preserved and full of tourists. A long journey but definitely worth going for a look. Back in Aswan it was another quick shower in preparation to board out felucca sail boat. We were on board by about 3pm and heading down the Nile out of Aswan by 4pm. After a short sail we pulled up on the banks of the Nile for a swim, an Egyptian feed on board and to stay the night.
Day 5: Felucca Cruise
Free day for leisure sailing down the River Nile enjoy the amazing view of the River, overnight on the Felucca. (All meals served on the Felucca)
A Felucca is a old traditional Egyptian sail boat. It is basic, very basic. No cabin, no shower and no toilet. The deck is covered in mattresses and cushions. We spent the day relaxing on the deck, and the night sleeping on the deck. There are two crew who sailed the boat and prepared the meals for us. We sailed most of the day which was nice and very relaxing, with nothing to do but sleep, read and listen to music. We stopped on the banks for lunch, a swim and to build a sand pyramid. The cold beers on board helped us pass the afternoon as we continued to sail and relax. Then before sunset we pulled up on the banks again for more swimming, drinking and eating.
The felucca was amazing one of many highlights of our Egypt tour. Sadly we felt it was a bit short, the 3 days on felucca is shortened by the late start the first day and the sailing finishes at 9am the last day. Each night we were also parked up in the same place as the other felucca tours (10-12 in total), which sort of takes away from the whole ‘traditional’ experience.

Back in London... again!

After the airport dramas, Damien and I decided that it would be good to have a lazy day. We got up for breakfast then went back to bed. This was basically the rest of the week for me as I got a migraine. The weather has picked up again and the papers are all saying that summer has returned. I went for a walk in Hyde Park to see the Anish Kapoor sculpture but found the security a bit annoying. Damien and I returned on Saturday before he cooked an amazing Red Curry. We met up with some of the guys we met in Croatia at a bar that night as the tour leader is heading back to Melbourne. It’s nice knowing we have some more friends to catch up with over winter, I’m not looking forward to the cold weather! On Sunday the sun was shining so we got a move on and headed to Richmond Park. This is a massive park in the South west of London which used to be a private hunting ground for deer. Now it is open to public but it still has its deer. We watched an old stag chasing off the young competition and a herd of reindeer stampede past.

The week before Egypt has been a blur! Damien managed to pick up a weeks work at a school which is fantastic as it will pay our rent. I have had to get up at the same time as him, shower, have breakfast then ring my Agency at 7am to ask if they have any work. This has paid off 3 out of 4 days. The first 2 days we were actually at the same school which was a bit strange. It was nice having company on the journey home.

Our best DC friend Mel left for Krakow in Poland on Wednesday morning so we won’t see her again as she is returning to Brisbane whilst we are in Egypt. We have tried to have lots of quality Mel time. Monday night was curry at Brick lane which is a bit like Brunswick Street in Melbourne, except full of Indians. You walk down the street and all the restaurant owners try to convince you that their restaurant has the best food and the best value. We managed to get 2 courses with a beer for Damien and bottle of wine of our choosing for £10 each, not bad. Tuesday night was a BBQ on the balcony then lots of hugs good bye. We will both really miss her but look forward to visiting Brisbane.

One of the other girls who has been at DC for about 2 years is also leaving whilst we are away and we miss her going away party. So instead we cooked a family dinner last night. This was a massive pot of Spaghetti Bolognese, garlic bread then apple strudel and custard for dessert.

Tonight we are going to go to a show called Avenue Q which is basically Muppets for adults and supposed to be hilarious. We have been wanting to see it for a long time but never got around to it. Now we have to see it as it is finishing to go to New York at the end of the month. The show was hilarious. Puppets doing things that puppets shouldn’t do and classic songs like “Everybody’s a little bit racist” and “The internet is good (for porn)”. Tomorrow it’s a sleep in, then pack and head to Egypt. It’s a hard life we are living over here. (:

Copenhagen - Denmark

We decided when our friend Mel told us she was leaving we needed to have one last travelling horary. Mel had mentioned that she was planning to go to Copenhagen so we informed her we would be coming. We arrived in Copenhagen mid morning after an early flight. We headed straight to the HI hostel, only to find out that there are two in the city, and we were at the wrong one! We arrived at the big one that we were actually staying at, but the rooms weren’t ready. We went for a walk around town, which is when we realised, damn, its cold!
Were staying quite close to Tivoli Gardens which we thought would be quite nice. What we didn’t realise was it is actually a theme park (like Luna Park), and it is closed for the cooler months. We looked at shops and tried to find somewhere to eat, finally settling on an international restaurant. Copenhagen is famous for two things, a mermaid statue (which we found out is currently in China) and Europe’s longest pedestrian shopping street. We spent the afternoon wandering past the shops before returning to the hostel for an early night. Luckily Copenhagen has a few Australian Pubs. Not normally of much interest to us, but given the Grand Final replay being on, we had to find one at 7am. A few beers, a disappointing game and a mid morning nap and we were ready to once again hit the streets of Copenhagen.
We headed to the Copenhagen Design Museum. It had displays on the design history of Denmark. Everything from chairs and furniture to cups, telephones and cars. It was good, and the girls really loved it.
We love travelling with Mel. Not only does she have the art background similar to Christine, but her motivation for visiting galleries and museums is amazing. She also is a coffee fiend, so once again we headed to a cafe for coffee and cakes. The rest of the day was lazily spent and another quiet night.
Sunday was a bit of a sleep in before we got up and got moving. Mel had a big day planned. We took the train out of Copenhagen to the Aarken Art Gallery. It is a contemporary art gallery and we all really enjoyed it. It had a whole room with works by Damien Hirst, one of Christines favourites. There was interesting mirror spiral pieces you could walk through and a light and water installation. There was also an exhibition of a guys works who had heaps of paintings of jungle scenes that are a bit cartoonish, very cool!
Next we took another train over to another town, Roskilde. This was a quiet little place. The main attraction was the Viking Museum which we had a look around. Its actually on a bay so a lot of the boats are in the water. There are also some ruins of original Viking ships stored inside the museum. We walked through a nice park and had a quick look at the big church in town before heading back to the train station. Exhausted (again), had a bottle of wine and chilled at the hostel for the evening.
Monday morning we were up early for another big day, a day trip to Sweeden! Back on to the train, over a big bridge to Malmo. We really liked Malmo, the sun was out which helped, but it was a very nice place. We wandered through another nice park on our way to the modern area of town, with its Twisted Torso, high rise building. This was a very cool building, by the water, with a view of the big bridge we had taken the train across in the morning. On the way back to the old town we visited the little huts that are the fish market and the old castle (not the most impressive castle we have seen), converted into a museum.
The old town in Malmo had some big squares, shopping streets and nice old buildings. We had a look at the shops, sculptures in the street and buildings. Next the girls wanted to go to the Chocolate museum, which turned out to be a bit disappointing. It was basically just a shop, with a bit of old chocolate stuff, and a few little samples. We then hurried back to the train to get back to Copenhagen.
Tonight we headed out to ‘Norrebro Bryghus’ a local smallish brewery. We had organised to meet Daniel, he lives in Copenhagen, we met snowboarding last year. The three of us started sharing the beer sampler, a glass of each of the 9 beers on tap. We had a few more of our favourite beers, served by a friendly local who is soon moving to Melbourne! When the bar closed Daniel took us to a cocktail bar and then another pub. We had a great night, stumbling home in the wee hours of the morning, we had a bit of fun with the bike counter. We found a bike lane that had a counter, and a screen showing how many bikes have ridden past that day. We might have been there a while, but by jumping on the sensor, we tripled the number of ‘bikes’ that had ridden past!
After a few hours sleep we had to be up to check out. After some breakfast we hit the streets again. We walked along the river bank and the through the Christianshavn district. It has a church with amazing gold spire and nice buildings along canals. We chilled on a couch in a cafe for a while before heading back into the old town. We had Danish sausages for lunch, Mel had been craving a fat sausage. A bit more shopping and then we hit one more gallery. Finally we headed back to the airport for our flight back to London.
Thanks Mel for a great trip to Copenhagen. But mostly thanks again for being such a good friend, you have enhanced our time in London. I know you will enjoy being back in Sunny BrisVegas, but you will also be missed over here. Hope to see you back in Aus soon!