Cairo & the Pyramids of Giza
We flew into Cairo where our tour kicked off from. The drive in from the airport to our hotel provided our first chance to get an impression of Egypt. Two things stick in my mind. The first is that although the roads have lanes painted on them and there are traffic lights etc, these are viewed by all Egyptian drivers as being 'just for decoration'. Cars and vans (and the occasional horse drawn cart) weaved between each other on the 3 lane motorway. Surprisingly the traffic seemed to flow reasonably well and we saw very few accidents while we were there. Second, was the skyline - a huge golden sunset lit up the sky and the sillouette of the many domes and towers of Cairo's mosques looked incredible against the backdrop.
We spent our first day having a look around the main market area of Cairo in the heart of the ancient Islamic part of the city. We had a great time looking round and everyone was very friendly - even people who weren't trying to sell you something! 'Welcome to Egypt' was common greeting..... although 'Lucky man! Lucky man!' was also often heard..... although I was never offered a sufficient number of camels to part with Michelle. We didn't buy much - but passed the time wandering around the back streets and stumbling upon little treasures like a local bakery where we got some great little pastries. We also had our first taste of mosques by visiting the Al-Azhar mosque which has been a mosque and university for over 1000 years.
Our tour set off the next day. We were travelling with a group of about 8 friends who Sel and Andrew had got together for the trip, although there was about 30 of us on the tour. We were led by an Egyptian guide - 'Zizo' (a.k.a Rangi - "Sweet as") who had studied Egyptology at university so had a huge amount of knowledge and could tell a good yarn too.
Our first day took in a couple of the big names of the tour - the great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Our first pyramid was actually the 'Stepped' pyramid - which the first pyramid built.... after this the pyramids just got bigger - with the pyramids of Giza being the largest and most impressive built. The age and size of these giant tombs was quite incredible - it is strange to think that so much resource went into building them and that they would be under construction throughout the life of the pharoh that would eventually end up in them. The Sphinx was also very impressive and it was quite surreal to be there seeing these iconic Egyptian sights in person.
From Cairo we were lucky enough to avoid an overnight train and flew south to Aswan. Our first internal flight experience was fairly comical - little attention seemed to be paid to the production of boarding cards..... I was Mrs Ross Nelson, travelling with Mr Michelle Nelson. We were also joined by Mr Andrew Buttlid (a.k.a Bulled) and Miss Selena Hurdel (a.k.a Hurndell). Security was equally lack - scanners beeped as you walked through... but that's fine.... similarly bags were scanned - but no one was actually looking at the scanner screen..... it was all seemingly just for show. Slightly unnerving..... as was the 1 hour wait on the plane while they did 'scheduled maintenance'. Hmmm. Anyway - we made it.
Aswan
Our hotel in Aswan was adjoined to the Old Cataract hotel - which was used as a backdrop for the Death on the Nile film and was where Agatha Christie wrote part of the book. It is quite highbrow and we learned after lwe left that French President Sarkosy was staying there. We had a Christmas eve drink here on the balcony overlooking the Nile..... but unfortunately had to retreat to our 'Egyptian 5 star' hotel nearby for the evening.......
From Aswan we visited the Philae Temple - which sits on an island in a lake - quite a picturesque setting which made it one of the more memorable ones we saw. The temple was heavily influenced by Roman architecture - with two rows of pillars at its entrance. The temple was once submerged when the lake was dammed - and so to rescue it, it was shifted piece by piece and reconstructed on the island safe from the waters in the 1970s.
Christmas day - Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel is about 300km south of Aswan - and close to the boarder with Sudan. We were up before the crack of dawn for the 3 hour bus trip. As with most trips in the south of Egypt we were joined by the mandatory police convoy - one little armed police truck at the front - a string of tourist buses and vans - another little armed police truck in the middle - a string of tourist buses and then another little armed police truck at the back. These convoys were brought in after some terrorist incidents aimed at harming Egypt's tourist industry - but they seem to have the effect of ensuring there are large quantities of tourists travelling at pre-scheduled times along known routes each day - I am no expert on these matters - but the phrase 'sitting ducks' does spring to mind.
Abu Simbel was carved into a mountain in around 1200 BC by Ramses II - but became buried by sand and forgotten until it was accidentally rediscovered in around 1800 - supposedly when a donkey fell down a hole...... 
This temple (and the smaller Hathor Temple next to it) is renowned as the most impressive in Egypt - huge gods carved out of rock line the entrance and inside the walls feature detailed paintings and hieroglyphics. The temple is built in such a way that twice a year the sun's rays shine through the entrance and into the inner temple to light up the gods (and Ramses II himself - who was humble enough to have himself sit as a god alongside the others).
Sailing on the Nile
From Aswan we abandoned the confines of our tour bus and police convoys and took to the waters of the Nile on our felucca - a smallish open sailing boat. There were around 12 of us on ours and it was skippered by Honeymoon the only one with a small cabin.
Life on a felucca is basic - the deck was covered with mattresses, there is no running water, no power or lights and no toilet. The days are passed laying back in the sun - eating, drinking, reading and taking in the experience of zig-zagging down the Nile. There were occasional stops to let passengers step ashore and find a bush - hopefully out of sight of the curious locals and away from roaming dogs. In the evening a canvas top and sides were put up and sleeping bags were rolled out. This was about the only real down time on our trip and it was a real highlight for most. We left relaxed, rested (kinda) and mildly hungover.
Luxor
Next stop was Luxor which is a tourism hub of Egypt - a base from which to explore the Valley of the Kings and home to the magnificent Karnak Temple.
After (another) pre-dawn start we found ourselves dangerously close to knocking the roof off someone's house before our hot air balloon could get itself some decent altitude. Once up we could look down on Luxor and then the Nile - not to mention other balloons who had landed in sugar cane and on an outdoor breakfast set up for Tony Blair who was also hot air ballooning that day (although not with us). It was great fun - although it was nice to feel the basket touch the ground after an hour or so.......
Valley of the Kings was our next stop - home to the Tomb of Tutankhamun the most recently discovered tomb - made famous by the man who discovered it in 1922 Howard Carter unearthing not only the mummy of the boy king, but also incredible riches of gold and other treasure. Interestingly - Tutankhamun was a bit of a non-event as far as Egytian kings went - dying young after a short reign - but the wealth that was buried with him hints at what would have been buried (and since stolen) in the other 60 odd tombs in the valley - particularly those of great kings. We visited a few of the tombs - each dug deep into the barren rocky sides of this remote valley. Incredible paintings line the entrances, walls and ceilings of each. It was amazing to think that we were entering a tomb - the oldest of which are said to date back to 2000 years BC.There has been a lot of talk of temples and tombs already - hence the saying in Egypt ('ATB' ... another bloody Temple') but we should also mention Karnak Temple - a huge site (about 1.5km x 0.8km) filled with pylons, obelisks and sanctuaries. A great spot to wander round and explore - and plenty of great photo opportunities for Hayds (team Canon) and Andrew (team Nikon). Enough I hear you say - ok.
Dahab - A break from temples
After a long overnight bus trip (13 hours?!) we arrived on the Sinai Peninsula. Our base - Dahab is on the eastern side of the Peninsula and looks across to Saudi Arabia. It is most famous as a base for Red Sea diving - but also for its thick shakes and pancakes - the latter two perhaps being in demand due to the abundance of pot and shisha smoking tourists which have given Dahub the nickname of being the 'Ko Samui' of the Middle East.Our accommodation was brand new. Like - they were still unpacking the plates and cutlery from boxes as we sat down for lunch. It made for an interesting stay - commencing business with a full house is perhaps not the best way to get your systems up and running! Having said that - we enjoyed our time there.
Our 3 days here were bascialy spent diving. We kicked off with two relatively straight-forward dives - the Lighthouse and the Islands.... but the real diving came the next day. We were up early to ensure that we were first in the water at the Canyon. Here we swum from the shore and then down into a narrow hole which dropped us down to around 30ms. After sitting in a cavern at the bottom for a few minutes and playing games to check whether we were narked or not, we swum out a small crevice and over the cavern where we had been. Our bubbles were seeping through the coral ceiling of the cavern and so we were surrounded by thousands of small bubbles - it was like being in a little aquarium. Incredible.Next dive was Bells to Blue Hole. Once again we slipped off the rocky shore - this time literally straight into a narrow hole and again sunk down to about 30 metres. Nicknamed the Bells because of the clanging sounds from tanks hitting each other as they squeeze through the hole. From here we swum along a vertical reef - which dropped straight down to 600 metres. To the left was endless crystal clear Red Sea water - down there was nothing - just deep blue water - and to the right - the reef face lined with coral and fish life. We then entered the infamous Blue Hole - a stone's throw from the shore and a dive site that claims more than its fair share of divers - perhaps due to the tendency for divers to be drawn deep into its depths - 80 metres in total. This dive - and the Canyon were a real buzz - and rate right up there with the Rainbow Warrior (and probably surpass Barrier Reef) as our most memorable dives.
We spent New Years Eve in Dahub - I kicked off the night with a night dive - thus ensuring that I achieved by the end of 2007 my objective of getting Padi Advanced Diver qualified with about 5-6 hours to spare. The night was pretty low key - not helped by the fact that (once again) we would be up early the next day to travel.
Crossing into Jordan
After driving north along the Sinai Peninsula we took a ferry for the short 2 hour trip across to Aqaba in Jordan. Aqaba is a busy port town - and since Iraq's ports were closed is one of the main entry points for supplies to Iraq - which are then taken by road north through Jordan and across the border. The best thing about Aqaba is that is a special trade zone - and as such the whole town is like a duty free store. First stop on the bus was a mini market - at which we were like kids in a candy store - french wine, sparkling water, snacks - all the goodness of home which in Egypt had been hard to come by - or fairly expensive. Great times - NZ could do with a town like this. [Right - Zizo!]Wadi Rum
We drove north to Wadi Rum - passing along the way disturbingly close to the border of Israel. Wadi Rum is a dessert area which we explored on the back of old 4x4s. The highlight of this area was our night spent at a Bedouin desert camp. Dinner was a 'BBQ' - but cooked like a hangi - with the food buried and cooked underground. What came out was some of the best juicy lamb and chicken we'd had in a long time. After dinner we sat round a large open fire smoking sheisha (traditional egypitian pipes in which you smoke flavoured tobacco such as apple) and toasting marshmellows while the Bedouin men danced round and round in circles in a dance style that resembled line dancing. Happy days.Petra - The Lost City
Without question, the main tourist attraction in Jordan is Petra. 
The Dead Sea
As we made our way further north we passed by the Dead Sea. Here we stopped and floated in the salty waters - and of course rubbed the thick mud all over us to benefit from its supposed healing properties. Not sure about the healing properties (particularly when applied to one's face - Andrew) but it did make for some funny photo opportunities. It was quite surreal to be so buoyant as we lay in the muddy Dead Sea waters.
Having spent 4 days in Jordan we found ourselves back where we started in Cairo. Here we finished off the tour with another day or two of sightseeing and a bit of downtime at the hotel.We had enjoyed a great trip. The people we met along the way were in the main very friendly and we felt very safe where ever we went. The food was good (although eggs for breakfast did start to wear a bit thin) and it was a cheap place to travel. It was also great to learn a bit more about the Muslim way of life; the similarities and differences between their faith and the Christian faith, understanding more about how moderate Muslims live and also the things that the modern western world has which are based on ideas in the middle east - universities and church bell towers to name a couple!
