Three thousand, nine hundred and seventy. That is the number of steps leading up to the top of Mount Sinai (where several religions believe Moses gave his ten commandments). They are called the steps of repentance, and if that is true then I think I have repented enough to make up for any mischief I get up to for the rest of the trip.Four of us made the climb via the steps to meet the rest of the group at the top in time for sunset at the top of the mountain befo...

Part of me is looking forward to leaving Egypt (in two days) - in many ways I have really enjoyed my time here. The country and history is unique in the places I have been, the cities and food has been memorable and so far I have really enjoyed the Intrepid tour group. However one thing is beginning to grate a little, and that is the people.It is not that the people are horrible, or unwelcoming - far from it, most of them are lovely people and I have very much en...

Apparently the temperature passed 50 Celsius the other day - and I would absolutely believe it. I cannot remember the last time I remember feeling so hot. The scary thing is that we are all drinking tons of water, and yet none of us are really using the toilet too much.At least it is a dry heat, and not humid like other areas of the world I have visited - and so we are still getting out and seeing Egypt. For some reason we included a visit to the hottest place in...

A few days into my trip now, and so far I am really enjoying it. Being in a small group is much better then some of the large groups I have seen, and whilst much of the trip has very much been on the beaten track (it is Egypt after all, one cannot avoid the pyramids for example) there have been several times when we have enjoyed a more unique experience.One of the highlights so far for me was a visit to a small Nubian village outside Aswan. Our group was taken by...

I could not visit Egypt and not spend a few words mentioning our visit to the pyramids. We visited both the pyramids and the sphinx, both amazing sites to see. To think of what was achieved by the Egyptian empires up to seven thousand years ago is amazing.The big surprise for me though is how much more enjoyable I have found some of the other ancient sites around Egypt. Visiting the pyramids left me at times feeling a little bit like herded cattle, necessary due ...