Cairo - how to describe it…utter chaos!! I have never seen such bad traffic congestion, it took us 3 hours to leave Cairo a couple of days ago! Not only is there awful congestion, but the drivers are a nightmare. To walk across the road is to risk your life, even being in a car is scary! Even though there are lanes and traffic lights, everyone ignores them, driving in-between lanes and rather than signalling to move, they just beep their horns, its madness. We were in a taxi looking to enter a road from a slip road, and so the driver just decided to pull out one lane at a time and hope the traffic stopped. Unfortunately I was on the incoming cars side of the taxi, but we somehow made it across in one piece and the driver cheered and laughed, despite our look of total shock! Also the drivers have no idea where anything is and they don't read Arabic, so half our taxi rides consisted on pulling over to ask various bystanders where to go! Last taxi story in Cairo…we were in a taxi to get to the 'other Pyramids' and I went to put my seat belt on (in the front seat) and my driver told me to not bother…you'll be very happy to know I ignored him and am still here!

Anyway onto the tourist bit of the trip…so far, we've spent a couple of days in Cairo, visiting the Egyptian museum, visiting Tahrir Square and the revolution wall, and the other Pyramids (the red and bent Pyramids in Dashrur and the step Pyramid in Saqqara). These Pyramids were pretty cool, with the step Pyramid being the oldest in Egypt and we climbed down inside the red Pyramid - an interesting experience to say the least. We also visited the Islamic part of Cairo, which was really non-touristy (we were the only tourists we saw), and really old - we went into a mosque which is the oldest university in the world, and were forced to wear big flowing gowns in addition to a headscarves, I'll try and upload the photo at one stage, lets just say its not the most flattering outfit I've ever worn! We actually met a local man who took us around and didn't try to rip us off, which was a novelty for Cairo.

On our way out of Cairo, we visited the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx. Both of which were very cool, but there were so many people hassling us and being aggressive, plus a number of tourists, so its difficult to decide which set of Pyramids I enjoyed more (at the other Pyramids, we were the only tourists there). By the time the truck left Cairo, everyone was so happy, as the people in Cairo are mostly rude, extremely aggressive and sly. On our trip out of Cairo (the 3 hour journey), we managed to have a minor crash with a car (guess which vehicle came out of it worse, no-one should mess with our truck!), plus another lorry decided to smash our wing mirror when passing us! The journey wasn't all bad though, as during the traffic jams, we managed to see camels and bulls being transported in small pick up trucks alongside us, which kept us entertained!!

So after we managed to leave Cairo, we had a 8 hour journey to Hurghada on the Red Sea coast. We only managed to spend a day here, and went out snorkelling trip. Saw quite a few cool fish and coral, and it only cost 9 quid, so was well worth it. The water was so clear, just a shame it was a bit overcast. From Hurghada we travelled down to Aswan, where I currently am. Due to the complications of entering Sudan, our darling truck has already left on the boat to Sudan (long story), so we travelled down in relative luxury of an air conditioned coach! Spent an interesting day today at the Sudanese Embassy - only waited around outside for 3 hours, which we wiled away playing uno and eating homemade falafel wraps from a little shop, which only cost 20p each. We were told the guy that stamps the visas is on holiday for 2 weeks, but after various meetings with the top guy, our tour leader managed to get us in - we've been told that if we go back in two days at 10am, we will be given our visas… fingers crossed it works out!

So our next couple of days will be in and around Aswan…tonight we're off to Abu Simbel. Apparently twice a year, they open the monument for sunrise, as the sun will hit the statues at a certain point, so we're off to see that tonight (and tomorrow morning) as its supposed to be spectacular, then tomorrow we're going for a Nubian meal in a village (the local tribal group), before heading off for a couple of days on a felucca up the Nile to Luxor.

At the moment, I'll be quite glad to leave Egypt as we've got loads of hassle and most of the people want to trick and deceive you, but so far Aswan has been a pleasant surprise. People have been very friendly and helpful, so I'm hoping that continues. There are so few tourists around down here - not sure how safe it is, as we have to travel in military convoy to Abu Simbel tonight(!), but everyone does seem grateful that we're here. Sudan is going to be interesting - hopefully we'll get our visas and then also be let in at the border. We've got a 20 hour journey across Lake Nasser to Sudan which again will be interesting, so wish us luck! I stupidly left my camera usb lead on the truck, so won't be able to upload any photos yet. Most people on the truck seem to be cool, so we've all been getting along well.

Hope everyone is well xx