Dahab is renowned for being Egypt's back-packer haven - much less commercialised, more laid back and far cheaper than Sharm El-Sheikh………but we wouldn't know too much about that as we checked ourselves into a 5* Hilton resort!! We decided that we simply had to splurge it for our last six days and boy are we glad that we did! We took a deluxe room with a huge bed, sofa, bath, all the usual luxuries and a big outdoor terrace with a hammock. We had...

We had a fantastic time back in Sharm. Not only did we find Nemo but most of his mates and met some pretty nice species of humans too! Sharm El-Sheikh is a purpose built tourist resort, devoid of any real Egyptian culture and dominated by big tour groups (mostly scantily glad Russians actually!). This and the fact that it is by no means cheap would keep it off most back-packer itineraries but we came back for what is under the water. We really wanted to end our...

We have had a great time in Luxor, seen some fantastic sights, met some really nice people and, most excitingly, some 20 years after Jim failed to to fix it for Graham . . . taken a hot air balloon flight! Initially, the early morning police convoy from Aswan was a little disconcerting - especially when the armed guard hopped in our minibus! To start with it all feels very Kate Adie-like, but pretty soon you realise that it is all a farce. Our guess is that all ...

Our journey to Aswan started with a successful navigation of Cairo's metro system. This proved incredibly easy and at less that 5p each for a 20 minute journey, probably the best value underground in the world! Our overnight train left from Giza station which, in contrast, has to be the worst place on earth to catch an unfamiliar train. Despite having a few platforms and being a pretty major transport hub, the station has no terminal building, no departures board...

The 48 hours since leaving Sharm El-Sheikh were certainly not the best that we have had and left us cursing all things and people Egyptian for a while. The chain of events goes like this: The cab driver from Sharm wanted slightly over the odds, but an acceptable amount for his fare, but then proceeded to drop us (clearly intentionally) at the wrong bus station 2 miles short of where we needed to be. We found another cab who successfully short changed us and s...