After being extremely spoilt in Dubai, we made our way to Egypt. (Just a quick plug for Emirates - flying with them was amazing. Plenty of room, good food and plenty of new movies to choose from).

We thought the traffic was bad in Dubai, but it was nothing compared to the nightmare conditions in Cairo. 20 million drivers and none of them obey the road rules. The locals seem to have a road system only known to them, where swerving, beeping your horn and driving across 2 lanes are all apart of some "system". Surprisingly we only saw 1 accident, and it involved a bus and a motorbike. (Unfortunately this accident has done very little for my chances of Leanne letting me get my motor cycle licence when I get home).

Another negative aspect of Cairo was the people and the filth of the city. Both get up your nose as soon as you leave the hotel.

On a more positive note, the landmarks of this country are just awesome. With our organised tour we experienced more than we could have imagined, and a very short list of highlights are as follows:

- Getting up close and personal to the Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza (both during the day and at night)

- Being amazed in the Egyptian museum

- Walking through the Karnak Temple

- Hot air balloon ride over the city and country-side of Luxor

- Doney ride through a remote village

- Walking through the tombs of several temples and pryamids

- Seeing the amazing statues and temple of Abu Simbel

- Spending 3 days and 3 nights floating along the nile on a felucca (yacht type of boat)

- City tour of Alexandria

- Camel ride up Mt Sinai

- Watching the sunrise on top of Mt Sinai

- Scuba diving in the red sea

- Shopping and haggling with the locals in the bazaars

These places and activities were truly amazing. The only disapointment was getting food poison every now and then and having to come back to deal with the filth and people of Cairo.

Egypt has a flavour all of its own, and it is a city we will love and hate for years to come.

*** We may also like to take this opportunity to say happy birthday for all of the people we have missed, and all of those that are having birthdays in November and December. We would also like to wish all of you who have been keeping up to date with our journey via this website a very safe and happy Christmas and festive season. We look forward to catching up with you all in the new year.

Cheers,

Leanne and Mal.