Arrived in Cairo at midnight on Saturday. It was not hot, but the humidity was immediately noticeable and it was warm. Airport was interesting as our tour leader met us pre-immigration or customs and was very helpful in directing us to the bank to buy our $15USD entry to Egypt visa. All done and we were off to be entered into the country.

Our hotel is basic, but clean and tidy so can't really complain. Sharing a room with Jess.

Down for breakfast on Sunday and met a few more fellow travellers:

Jess - 18, British, present room buddy

Julie - 29; British; girlfriend of Micheal (aka Cheese)

Michael - 29; British; boyfriend of Julie; surname Cheeseman

Tegan - 29; Australian; been travelling Europe

Clare - 29; British; met up with her in London pre-trip

Mayka - 28; Dutch; travelling with Lotte; female

Lotte - 28; Dutch; travelling with Mayka; female

Brian - age unknown, Alaskan; travel photographer

Neil - late 50's; Australian; potential for being rather annoying

Mission today was to get our introductory letter to Sudan from the Australian embassy. Mission accomplished without much hassle, however we did have to sign a statutory declaration confirming that we understood that the Australian government could only provide limited assistance in Sudan... no worries mate!

Tegan and I then headed off the Egyptian museum. We had our first con when we decided to have lunch. An ever so helpful Egyptian man appeared and offered to show us where the cafe's were so we followed along not realising he had a specific cafe in mind. Down we sat and he started just bringing food. Alarm bells were now ringing. First salad arrived which we were not really willing to chance due to not knowing how it had been washed, then the refried beans type substance arrived this was when we just had to say that we were ever so sorry but NO! Chicken came and it was hot so we thought, ok, but alas the middle was cold - ewww so we didn't eat much of that. The bread seemed the only really safe option. Bill arrived for 180Egyptian pounds (£18) and we then had it confirmed we had been conned. We paid 160 and promptly left having great difficulty to shake off our helper who then thought that we should give him some money for his children. That was of course met with - yes, we have, our lunch money!

We decided to put this experience behind us and to get our heads firmly into an African mindset.

We met Julie and Cheese at the Egyptian museum and went on an extensive tour where the process of mummification was explained in great detail. We also learnt how to tell if the subject of a statue was alive or dead and royal or common. It all has to do with the location of the hands, the shape of the beard, if there is a beard at all and the location of the legs - all very interesting.

Back to the hotel for beer and food and to meet some more fellow travellers:

Zac - 23; Australian; travelling with Rochelle, but not a couple; been living in Manchester

Rochelle (Shelly) - 19; Australian; travelling with Zac, never been outside of Australia

Day 2

A group of us decided to go to the Red and White pyramids and so set off in 2 cabs. Cabs are cheap and we only paid 200 Egyptian pounds for the use of a taxi for 6 hours, that is about £20 split between 5.

We got to go inside one pyramid which was very cool although it was just empty chambers inside and a lot hotter than we were expecting. We had to almost crawl down a long ramp into the first of three chambers. Once right inside the smell of ammonia was a real assault on the nostrils, but we were in a pyramid!! Traffic in Cairo is something else and when it took us 2.5 hours to get home in a cab - we were a little late for our initial trip meeting - but hey ho, we are going to need to be flexible on this trip.

Met the rest of the crew tonight at the meeting and dinner afterwards:

Rory - age unknown; NZ; boyfriend of Shelley.

Shelley - age unknown; NZ; girlfriend on Rory; yes second Shelly.

Brian - age unknown; Danish; train driver; yes second Brian.

Two Japanese travellers - 1 female and 1 male. Names and ages yet to be determined, not overly chatty.

Laura - age unknown; British; travelling alone.

So now you know the crew... let the games begin!