Hi everyone

Hope you are all keeping happy & healthy.

Now where was I..... oh yeah, seem to remember we were in Aqaba, having met up with some old mates on the last update...... mmm, needless to say it got a bit messy that first night!!! However, it was the perfect opportunity to take some time out of the travelling & relax! Aqaba is cool, very touristy but in a perfect location, with a very warm year round climate & it's easy going.
We spent a couple of days pottering around and then took a couple of mates, Gav & Summer, to 'play' with the landrover in the desert of Wadi Rum..... Lawrence of Arabia land!!! We found a cool spot to bushcamp - hidden behind a couple of huge desert rock dunes, then took off the following morning to see if the 'landy' was up for it!! We put it thru' it's paces & it came thru' with shining colours! We marvelled at the awesome desert scenery, nearly lost Gav in a gorge & stumbled onto the camel race track!!! ;-)

Back at base, we prepared for our night ferry crossing into Egypt! All went well, but it is possibly the most expensive 3 hour ferry crossing in the world - it cost us & the car just under $400usd.... Once on Egyptian soil, then the fun really started..... We docked just after midnight & eventually left the port around 3.30am having been passed around like a football from one office to another, collecting paperwork & egyptian number plates! & dishing out another couple of hundred dollars!!!

Anyway, we got to Dahab on sunrise. Dahab is a divers paradise & is apparently the 'poor mans' version of Sharm el Sheik - it has a real cosy feel to it & if you can put up with the constant banter from the locals who want to sell you everything!, then it's absolutely fine! Again, it had the holiday feel to it, especially as we met up with some more mates that are staying there, Karl & Gav did the diving/snorkelling thing, while me & Summer opted for an Egyptian massage.... damn good! Then after goodbyes to Gav & Summer, we spent a few days with Gary & Kirsty, who did a couple of fantastic bbq's & it all got a bit messy again!! ;-)

Anyway, a splash in the red sea, our batteries well and truly recharged & we were off again on the road to Mount Sinai & St Catherines monastery - the scenery on the drive was amazing.... rocky, mountainous, desert - we bushcamped hidden in mountains, in the middle of nowhere or so we thought... until this little bedouin man, who was walking in the pitch black to goodness knows where, suddenly popped up & shared our tea with us -very grateful he was too as he set off again, in the dark! He must have met his mates because not 10 minutes later a 'bakkie' pulls up & out jump another 3 bedouins!! We couldn't understand a word any of them said, but basically we got the gist that they were very happy to meet us.... i think!!

The next day, we were on the road & climbing Mount Sinai by 8.30am!! Mount Sinai, is where Moses found the ten commandments having been instructed to climb, by God's voice from the burning bush! We didn't climb right to the top as there were hundreds of people coming down, but high enough to view the summit. Then we went to the monastery & looked at the 'burning bush'.....mmm.... not convinced.... & then to top it all, one of the guides nearly caused a riot by stating that "this was the wrong mountain & not the right sight of the burning bush" - he was brave! I think people were ready to lynch him, especially as they had spent all night climbing up to the summit!!!!

We then left, for our drive out of the Sinai peninsula. Entering the tunnel of the Suez canal we crossed into Africa on St Valentines Day at 3.30pm ;-) We found a bushcamp hidden away overlooking the Gulf of Suez on a massive windfarm!!....Perfect! ;-)

The following day we clocked 5000 miles as we drove to Luxor. The drive through went from... the odd resort built on the coast of the Suez, to inland barren desert, then our 1st sights of the Nile & lush green fertile land!! I will elaborate more on Luxor, on our return - at the moment all we've done, is taken a horse & carriage to the train station, walked back through a'bazarre' & got the midnight train out to Cairo............

Cairo.... arrived 9am..... complete & utter traffic chaos!! A true reminder that we are back in Africa!! Took taxi to find Ethiopian embassy - the driver had no idea where he was going, so we had a good half hour tour of the madness of Cairo & all for $4usd!! Visa processed, we then headed for the Egyptian museum..... this for me, would be on a par with the treasures in the Vatican city........ it has more priceless artefacts than you can imagine & the Tutankahmun rooms are nothing short of astounding. There is also a 'Royal mummies room', where you find many preserved mummies, including the perfectly well preserved descendants of RamesesII - unfortunately, but understandably there are no cameras allowed in the museum - so you'll all just have to go & check it out for yourselves!!

Speaking, of which - sorry, but no new photo albums just yet, coz i'm on the hotel p.c not our laptop - i will sort it asap!

Anyway, tomorrow we're off to process our Sudanese visa then onto the Pyramids & the Sphinx! & even the' Old bazarre in Cairo"!!

Catch you all laters...., take good care now....., lotsa luv Mandy & Karl Xx