The last two days have been spent in Aswan as we explored Upper Egypt. On the 22nd we had another early morning, surprise surprise, getting up at 2:45 am to take a three plus hour bus ride out to Abu Simbel. So for people at home that is about 7 hours total on the bus. That being said it was worth the trip. After that once lunch was done we had a lovely felucca ride out to drop off our camel riders and we took a nice ride around the Nile. I did not do the camel ...

We had a party! It was so much fun to be able to relax and have a great time with all our new friends. The gallebeya party was after dinner and even though both Archeological Paths groups on our boat were invited, our group Horus were the only ones who came. Everyone had a turn on the dance floor and even with a 3 am wake up call looming we stayed up late laughing and drinking. Earlier at dinner we had sung Happy Birthday and given a card to our guide Mohamed ...

Okay so I want to take a moment and talk about trash is Egypt. It is not a pretty topic and in Cairo it is down right heartbreaking. Egypt has no real means of collecting trash. If the Egyptians are done with something they drop it out of their hands and never think about it again. In Cairo the canals and even the Nile are so full of trash it forms island sometimes with living and or dead animals on it. It is so bad it took our group four days to ask about it b...

Let me take a moment and tell you about the vendors in Egypt. And yes they are vendors, not merchants, and they are an experience all their own. Vendors in Egypt are everywhere - they stand outside the hotel entrance, wait for you outside the bus at all temples and tombs, and some even have small markets full of booths as you attempt to exit a location. These vendors make telemarketers look like timid kittens! They are in fact so aggressive that some of them cal...

This morning we got to sleep in until 6:45 am, Yeah! Finally some sleep. We started at about 8:30 am and headed out to Edfu Temple. This is the Temple dedicated to the god Horus who also happens to be the name of our group on this tour so of course we had to take a group photo with the Horus statue at the temple. We took a horse buggy to and from the temple as buses are not allowed. After that we had a chance to relax on the boat as we sailed to Komombo to see...