Myself and Susie arrived safely almost 24 hours after leaving Brisbane, with short stop overs in Singapore and Dubai (didn't bump into Stevie Wonder or anyone else famous this time :-( ).

We had no problems getting our Egypt visa on arrival (once we knew where to queue) and slipped through immigration and customs without a hitch.

We certainly stood out, me blonde and Susie currently a strawberry blonde. Most women wear head coverings and some full burkas. The mens clothing is also quite different with a few wearing the long sleeve dress thingy and others looking typical arab with the checkered head covering and black headband to keep it in place.

After the long haul we both took turns to use the bathroom and mind each other's stuff - most expensive bathroom stop ever as Susie only had USD so gave them her smallest note - $5! And I still didnt know the exchange rate so gave the lady 50 £ (approx $8 AUD) with only 30 £ change ... we've since realised its only 1£ (approx 15 cents)!

Welcome to Egypt! And we've been getting ripped off on prices from water, fruit and souveneirs ever since! :-)

We managed to get a good price on the cab to our hotel in Giza - approx $10AUD as had a few fellows fighting for our business.

Business is very down here since 'the revolution', with only 2 million visitors per annum, down from their usual 20 million!!! Every one seems desperate to sell and get your dollars.

It was a long ride to the hotel and was surprised to see the streets were not like India as I expected. There were more cars and few bikes, there were trees and green spaces, no children begging at my window and thankfully no cows!!!

The traffic was horrendous and have since discovered it always is from morning til late at night! It makes crossing the road like a real life game of frogger :-)

The highways are lined with billboards in arabic and english advertising home delivery of pizza hut, McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, selling new cars like Susie's subaru and promoting shows like X Factor and Arab Idol!

We had a few days to ourselves before the tour to explore Cairo.

Day one - As we arrived late we went straight to the rooftop bar for a drink and food then bed.

Day two - We walked around Giza, fell for touts scams who told us they worked at our hotel and new a good bazaar we should go to, Susie spent a small fortune on perfume oil at the tourist shop and he would have received a tidy commission! We also did on a nile dinner cruise enjoying the buffet, local music, whirling dervishes and a belly dancer for entertainment.

Day three - We did a day trip tour to Alexandria. We saw the catacombs, pompei pillar, citadel, library and the back blocks on the way back when trying to rat run to avoid a traffic jam!

Day four - City tour of citadel (where when going through security they asked cheekily asked us, 'Any bombs?'. 'No I left them in the car!' I replied! Then to coptic cairo, kahn el kalili bazaar (but seemed to miss a lot as went with taxi and no guide?!) Although we didn't miss Tahir Square! Number one tourist attraction and the site of the revolution protests, 'Only on Fridays'! That's because it's the Holy day.

Day five - We head off with our awesome new Geckos tour buddies, and very cool leader Muhammed to see the sphinx and pyramids! Climbing inside 2 to see where one the tombs and mummies were kept. There was also an option to do the museum but think I had a bit of heat stroke so passed knowing I could do it on our return to Cairo - we dropped people off there though and got to see the burned building next door where the protesters had ignited it during what they term as 'black Saturday'. We left that night via overnight train to Aswan and still on it now ...

We stayed at King's Hotel in Giza, it was basic but we loved the rooftop bar (which we finally realised you can see the pyramids from!) and the boys working there also took a shine to us, chasing us down the stairs on the last night to say, 'You come back and party with us?'

We said we would when we return to Cairo after our time in the south but always worry what their expectations are of us as some men think Western women are as easy as they look in film clips and there to be gawked at and groped!

Some of the men are quite attractive though. Dark good looks, some with the most amazing hazel eyes.

Some are friendly and cheeky calling out to us at the markets - 'Welcome to Egypt!, 'Hey you look like Charlize Theron!', or Shakira ... or Catherine Zeta Jones! Some say, 'You look like an Egyptian!' Susie's had a marriage proposal and an offer of a kiss from an eight year old boy! Others offer us their wares 'free for love' or free if you give me a kiss! Some ask, 'How many camels?'. Another offered, 'Buy one, get me free!'.

They also hiss at us, cat call and say things on Arabic we don't understand ...

Mostly it has been fun but when we did a day trip to Alexandria we were thankful to be with our guide and male driver as some men seemed quite aggressive and our driver was arguing with them to leave us alone.

One of the girls in our tour group when wearing a pretty sleeved, baggy knee length dress was told by a local lady to cover up as there had been an increase in rapes in the area.

But then when we're at the pyramids you spot westerners and asians in short shorts and one even with their bum hanging out!

Most days I wear tshirts / long pants and carry the scarf with me to cover up if I feel we're attracting unwelcome attention.

One bug bear since we arrived is the dust and smoke!

Dust storms are common this time of year coming in from the Sahara. There was a dust haze over the city for a few days which irritated our noses & sinus :-(

Then men everywhere are smoking!