Hi all. I'm nearly at the end of a few weeks cruising around Egypt. I flew from Madrid to Cairo on the 20th July. My plane landed in Cairo at about 2am and although I thought I was ready for Cairo, you're never ready for Cairo. I always avoid taxi drivers etc. waiting at the exits and made my way to the information desk at the airport (it had a big sign saying INFORMATION). I'd decided not to use a guide book to get around this time. I asked the bloke for some information on some hotels in Cairo............"Don't have any"............then I asked for a map of Cairo..........."Don't have one".....next questions was obviously what information do you have......."Nothing, speak to the tourist operators". Welcome to Egypt. I eventually settled on a hotel and got in a cab (after paying off the policeman because it wasn't a licenced cab). Cairo is crazy 24 hours a day with noise, cars, pollution and just plain chaos. I eventually got to sleep at about 4am and then got woken up at 4:30am by loud speakers in the Mosque near my room wailing something in Arabic. My first Muslim country. After a month in Europe I'd relaxed a little and a little kid quickly woke me up with a clever 'note swap' that cost me about $10. I spent the next seven days seeing all the usual sites from Giza right down the Nile towards the border with Sudan. It was pretty tough travelling and I was getting pretty tired of Egyptians by the end. There are so many scams and money changing hands that there's no way a traveller can know what's happening. Eventually I got the hang of how things worked though, and although I'm sure I've been ripped off nearly every hour of the day, I learnt how to limit the damage. I spent a few days on a Felluca head down the Nile which was nice (they can't bother you on a boat), and then jumped on one of Egypts 50 year old buses (it broke down twice) for a 20 hour (it was supposed to be 13) trip to Dahab on the Red Sea. This was a welcome change as the place was beautiful and my room overlooking the water was well worth the $12 a night. I spent 6 days here doing my advanced dive certificate and doing a few extra dives. The water is 28 degrees and the coral reefs were pretty impressive (although dying at a rapid rate apparently). It's been one of the most relaxing weeks of my trip so far and the tan is pretty impressive (how's the tans going in Melbourne?). The Egyptian culture is certainly the most difficult and different culture I've encountered so far, but the more time you spend here the more you work them out and understand why things are as they are. From here it's on to London to catch up with Sarah again (and enjoy my first English speaking country for 6 months). Hope all is well in at home. Go the Demons!! (Collingwood who?).