Before I even begin to 'blog' as it was, please let me apologise for the length of this blog which may be considerable!

I finally got back last night from Egypt!!! And it was amazing!!

I arrived at about 3pm on Sunday last week, fell immediately asleep from the flight (and WOW Swiss Air, def my new fav airline....and that has nothing to do with the swicc choc I promise). I was joining a tour group and met some of them and the guide later that night before more sleep! Next day was when the fun began!

Up early for breakfast....a bit of a mixed bag there of nice and inedible. Then it was off to the Egyptian Museum. Some of the stuff there is just amazing! Almost everything from King Tutenkahmens tomb is there and most of it gold encrusted. I swear they threw nothing away ever, way back when he was king...there were old socks and slippers and even (strangely was he only came into power at 10 years old) a linen condom. I saw his famous death mask and also paid extra to go into the mummy room. It was very very very creepy. It was Royal mummies and they were all lying in kind of glass coffins....most of them didnt look like they had been dead all those thousands of years! Creepy creepy.

After that we drove out to the Giza plateau to see the Pyramids!! Words cant describe these, they are just amazing! Our group, only 8 people by the way, took millions of pics.

From there it was back to el-crappola hotel for a swim and rest before our train journey that night, we were all getting to know each other at this stage and luckily everyone was really really nice! We all met up on the hotels rooftop restaurant to have something to eat and managed a shisha as well....so nice and chiled for the train then!

I dont have much to say about the train other than we got on at 9pm on Monday and arrived at 12pm Tuesday.......15 hours overnight, 1000kms, toilets that drop everything directly onto the tracks......and its best left at that.

Once we got off in Aswan it was clear that it was hotter than Cairo! About 38 degrees apparently! We all had a rush lunch and then headed out on the Nile for a little sail about to our Camel riding destination! That was freaky freaky, much bumpier than I thought! We also then visited a Nubian village and had a look in one of their houses....very primative but very welcoming and nice! Our guide then took us to a local school and taught us a bit about the arabic alpahbet and how to write out names etc.....was very plesant to get out of the heat! Our guide then took us to a local market where we could buy all kinds of stuff, at the expense of getting hassled like mad...I had 3 marriage offers in an hour and kept getting "nice eyes" comments....so sems like Egyptian men arent any more original than any others!!

Nexy day was a trip to Abu Simbel....I would love to tell you how great it was but my room-mate Megan and I got sick with "Egypt Belly" and spent the day popping Immodium, only getting up for some Uno playing on the top deck at about 7pm!

So, a day lost, next day was very full. We went to Kom-Ombo temple at 7am which was nice but not as nice as others we would see later. Back to the boat for breakfast it was BOILING hot so naturally decided an entire day of sunbathing on the top deck was required. The breeze created by the sailing gave me a false sense of the temperature, which was about 42 later in the day! After lunch there was a stop in Edfu and we had a horse and cart ride to Edfu temple. The boy driving our cart was only 10 years old! After the temple, Megan and I bargained hard for a pair of Galibeas (those kinda long arab looking thingies that look so cool in the heat..) to wear that night on the boat where there was a disco...fairly dominated by a middle aged group from Paris, but man they liked to party! They got Megan, Bronwyn and me up doing the macarena!

Next day, Friday, another full full day! We first went to the Valley of the Kings, what a desolate location! Amazing to think they actually dug those tombs out of the rock! I went into 2 of them but they were stifling and I started to feel like I was actually being mummified. We were all like zombies walking around in the heat, it was relentless. From there we went on to Al-Deir Al-Bahari temple, the temple of Queen Hatshepsuit. It was fantastic but the hear made it quite unbearable. We did another quick stop and the Clossi of Memon, which is still being excavated, before back to the boat. It was very pleasing to be in such a small group today as we were in a minivan where as most other tourists were in big busses and looked a bit miserable.

From there we moved to a hotel in Luxor and went to Karnack temple, by far my favourite. At one part of it there was 122 columns, 23 meters high each. Some of them still had colours on them, really breathtaking. There was one more stop at Luxor temple, also nice but not as nice, before back to the hotel.

At the hotel there was almost 3 hours before out group was splitting up! Megan and I went for a bit of a walk along the street before the harassment got to much and we went back to the hotel to eat! It was really nice as the entire group came down in parts and we all had quite a good laugh at the very very flirty waiter who gave Megan the eye and all the help she wanted, and then gave me the bill....thanks.

After dinner, Bronwyn, Steven and I were off back to Cairo on the train with our guide. I didnt sleep nearly as well this time and managed to avoid the toilets fully. We left at 9pm and arrived at 6.30am, small relief then that it was less distance.

Last day in Cairo...I was not upset about that!! By far the crappiest place of all the places we visited. First stop at 9am was the Step Pyramid at Saqqara.....5000 years old! We then made a quick visit to the 'Hanging Church' which is weirdly build oversome other ruins. Also slightly notable, the roof is made to look like Noahs Arc, was quite beautiful. Our final final last stop was at the Kahn el Khallili market, I would have been freaked here if it hadnt been for Seven and Bronywn, altho we still got lost all the same! Finally finding our way out, we were back to the hotel in Cairo for a bit of a sleep! Later we met up on the hotels rooftop restaurant for a few drinks and some dinner, was really a very nice ending!

Last part of the trip was getting a crazy taxi to the airport with a random Kiwi chick I met (thankfully, as the taxi was a bit third world..) and then getting a flight back to London and then shivvering in the 11 degree heat and the rain of London...ah well!!

So, with my tan already fading I am really wishing I was back on holiday again and am really wanting to go somewhere soon! Sadly, I have no more leave owing to me so have to make do with, well, NOT going anywhere! Bah!!