Bedouin Moon Dahab

2 May 2007 - Wednesday Maybe I'm a little excited for this upcoming holiday, but maybe I'm a bit more than a little excited. It seems that recently my holidays are composed of completely new experiences, which probably is a good recipe for mental and physical stimulation. Firstly, the pain (oh the pain) and the minor victories of learning to snowboard. Next new skill (if you could call it that for me) introduced to me by Peter, mountain biking... and then of course coming up on the weekend is...

Breakfast at Bedouin Hotel - bread, butter, jam, egg and tea. Stopped in at the Thomas Cook travel agency. Booked 4 day, 3 night cruise on the Nile River from Aswan to Luxor, although at the time we thought it was a 3 day / 2 night cruise. Also booked hotel in Aswan and a trip to Abu Simbel. Credit card rejected when trying to pay. Remember to call credit card company before leaving on a trip to inform them that charges will appear from foreign countries. Didn't leave Thomas Cook until 11:30A...

Breakfast on the ship. We were there early enough to miss Jude. Whew! Today is our last day in Aswan, and our last chance to take the local ferry across the river. We went out, we looked, we watched, we looked some more, and finally just did it. Walked down to the ferry landing. Ticket man wanted E₤2 per person. After a brief haggle, we got in for E₤1 per person. It seems so simple now, but getting onto this ferry was quite a challenge. Short ride across the river to visit the Tom...

The 6AM call to prayer by the muezzin woke us up. The ship must've docked right next to the mosque. Left for Temple of Horus in Edfu at 7am by horse-drawn carriage. Checked out the falcon statue, solar barque (which is a replica of the original located in the Louve), colors on the pillars, etc. Stayed from 7:30 to 8:30AM. Carriage back to ship, then cruised to Esna. Arrived in the early afternoon. Went for a walk around the town, but there's nothing much to see. Back to the ship to hang out o...

Got up after sleeping for 15 hours. Ate breakfast on Happy Land's rooftop terrace. We have a free day to explore Luxor. Walked to the train station, then to Luxor Temple. Sat in the square by the mosque for a while. Walked all the way to Karnak Temples. Snuck onto a cruise ship to use their WC. Ate a late lunch at MacDonalds. Stayed there until 4pm. Walked through the local souq, then back to Happy Land to hang out for a while on the terrace. Walked down to the train station to catch the slee...

Breakfast on the train. Got off at Giza station even though I think the train was supposed to go all the way to Ramses station in Cairo. Took metro back to downtown Cairo and walked back to the Bedouin Hotel. They gave us room 206, which is a nice room with its own bathroom. Walked to Islamic Cairo. Explored the Khan al-Khalili. Did the walking tour. Ate a couple of oranges and energy bars for lunch on the steps around Midan Hussein. Walked to Al Azhar mosque/university. Went inside to check ...

Breakfast at the Bedouin. Heading off for our 3 day / 2 night desert trip today. Abdul took us to the Turgoman bus station and helped us get on the bus headed for the Baharya Oasis. Six hour ride to the oasis with 1 rest stop in the middle. Met Yoshimi, an English teacher from Kyoto, Japan, at the dropoff. Picked up by a representative of Badr's Sahara Camp. Short ride to the camp where we had lunch and sat around for a while. We opted to go into the desert today, so they drove us around the ...

Up just before sunrise to take pictures. Wow, this place is great! After a simple breakfast, we packed up camp and drove off to see the old and new White Desert. Stopped to look for flower stones, Crystal Mountain, and climb a hill in the Black Desert. Arrived back at Badr's for lunch where we met Hiroko, a Japanese language teacher working in Australia. Sat around talking for a while. Yoshimi left for Cairo on the 3pm bus. We went with Hiroko on the Baharya Oasis tour, with stops at the Salt...

Breakfast at the camp. Walked around to take a few pictures, and caught the 10am "bus" back to Cairo. The real bus broke down yesterday and was not available for today's trip. Instead, Badr hooked us up on a minivan. The van, with a maximum capacity of 13, had 17 occupants for the 4 hour ride to Cairo. Again, one rest stop in the middle of the desert. Dropoff point was somewhere by El Monib metro station. I'll never understand why buses depart from one station and arrive someplace completely ...