Radisson Sas Resort, El Quseir

... year-old and kick and scream, as I didn’t think I’d be able to take it anymore – but in the end, onward I went, like everyone else in the group!]

The visit to St. Catherine’s Monastery was well worth getting up for. The monastery is a place of busy everyday life as well as profound spirituality. It traces its origins to around 330 AD, when the Roman empress Helena had a small chapel and a fortified refuge for local hermits built ...

... Secrets” at Al Fayed, and containing gardenia, rose, jasmine, sweet pea, lavender) and Hugo Boss (called “Tut-Ankh-Amon” – orange, lemon, lavender).

During the second part of the demo, we covered flower essences – pure peppermint oil for flu, sinuses, and colds, for example. During the last part of the demo, we learned about spice scents, such as using sandalwood for dry skin, age spots, wrinkles; musk on ...

We were now in Hurghada, which is on the Red Sea. When we had arrived at the hotel we were all looking forward to it as the bus pulled up in front of a rather nice looking resort-style hotel. However, our hotel was across the street. It was the budget option. Mina, our tour leader, had warned us that it was probably worse than the ****** hotel in Cairo. I think he may have said that just to lower our expectations to the lowest they could be because the hotel was alright in my ...

... fun began.  A truck had slowed and stopped near our bus, which at the time the bus driver motioned to keep going as if the truck was stopping to see if we were broken down.  Well this truck wasn't stopping to see if we were okay.  Our tour guide, the bus driver, and the tour guide's boss all engaged in what we thought was a heated discussion with the men that had pulled up.  We all got on the bus while they talked (or argued) and then two of the three men got on the bus and sat in the ...

... I got on the camels and they stood up. We walked through the desert for half an hour and stopped for a few photo opportunities. Our guide in Luxor told us that camels can smell water up to 80 meters deep. When a well is running dry in a Bedouin community (desert nomads) they will not give their camels water for 2 weeks, then set them loose in the desert. The camels will walk until they smell water. At the water ...

... yogurt, olives, fruit, and sugary Mango, Pineapple and Orange juice. Both of us have been eating the same thing every day, muesli with yogurt and pomegranate, omelet, and Alex has been adding pancakes or French toast. The coffee tastes wonderful on some days and disgusting on others. Then we go back to the room, put on sun block and spend the rest of the day in the sun and snorkeling ...

... know what the real price is for water and we picked up a few bottles for ourselves. As for religious celebrations, we saw little to indicate that a celebration is or going to be taking fest. Maybe there were more people on the street, but how could we know. After 4 hours it was time to go back to the hotel, back to mini Europe , where we wouldn't be hassled or begged for money.

... a free shuttle to the " Outside Beach ". At the Outside Beach we can walk directly into the water in the little bay. The bay seems to be used as a Fish Nursery. Today we saw: squid lion fish (babies) box fish a stingray (small and young) puffer fish angel fish parrot fish and then tons and tons of different colored Reef fish (too numerous to add here) However we haven't found Nemo yet.

The bus ride to the Red Sea was sticky and sweaty but otherwise uneventful. We had managed to book a place just below Marsa Alam at a dive center- where mostly divers go. It was an ecolodge, and we stayed in African huts close to the sea. The water was perfect, and the snorkling was absolutely incredible. Claire described the ...

... we only saw those who were shepherding their flocks of goats and sheep in the hillsides. Our guide said that most live beyond the mountains that were visible to us. We arrived at the hotel in time for a quick lunch before we headed back to the buses for our visits to the Karnak and Luxor Temples. (There were more guards with guns along the sidewalk in the front of the hotel.) We did not check into our rooms until after our afternoon tours as we were on an extremely tight ...