El Salam Hotel Aswan

... Lake Nasser which takes between 17 to 24 hours (usually closer to 24h). So the whole journey will take quite a long time and being stuck together with 500-1000 other people will be a big challenge, especially hygenically, because spitting, *******, washing your feet in a sink, smoking in closed rooms and throwing garbage everywhere is simply part of travelling in the Middle East ...

... II was rare in that he ruled and lived for a very long time (into his 90s).

Another temple exists within 100 m. (300 ft.) of Ramses’ temple. It is dedicated to his wife, Nefertari, although four of the six statues in front of the temple are about Ramses. No photos are allowed inside either of the temples.

The trip back to Aswan is not uneventful. First, we see the phenomenon of mirages with images of water appearing on ...

... its the first time ever there hasn't been a safety announcement! We had an unplanned stop in Luxor and then onto Aswan - bloody big dam and huge ecological problems as a result.

We picked up our first cruise ship - very Murder on the Nile era and commenced our tour. Each time we visit a site an armed guard (usually a 12 y-o with a semi automtic weapon and glazed expression) accompanies us - Mohamed says its to ensure we don't steal or deface the ...

... stayed on the boat just chilling out and relaxing...It was my birthday after all. We napped and read and just looked around the river and took in all the sights and sounds of daily life. When everyone returned we went off sailing down the nile to our next destination. Another hot day in paradise.
We moored late in the afternoon on a sandy bank next to some cows in the field and drank beer and played Uno & chess until 7.45pm just before dinner.

We ...

I thought that I should get the required Bangles lyrics out of the way early in the trip. Today seems like the right day since it included reading hieroglyphs, boating on the Nile and even a few puffs on the hookah or shesha pipe.

All the old paintings on the tombs, They do the sand dance don't you know
If they move too quick (oh whey oh), They're falling down like a domino

All the bazaar men by the Nile, They got ...

... busy day.
First up was a short sail on the Nile River on board a felucca boat. Feluccas are traditional sail boats and are a relaxing way to do a bit of site seeing from the Nile.
We spent about 3 hours on the felucca and it was nice but there isn't anything to do on board. So we just chilled out and ate the light lunch provided. We were actually meant to spend 2 days on the feluccas sailing down the Nile but during the meeting on the first night, Mina, our tour leader ...

... therapist was good but the pain went away for just a few hours and it was back again. I then too what today I call my miracle drug, my panacea - Panadol Actifast. 2 tablets and the pain went away. My massage cost me nearly RM500 (about US100) but the tables only RM4 ( barely US1).

I was really glad that Mona , my travel agent had decided with Mt Sinai first and then ...

... must have been 20 or so no’s to the question of "Do you want to old it?", he finally reassured us that it was young enough that it hadn’t developed its more dangerous teeth yet. I finally was handed the adolescent reptile and he immediately started thrashing around. I don’t think he liked me. Finally Katie got up the courage to hold him as well. I must say holding a croc is something I never thought I would do.

We then ...

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... and look at the screen on the back before anyone even had the chance to take a photo in the first place.

Then JJ took us into his house, where his extended family with live him. It was by far the grandest house in the village, complete with an air conditioner and painted murals inside. A sister made us all fresh guava and banana drinks, their family unable to partake as the day’s fasting was still a few hours away from ending, while JJ put on a (admittedly ...