Cleopatra Hotel Siwa

... br><br>Around 9 pm we went to see if our flight was on the board yet. Our flight number was, but it was not headed to Addis Abbaba like we thought, it was going to Khartoum (yes, thats Sudan). We asked the ethiopia air people, and they assured us it would be a quick landing in Sudan before heading on to Ethiopia. We were very concerned, but realized there was nothing we could do. I guess we were going to Sudan.<br><br>We had a few more hours to kill before we could go through ...

... feel much better about missing Jordan. We got a mysterious phone call while swimming in the sea from Abdu Restaurant. It was Sarah! She finally made it!<br><br><br>Sarah's ride to Siwa was quite exciting. She travelled with Klaus, a German man with dreadlocks from their hostel in Dahab. About 2 hours into the trip the bus broke down in the middle of the desert. The bus struggled down the road, and had two false breakdowns before the final breakdown. The bus driver told us ...

... the palm trees which covers a huge area. Went for a dip into "Cleopatra's Bath" which is a large pool of clear fresh spring water. Also watched a immense sunset with the sun falling behind the mountains. Quite hard to describe. Feeling quite tired no doubt due to a little amount of sleep last night on the bus. Will rent a bike tomorrow and go further afield and wear myself out again so I can sleep on the bus heading back the way. Nice chilled out day all round.

... was anything in the water and whether it was clean. Fun though. To see Siwa the next day, our transport of choice were ****** old bikes that were uncomfortable but got us around nonetheless. We visited the Temple of the Oracle which was a Roman temple on a hill near a large lake. Alexander the Great had apparently been there once to consult the oracle and this was what the temple was associated with most today. In ...

... toilet and it was starting to get cold. The group started to get bored and so we started playing games. The boys started to see who could knock over a bottle with a stone and then we started a standing on one foot competition. It came down to me and Mohamed and if had been wearing any other shoes other than thongs I probably could have lasted longer but my foot was cramping so I 'let him win'. As soon as eveyone started to say they were ...

... sun set, something we were supposed to be doing in Siwa itself, and only then did the coach turn up. An hour long drive in the dark and we arrived to a stink from local muck spreading! Our hotel is great and we are looking forward to relaxing here tomorrow. We have had a good tea in the hotel after which I promptly went to the toilet with the *****! It is the first time I have had them this holiday so I suppose I am lucky really. After our tea last night, I suppose it could only ...

... stopping at the "Dead Mountain" where we went inside some beautifully painted tombs, Alexander's Oracle, a destroyed temple, and a natural spring called "Cleopatras Bath" that was made for Cleopatra by her lover, Mark Antony. We had a brief nap before taking a donkey cart out to one of the larger lakes in the area where we made sandwiches and watched the sunset, and finally celebrated breaking the daily fast ...

... longer we stayed in Siwa, the worse the movies got. We decided to see the rest of the ruins in Siwa which are all within 10km of each other, so we thought it would be a good idea to rent bicycles. This turned out to be a lesson learned. The guy renting us the bikes sifted through a pile to pick out a few that seemed to be in working condition. The one he picked out for me was a boys bike and my knees were well above the handle bars when I peddled. I was the lucky ...

... desert, where we were once again able to practice changing our clothes under a sarong and, as usual, diving over a chair. After that the ruins of another ancient city and then off into the sand dunes. Abdul had Laynni help him let some of the air out of his tires (even he could tell she was the mechanic in the family) for better traction in the desert. Then, at least in Abdul's mind, the flag dropped on the Siwan leg of the Paris - Dakar - Cairo Rally. At highway speed we ...

Plan: It takes four hours to travel from Marsa Matrouh, I think I would like to walk around this very unique, isolated city. Hotel: http://www.siwaparadise.com/index.htm (this link also, only works when copied and pasted... urg, stupid links.) When we arrived in Siwa, it was evening, so we grabbed some dinner and accepted an invite to walk around the town with Wael, Farouk and Rado. We got a chance to see Shali all lite up-- it is ...