It was certainly never part of the original plan, but Egypt became our home for seven months. That glorious, sweltering first month in Siwa oasis, good times in Alex, Cairo and at the ecofarm in Ras Sudr, and then of course five heavenly months in Dahab. After all that time it was hard to leave: I'd fallen in love with the Bedouin way of life, the Egyptian people and friends from all over the world. My Egyptian Arabic was just starting to get good, and the life I'd made and the abundant opportunities there all threatened to hold me for even longer.
But we have left as we said we would, at the end of January - amidst a modern-day revolution. Again, not part of the plan, but nothing rarely is.
As untold numbers marched in the capital, our last week in Dahab was a strange and unsettling one with no internet access nationwide and all Cairo mobiles down, so no way to contact our friends there. We all seemed to walk about in a daze, fuelled by rumours of events elsewhere in the country, and snatching any rare chance to watch TV and see the latest events unfolding.
We felt totally safe, but the pull of moving on, getting back in contact, and of course rejoining Wanda the wondertruck, were just too great. Feelings ripped us apart. On the 31st, as we boarded the ferry to 'escape' to Jordan, Huw was longing to be in Cairo in the heart of the action doing his journalistic duty, and I was devastated at the feeling of letting down those left behind. But we knew we had to go, if only for the fear of the slim possibility of being unable to reach our truck if the situation worsened and the ferries were stopped.
So here we are: safe, as well as can be expected, and in Aqaba, with Jordan waiting to be explored (again) and Syria luring us from the north. More soon...
PS - trouble is following us. King Abdulla of Jordan yesterday sacked his entire parliament. If only our truck had wings. Perhaps we could pour Red Bull into the petrol tank?
Here is one of the last photos I took in Dahab on a beautifully warm winter's day, looking over the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia and, several km off the photo, up the coast to the left, Jordan, where we now are:
