Hot chocolate this time...last one for Egypt sorry it's so long!
We caught the train back to Cairo. We had a free day to go and see what ever we wanted. A few of us went to Dahshur Pyramid and the Step Pyramid. We went down into the Dahshur Pyramid and it was heaps better then the previous one we went down at Giza. It was heaps scarier as it was a lot steeper going down the stairs, it was pathway was only about 1m high so you had to squat down. It was really muggy and hard to breath but was the best! We both got really claustrophobic and wanted to turn back but pushed on!
That night we went to the sound and light show of the Pyramids of Giza. It wasn't all that good the show, although the lights on the Pyramids was pretty impressive. We then headed to this place for dinner where this lady sits out the front and makes your bread in the clay oven. The bread was fantastic. After dinner we all ended up doing Sheesha even Candice this time! We had lime, strawberry and peach flavours.
Once we got back we said goodbye to everyone who finished the tour.
We headed to Dahab on the Red Sea via public bus, which happen to be a crappier experience then on the overnight train...hard to believe.
We got pulled up at so many checkpoints to check our passports which delayed us even further. We were SOOOOOO happy to get off that bus when we FINALLY got there. A guy in his busted ass jeep took us to our hotel. The view from our balcony was B-E-A-UTIFUL! The water there was so clean, clear and colourful. Like nothing we have ever seen before.
The next day we went quad bike riding, which was, SO much fun. We got into trouble for fish tailing the bikes in the loose gravel. I just think cause there was a girl who could hold her own they didn't want me to out show them. I was a lot of fun! The guide took us to some good viewing spots where we could see the nice seawater, it is just so perfect it looks fake. We then went and had some lunch at a beachside restaurant where there are cats EVERYWHERE. They gave us a spray bottle of water to wet the cats with to get rid of them.
That afternoon we went horse riding along this gorgeous beach. We both hadn’t ridden for a while and it was a little sad! Our tour guide was an excellent rider and put us all to shame as he galloped down the beach, whist we just trotted!
That night we went to a cafe to watch the football (Soccer) of Egypt v's Angola, which was a great experience when Egypt scored a goal. The drums and chants would start and everyone is so happy.
The next day we went to another country...Jordan. Just to add another 7 wonder of the world to our list. We went to Petra to see the Treasury. We went by boat and arrived in Aqaba, Jordan, where the tallest free standing flag pole stands, pole 138m and flag 60x20 made of silk. It can be seen in Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. We then caught our bus with a German and French speaking guide...What the??? We then found out that we had to then catch a bus further down the track due to ours leaving without us due to us getting the wrong boat.
So we left our passport with the Jordan police hesitant as usual and set off to Petra. We were just about at Petra and the guide had pointed out that it had been snowing last week and there was still snow left. So there must have been a lot there the week before for it to still be there.
We got to Petra and walked down into this gorge of sandstone cliffs that were all multicoloured and just beautiful. You couldn't stop looking up! It's like nothing we've seen before it's a total different feeling just walking through it.
We were walking for a while till our guide said to look up at this camel above his head. So all our eyes were focused on this camel that we could not make out for the life of us. Then he asked 'can anyone see it?' then he pointed right and there it was...the Treasury (also know as Al Khazneh) with a camel carved on it. It was SO beautiful with all its colours. Just amazing to see the carvings are still so visible as it's made out of sandstone and carved back in 100BC.
We kept walking to see the Dead City were all the tombs of the kings were found with there riches inside. The tombs were all carved into the sandstone and some have really intricate details still there all these years later.
It was lunch time so we headed to the Marriot Hotel up on a hill overlooking Petra and the valley bellow. Jamie had spotted snow on the side of the road as we came up for lunch and decided to go and have a play. So he has finally had his snowball fight, not in the UK, in the Middle East!
We then headed back to the boat where Jordan Passport control had stamped our passports and returned them as promised. We headed to Egypt on the boat and were there just in time to be told that we had to wait on the boat for another hour because Egyptian passport control are hopeless and can only do one boat at a time. Lucky for us...not...we had to wait an extra hour due to two boats getting in before us. So we left Jordan at 7pm didn't get off the boat till 10pm then we had to drive back to Dahab and didn't get there till 12pm so we were buggered! So let this be a warning to anyone who wishes to go by boat to Jordan from Egypt!
The next day we hired our own minivan to take us back to Cairo due to our public transport experience that we NEVER wanted to do again. We left Dahab at 12pm and the public bus left at 7am so we got to spend extra time there so we swam in the Red Sea – sort of – it was a little cold so we just stood in it! Whilst travelling back our driver happened to pass the public bus that we where supposed to be on 2hrs after we left so we were REALLY relived that we didn't take the bus!
We arrived in Cairo and the traffic was horrendous took us a couple of hours just to get to the hotel. We finally arrived and went to dinner at this KFC down the road from our hotel that is run completely by the deaf. It was SO incredible to order your food and watch them work. No yelling at that workplace! There were pictures of hand signals on the wall so you can try our your sign language on them and they love that your trying to learn it. The next day we left for London.
So all in all we HIGHLY recommend Egypt and you would be CRAZY not to go there we had the best time and would love to go back!
Hope everyone at home is doing great only 3months till we are back home. We head to Amsterdam-it tomorrow so stay tuned for the next instalment! Love ya's all. MWAH.
