Da Kowias khalas

Salaam'alaykum

I'm writing this from an Internet Cafe in Dahab on the Red Sea, where we have been since Monday relaxing and enjoying the weather - and the pool! :-) I hope the previous email made sense as the computer kept crashing so I sent it with fingers crossed!

Following my last email, the adventure continued with a Horse & Carriage ride to the Temple of Karnak or more precisely the Karnak temples as it is a huge complex of temples, oberlisks, sanctuarys and a hall of 134 massive hyperstyle columns (seen on films such as James Bond). This was started and built upon by many Pharoahs including Seti I, Ramses II, Hapshetsut and Tuthmosis III. Some of the areas have been damaged by an earthquake and post-pharonic reign damage. We spent quite a bit of time here exploring before visiting a papyrus museum to see how the papyrus paintings are made.

Then it was time to move on to Dahab; the first leg of the trip by convoy to Hurghada on the coast. I'm glad we didn't spend much time here. The hotel offered the best breakfast selection out of all the hotels we've stayed in but otherwise it was like being in the Russian Blackpool of Egypt! There were hotels upon hotels upon hotels and in between were all the hotels under construction; our hotel was on the outskirts surrounded by what seemed to be a construction site.

The following morning we caught the bumpy Red Sea Jet Ferry from Hurghada to Sharm El-Sheikh, but rather than stay here headed for the more relaxed "backpacker nirvada" of Dahab. It's been pretty relaxing compared to the rest of our hectic schedule but we have been quad biking through the desert on a sunset ride and did have a day snorkelling in the Red Sea yesterday at a place called the Blue Hole.

The Blue Hole is an amazing dive and snorkel site - or rather it would be if it isn't accompanied by litter, rubbish, broken coral and who knows what else floating around. The coral garden is stunning, the fish numerous and colourful but in places the coral is damaged; the very thing people are going to see is being damaged by the people seeing it. Although its a conservation area, there's a long way to go to reach the same standard as other conservation areas. Fortunately we opted for an early schedule; by the time we left the wall of coral was swarming with people. But I guess the Great Barrier Reef is similar. We are planning to go snorkelling again today off the beach outside of the hotel, but so far there's been a lot of swell and the water is very rough so we're waiting to see if the sea calms down and the wind drops. Otherwise (or maybe also) we're off for an Egyptian Massage. :-)

Food is cheap here (compared to the UK) so we've eaten out. We tried fresh Lobster. Unfortunately I was a litle disappointed with it - I was expecting it to be very sweet and succulent but found it to be very bland and dry. The large prawns were better. Still I've tried it now ;-)

Tonight we are heading for St Catherine as we are climbing Mt Sinai in the early hours of the morning to see the sunrise - this is supposed to be really spectacular. Mt Sinai is the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments. If we're still awake when it opens we're also going into St Catherine's Monastery where the Burning Bush (or its descendant) is surrounded by its high walls, though there is some speculation as the bush doesn't even smoulder these days! ;-)

From St Catherine & Mount Sinal its back to Cairo for one last night before flying out. It's definitely been one of the best trips I have done with one of the best groups (up there with the Moosers!). Everyone hit it off straight away and have got on fantastically. Egypt is definitely an experience and cultural learning curve but its been great! I would recommend anyone to give it a go.

Ma'is salaama

Kath & Andy