From the Wadi Halfa-Aswan boat we saw Abu Simbel at around 10pm local time (there is a one hour time change from Sudan). There were also Nubian temples along the banks the following morning. We arrived in Aswan at around 10am on the Saurday morning.
Stayed on the Nile outside Aswan for a few days at Adam's place (a large Nubian house in an enclosure). Here I met Aamer who I helped in cutting the Bersim to feed his animals. The food here was excellent with lots of fresh fish from Lake Nasser. More problems with the Land Rover, I tightened a Jubilee clip where diesel was weeping and it snapped! Luckily I had some wire that sealed it while I got a taxi to Aswan to get a replacement (and some spares!). Also the oil seal on the differential started leaking too.
Diesel is rediculously cheap here, only 6 pence a litre!!
Travelled along the Nile through small villages on the way to the Red Sea coast. Has some good snorkelling at Marsa Alam before moving on north up the cost to El Quesir where it was too windy for snorkelling, the visibility was bad and the current and waves too strong. On the way we stopped at a police checkpoint where the senior office stroked my back and took my hand and tried to lead me away! When I indignantly said "No Way", he then asked for money! This behaviour is all too common with Egyptian men, I have now been propositioned 3 times!
We met a very helpful guide Mohammed near El Quesir who invited us to his house where we had endless tea and an excellent lunch. We also met the extended family who were all very friendly. We stayed outside his house for the night and ate in the local coffee shop. Unfortunately got another puncture here, it turned out that a previous repair in Malawi had given up.
Met up with Blanca & Mark and Tom & Janet in Luxor at Rezeiky camp where the food was excellent and we tried smoking the various Sheeshas (Honey, Apple and Mint!). Also tried the local whiskey called John Waler (in a bottle remarkably similar to Jonnie Walker!). Mark & I tried fixing the diff leak here but it proved too difficult and needs a specialist. Managed to get a black-eye in the process when the spanner slipped! I should stick to calculators they are less dangerous!
Visited Medinat Habu temple, the tombs of the nobles and Karnak temple.
Decided to return to Adam's Home near Aswan for some rest and relaxation. There had been some 28 camper vans at Rezieky camp and while they had not been noisy the British contingent of the German led convoy were not very happy, it was all far too regimented! They seemed desperate for some other Brits to talk to!
I spent several days in the fields helping with the crops and the irrigation. The rhythm of life by the Nile is so relaxed and can barely have changed since Pharonic times. They generously shared their lunch with me, generally salad. felafel, fuul (beans). Aamer became a good friend during the days we spent here and I was once again sad to move on. We stayed in Luxor at Rezeiky camp again and met up with Blanca & Mark for some excellent egyptian food, wine and Sheesha.
We stayed at some sulphurous hot springs near Farafra and went in for a swim under the stars, wonderfully warm with a great massage from the voluminous hot water coming up through the pipe from the ground.
We journeyed on into the White Desert with its strange-shaped limestone outcrops weathered by thousands of years of winds. It is so quiet out in the desert (until the tourists staying overnight arrive!). We saw a desert fox from the tent and the colours of the rocks at different times of day are so changeable. The police gave us an escort part of the way but then wanted us to go on our own. The Tourist convoys are inconsistent in Egypt even depending on which direction you go on the same road! On the way to Aswan they wanted to turn us back to Luxor to get the convoy but we just went a different way along the Nile to avoid the first checkpoint (or Chick points as all the signs here say!).
We are wondering about our Libyan Visa that we applied for 2 months ago. We phoned to chase the embassy but it hasnt yet been granted. We asked them to chase Tripoli again. It looks like it could be the Sudanese Visa fiasco again. We can employ an agency to get it for us but it is all more expense. We may have to make a fuss when we get to Cairo! Others have even managed to get the Visa by claiming ill-health or pregnancy!
Spent some days in Cairo visiting the Libyan Embassy trying to elicit our Visa. After much posturing, 'threatening', trying to see the Consul etc it became clear that it was pretty hopeless expecting a Visa. We phone Saama regularly only to be told the same thing, nothing!
After Cairo we spent time in Naama Bay and at Ras Mohammed National Park snorkelling. We tried to contact lots of Libyan travel agents to resolve travel there but they dont respond.
We moved onto Dahab, a chilled-out 'hippy' resort on the Sinai Peninsula. Here we decided to eat in a very good fish restaurant in Dahab that we had tried before. We had ordered food and were just talking when we heard a loud bang not more than 2-300 metres away, at first it seemed like fireworks but it quickly became clear it was a bomb from the noise and debris thrown high into the air. It was quickly followed by two more bangs. The diners in the restaurant started to panic and the women in the large party of Russians next to us started screaming and they then got up and ran down the stairs out of the restaurant. We soon realised that we and some Israelis were the only people left in the Restaurant. In order to calm the situation I expressed the view that as there had been three explosions in quick succession that it was all over. The Israelis however were refusing to leave the Restaurant, the staff wanted to close and the shutters on all the local shops were hastily being closed mostly in panic. The Israelis then said that in their experience often there were later explosions designed to cause further injury.
Many emergency vehicles were having difficulty getting into the pedestrianised area where the bombs had gone off and many vehicles were also driving madly away from the scene. We decided that it was best to leave the Restaurant (the lights had been switched off by this stage) and made our way out of the building. We were advised by locals to head away from the scene which made perfect sense. I have never seen such mass shock on peoples faces, they were like walking zombies not believing that such a thing could have happened. Others were panicking and I found myself telling them, to no avail, that they should try to keep calm.
We headed back to the area of our hotel away from the scene and went to the Hotel Restaurant. It was eerily quiet and none of the staff or customers said a single word, the shock was felt so keenly by everyone.
When travelling I have been in many places where there has been recent terrorist activity, including bombings but it has never been so close, so immediate or so shocking.
We don't yet know the full details but understand that the news are broadcasting 22 deaths and we know from our friends Mark & Blanca that there is frantic activity closing the Israeli border. We also know that today is Sinai Liberation Day celebrating the Israeli handover of Sinai although Al Qaeda is on everyones lips.
The devices were placed right in the centre of Dahab, one in a shop next to the supermarket behind the Police Station (we had been in the supermarket only 2 hours before the explosion). The shop is now a charred empty shell, the whole of the front blown out. The other devices were either side of the pedestrian bridge which goes across to the busiest restaurant area of Dahab. Many people would have been eating here and there was much flying glass, a hopelessly mangled Bicycle here together with lots of blood on the ground. Troops had been called in and had cordoned off the area.
We simply cannot understand what could motivate anyone to do something so heinous. Shock remains the following morning, I even saw a grown man on the Corniche weeping uncontrollably. We have just learned that they were suicide bombers too.
After a few strange dubdued days in Dahab after the bombs we moved onto Siwa Oasis which is isolated hundreds of kilometres into the desert. There are many date palms and Olive trees here all in small gardens. Siwa even has its own unique language Siwi which is very different from Arabic and some people here do not speak Arabic at all. The Oasis is a very tranquil place with very friendly people who number just over 20,000 strong. There are hundreds of natural springs here some hot with baths to swim in. We spent 4 nights here enjoying the peace and calm and chatting with the locals. We also visited Bir Wahed out in the desert where we swam in both hot and cold springs. Our guide Ali deflated the tyres on the Land Rover to only 20 psi so we could drive on the soft sand and over the dunes. Driving in these desert conditions was much more challenging than the desert in Sudan and thankfully we had Ali there to tutor me on how to negotiate the crests of dunes and the very soft sand safely.
Rohuim took us to see his and his father's Gardens where there were grapes, citrus, apples, dates and both white and black mulberries. Ismail who we met watching the sunset over the Shali (the old town made of mud houses) took us to Islands in the salt lakes where we watched the incredible Siwan sunset and he told us much about Siwa, its people, its past and future.
We were sad to leave Siwa having made so many friends here. However the Libyan Visa was finally emailed to us and was arranged for 5th May so we had to leave for the Egypt/Libyan border.
Album of Egyptian people OR Slideshow
Album of Medinat Habu and Karnak temples OR Slideshow
Album of Life beside the Nile OR Slideshow
Album of the White Desert OR Slideshow
Album of Siwa Oasis OR Slideshow
