We checked into the Marriot Beach resort in Hurghada, which we’d hoped would be a rather nice interlude between the hectic dusty, harassed and gastric tour of tombs and pharaohs. It turned out to be in the middle of a dusty derelict area on the skirts of Hurghada and not an ideal place for the … Continue reading Hurghada and the Red Sea →

The following morning, Shona and I went for a run along the Aswan river side, which was a pretty unpleasant experience - not just the grime, fumes and traffic but for Shona, the stares and [Arabic] comments from the groups of men and teenage boys. We’re both acutely aware that this isn’t our culture, and … Continue reading Luxor →

We were up early again today, this time for a long drive to Abu Simbel. We had tried to get flights from Aswan but there was no availability so we checked out of our hotel at 5am and travelled by bus to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Abu Simbel. After leaving Aswan, and passing … Continue reading Abu Simbel →

The next morning, it was a particularly evil 3am start to get up for a flight to Aswan. A decent airport cafe coffee didn’t do much to improve the flight experience; an interminable security queue (they have lots of security here), followed by a very busy, very smelly flight. Fortunately, the other side was much … Continue reading Smelly planes and hot runs →