TOPDECK Saturday 5th May

We're back in Cairo today at the Indiana Hotel. Our train got in two hours late and I think I only got about two hours sleep but the show still goes on and by 9.30 am we'd washed and had our brekky and were back on the road again. This mornings destination was Saqqara and the Step Pyramid.

The Coptic Churches were our stops before lunch. We also visited the Ben Ezra Jewish Temple and a church where the Holy Family were once believed to have lived. Below is one of the tile mosaics that was at one of the churches.

After lunch was the Khan El Khalili Bazaar where I scored a toy camel and a couple cotton blouses for a grand total of five pounds!! Bargain!! The men in this market place literally pounce on any unescorted white women and even with Shihab and Ben I still had a hard time fending them off. This picture shows a common street where the markets are with some high tech road works going on in the middle of the street.

Tonight our group goes to the Giza Sound and Light show at the Pyramids and Sphinx. I think I've developed some kind of tummy bug from swimming in the Nile (Peter also has it and he and I were the only buggers silly enough to swim...) so I'm staying in tonight and have given my ticket to someone else.

TOPDECK Friday 4th May - Luxor

We rose before the sun again today and headed off for the West Bank (before it got too hot to be wandering round the desert...) First stop was the Valley of the Kings where our entrance fee allowed us to visit three different tombs - except for Tutankhamens, which cost extra. Our guide Sam (with the unfortunate mouth foaming habit...) took us to Ramses iv, Thutmes iii and Sety ii. The main differences between these tombs are that they were built in different centuries (11th, 13th and 15th BC) and you can see how the heiroglyphics had developed through these times but once again we were not permitted to take any photos inside the tombs...

On the other side of the Valley of the Kings stands Hatshepsut Temple. This is an enormous temple built into the side of the mountain and has been well maintained. Some of the coloured paintings are still visible and the entire structure is still mostly intact.
The Colossi of Memnon was our last West Bank visit and these two statues lived up to their name. They were huge!!

Before returning back to our boat for lunch we caught a little dinghy across the river back to the East Bank to wander through Karnak Temple before it got too hot.

The towel men had struck again when we returned to the boat with this cute monkey/bunny things hanging from our ceilings. The rest of the afternoon was free time for sleeping, repacking etc before checking out at 8pm to board the train back to Cairo - a mere 8 hours away...

TOPDECK Thursday 3rd May - Luxor

A horse and carriage ride at 6.30am to Edfu Temple was a grand way to start the day. We were the first people there which was great to get some people free shots however they soon came streaming in. Judging by the huge line of buggy's, the carriage ride seemed to be the best way to get there.

This Temple seems a lot larger than Kom Ombo from last night and is still largely intact. A couple of the "guards" with machine guns took it upon themselves to be showing me some of the more interesting highlights however I wasn't sure whether I should be tipping them or not... so I didn't... This decision was later reinforced when one of the cretins tried to bust a move on me!!! Not cool!!!

Back on the safety of the boat at 8am to continue on to Luxor and the rest of the day until 5pm was freetime to eat, drink sleep etc once again... After a nap I decided to take advantage of the lovely mid morning sun to catch some rays and found out the hard way that the sun cream I got in Turkey sucks... I got more pink bits that white bits right now and am in some degree of pain... Ouch...

At 5pm we docked at Luxor and went to Luxor Temple, another huge place belonging to Ramses. Our guide Sam was a lovely fella who was very passionate about Ramses but had a habit of foaming at the mouth so we weren't quite sure where to look... The Temple was beautiful however the afternoon heat and humidity was pretty full on so we were all happy when we returned to the airconditioned comfort of the boat and the towel swans on our beds...

We were entertained by a belly dancing show tonight and a whirling dervish guy also performed. This fella was so huge his head was only about an inch from the ceiling. We all thought he was the belly dancers body guard until he came out on stage in a huge skirt and started spinning!


Another early start tomorrow at 5am to do the East and West Banks before boarding the train back to Cairo.

TOPDECK Wednesday 2nd May - Aswan

At 3am this morning we joined a convoy of around 50 buses to be escorted by the Egyptian Tourist Police to Abu Simbel. There were buses of all shapes and sizes making the almost 4 hour journey which is done twice a day with the assistance of the Police. Our tour guide had arranged a nice big bus for us today so we all had at least two seats each and we bought our pillows so could could sprawl out, get comfy and hopefully get some sleep as it would still be dark until we arrived. I got lucky and had the whole back seat but it didnt really help me in getting some sleep.
We arrived around 7am. The sun was just starting to come up and with a predicted top of 45, it was already starting to get warm. We had to be back and ready to leave with the convoy at 9am so we started the short walk to the temples straight away.

This place is amazing!! Its the temples of Ramses and his wife and what is equally amazing is that this is not the original place they were built it.

When the High Dam was constructed, the original temples had been flooded so they Govt of Egypt had the temples moved and re-allocated to where they are today. Judging from the size of the temples and the exact directions they had to face, this would not have been an easy task. You can go inside both of the temples however once again no photo's are allowed. Basically the rooms inside are covered wall to wall with carvings and hyroglyphics.





From here we rejoined the convoy and returned to our boat for an afternoon of leisure (sleeping, eating, drinking etc) while the boat started its cruise towards Luxor. At 8pm we stopped at Kom Ombo Temple for a quick look before returning to the boat and discovering the "towel men" had struck again...


Our boat will be continuing on to Luxor through the night.

TOPDECK Tuesday 1st May - Aswan

Well... After over 12 hours on the train (1st class recliner seats) and hardly any sleep, we arrived in Aswan just before lunch. This really is desert country. The streets are hot and smelly, the buildings are old and runs down and donkeys are a common form of transport. Our new bus picked us up at the station and delivered us to our new hotel for the next few nights - the Nile Star, a four star cruiser!!!

After stopping just long enough for lunch we continued on to the High Dam and Philae Temple. From what I can gather, when this huge dam was made, it flooded a couple temples and a Nubian Village. The Philae Temple is another impressive sight with its walls still covered in carvings and heiroglyphics.

The temp today was 39 degrees but it's a very bearable heat, not dry or humid. But, it was time to take advantage of the heat...
Upon returning to our hotel/boat we got into a much smaller one and went upriver to find a "beach"for a swim in the Nile!! While the water was probably in no way clean, it was cold and refreshing and just what I needed before my camel ride. (I also needed one after my camel ride coz the little bugger stunk so bad it rubbed off on me but it didn't happen...)...

My camel was a nice friendly monster who just plodded along following the track until we arrived at the Nubian Village where we were to meet the others from the tour for some hibiscus tea and a henna tattoo. The house we went to had a shaded are over the entire roof of their building which was open and well ventilated from the heat. They also had three baby crocodiles and two little turtles! Soooo cute!!


Tonight the "towel men" invaded our rooms while we were at dinner. There's a Nubian dance show on upstairs tonight but I'm gonna try get some sleep as I hardly got any on the train and we're up at 3am tomorrow to join the convoy to Abu Simbel. Eeeek....

TOPDECK Monday 30th April - Cairo

Today began with a trip to Cairo Museum to have a look at the goodies from Tutankamens tomb and various other artifacts. This museum has over 150,000 items exhibited and you could easily spend a day in there if that sorta thing floats ya boat... Be warned though - no photos allowed. Our cameras were confiscated on the way in!!


After the musuem we were on the road again to one of the biggest highlights of Egypt - The Pyramids of Giza and The Sphinx!! I honestly thought they would be bigger but thats not to say that they weren't big or impressive. At the end of our tour we will be attending a sound and light show here. Should be fantastic!!

We returned to the hotel late afternoon and had a quick rest before grabbing some dinner at the local KFC. This KFC is the first KFC run by the hearing impaired. You point to what you want on the menu and the staff are so full of smiles its contagious. Tonight we are packing our gear and catching a train to Aswan - a mere 12 hours away...

Saturday 28th - Istanbul & Sunday 29th April - Cairo TOPDECK

I said farewell to Istanbul and a few straglers from my tour on Saturday morning and caught the transfer bus from my hotel to the airport. I may have already mentioned this but Turkish drivers are CRAZY and I assumed the crash position more than once on that trip...
Finally making it in one piece at the airport I checked my stuff in and boarded my flight on route to Cairo. The cheapest flight I could find a few days earlier went via Milano first and I had a four hour stopover there before flying out and getting in to Cairo at 3am on Sunday morning. If you ever have a stopover at Milano, be prepared to be bored. There's nothing there and every internet terminal I found was broken...
On my flight from Milano to Cairo I was lucky enough to score a window seat on the exit row but was soon silently freaking out during and after takeoff as everytime we hit a bump or turbulence, the emergency exit door would creak louder and louder until I was sure it was gonna open...


Safely back on land in Cairo, the Topdeck rep met me at the airport, arranged my visa and transferred me to the hotel. I plonked into bed at about 4.30 am and have been handwashing clothes and sleeping for most of the day. The rest of our tour group met this evening to discuss the finer details of Egypt and the tour. It's gonna be a busy week but looks excellent!!

Friday 27th April - Istanbul

Most people from my tour have left today for their various destinations however I don't fly off to Egypt until tomorrow so I slept in and have had a quiet day catching up on emails and booking flights between Cairo, Amsterdam and London.
It will be sad to leave Turkey but I've been tld Egypt is even better so I'm excited to be moving on too.

Thursday 26th April - Istanbul

Well, today is the 2nd last day of the tour but technically the last day we do anything as a group. We were booked in for another Bosphorous cruise today however as we'd already done one earlier in the tour, we decided to boycott this one and go to Taksim Square and do some shopping instead.


This area of Istanbul has a much more modern style of shopping (i.e popular dept/retail stores) instead of the tourist type souveneir shops crowding the streets where we are staying and everywhere we have been. We spotted the shop above and thought it almost sounded like my name so was worth a photo... sad huh?... =) Below is a pic of a street just off Taksim Square.

We had free time in the arvo so Ange and I went to the grand Bizarre again for some souveneirs and presents before meeting up with the group again for dinner and drinks. After dinner we went round the corner for some hubble bubble and beer before calling it a night as most of us were still stuffed from the Gallipoli and some had planes to catch first thing in the morning.

Wednesday 25th April - Anzac Cove to Istanbul

Oh my god... What an incredibly awesome and humbling experience. I was wide awake from 3am onwards and just as the sky was beginning to lighten ever so little, the ANZAC service of 2007 commenced. I've been to several dawn services in Perth before and am familiar with the format and atmosphere however todays had me spellbound and captivated from the very start. The highly emotion charged atmosphere, the intense level of respect and the complete silence of approx 10,000 people all culminated in creating an unforgettable moment in time. The service wasn't long or boring and easily held our attention all the way through. Even before the last post sounded, the tissues were out. I recommend every Aussie, Kiwi and Turk make the pilgrimage to Gallipoli at least once in their lives. You never have a better perspective or appreciation for your history until you've been there.

After the dawn service at Anzac cove, we repeated the ceremonies at Lone Pine (top) for the Aussies, and Chunuk Bair for the Kiwi's and passed some trenches on the walk between the two. We stopped in at the Turkish service as well and were amazed at the formality and solomness of this service as well as the hundreds of children all waving the Turkish flag.


Before taking the 5 hour drive back to istanbul, we stopped in at the musuem. This is only a small museum but contained a lot of little exhibitions. Below is a pic of one of the exhibits.

And, now that we're back in our hotel in Istanbul, I'm looking forward to a long, warm sleep...