Abu Simbel and cruisin' the Nile

One of the optional extras on our trip was a visit to Abu Simbel.  Having had it highly recommended to us by people who'd already been to Egypt (thanks Pam!) we decided to go have a look and it definitely did not disappoint.

A 3am start was followed by a long convoy bus ride down from Aswan to the site.  Abu Simbel, which is only about 50km or so from the border with Sudan in the south, is the name for two temples constructed by Ramesses II in in the 13th Century BC and then moved, in their entirety, in the 1960s to save them being flooded by the Nile as a result of the construction of the Aswan Dam.

As well as being absolutely amazing to look at inside and out, these temples (one for Ramesses II himself and the other for his wife, Nefertari) are amazing feats of engineering.  And I'm talking here about their original, and relocated, construction!  Just thinking about the size of each component part and how they were constructed, then moved, piece-by-piece (they moved this entire mountain!) was quite awe inspiring.

They're situated right on the banks of the Nile (much better than underneath it) and have an amazing atmosphere.  I took a video but unfortunately the strong wind makes it pretty impossible to make out what I'm saying, so you'll just have to make do with this one from the BBC:



After the long trip back to Aswan we boarded our felucca for a few days sailing up the Nile.  I have to say that while I wasn't really expecting much, this was a major highlight of the trip.  Although in hindsight, realising that it was all about lazing around and doing nothing in the sun, how could it not be a highlight!

It was just so relaxing and peaceful to be gracefully swooping down the Nile without a care in the world, apart from whether to read or have a bit of snooze!  It was also really cool to actually go swimming in the Nile and realise how clean it was - it was clear to beyond our toes even.  And lots of fun to jump in and be towed behind the felucca on a rope.

All our meals were cooked on board our felucca (called 'Butterfly') by our crew and we got to try all sorts of things like fresh dates and other goodies.  Unfortunately the food didn't agree with some of us (although I was fine - absolutely could not believe I didn't get sick in Egypt despite eating everything under the sun including dodgy street kebabs; it was an absolute miracle) so my extensive collection of diarrhoea tablets and rehydration sachets came in very handy.  Considering the toilet was the bushes at the side of the river I'm very pleased it wasn't me!

We also had a couple of fun nights up on the banks of the river playing a long game of charades which, while starting between a couple of us as a way to pass the time ended up involving nearly the entire tour group, as well as another night hanging out by a fire, dancing and toasting marshmallows.

I was pretty devastated to have to leave, but there were more temples to see and hieroglyphics to read!  Onwards to Luxor...

E-G-Y-P-T

"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt" (Mark Twain)

Ah Egypt.  I'd be wanting to go there ever since Mum and Granny shipped off overseas, leaving Alexandra and I chanting our new 'E-G-Y-P-T' song so that we'd remember how to spell the far-away and frankly quite confusing place they'd gone to.

And now it was our turn!  Ignoring all reports of remaining difficulties after the uprising earlier in the year, we booked our trip, deciding to visit the entire country (as far as main tourist sites go I suppose) in one trip.  We packed in the whole of Egypt and Jordan into 17 days - not surprising then that I felt like I needed a holiday at the end of it!

So, let me start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).  We arrived in Cairo very late at night and were whisked off to our hotel for the first of many short sleeps (lots of early morning starts to avoid the heat and to pack in all the physical travelling required).  It was a pretty luxury trip actually in terms of the hotels and whatnot - we could have easily downgraded a bit, but I did enjoy swimming in the hotel pools that's for sure!

After gorging ourselves on the hotel buffet breakfast (again, a trend that would endure throughout the trip - thank goodness we did a lot of walking), it was off to Giza to see the Pyramids.  Catching a first glimpse of them out the window was incredible - I couldn't believe they were just there; looming up over the city like watchful guardians.  It was amazing to actually see them in person and think about how they were built.  I loved going inside one of them and standing on the humungous pieces of stone was just amazing (warning - overuse of this word to continue).  We were allowed to walk up a small part of the biggest pyramid in the middle (they've put smaller steps in - apparently some people died by falling off the corners or something a few years ago) and actually being on it really gave you a sense of how much of an engineering marvel they are.

We also went inside one of the smaller pyramids, walking down a wooden ramp straight down into the heart of the tomb space.  I was surprised how cool it was inside and hardly stuffy at all.  However, there weren't actually many people around at all so maybe not that surprising in hindsight.  After the obligatory 'walk like an Egyptian' photos we headed down and around the corner to see the Sphinx.  I couldn't get over how small it was compared to what I had imagined!  It's been slightly restored, so it's actually in quite good condition too.  It would be really neat to see it as it was when it was built, and I think the grand plans to make a new Egyptian Museum and pyramid space (see here for the details) might help you really imagine everything as it was when it was constructed.

Following the pyramids we went to the complex at Saqqara which is where the oldest pyramid in Egypt (the step pyramid of Djoser - built in the 27th century BC, quite unbelievable really) still exists.  It was so interesting to walk around and see everything, although we got caught out taking photos and broke the 'no more than five minutes late' rule, so spent the rest of the trip trying not to be 'those people' who are always late!

We then took a night train from Cairo down to Aswan (and were complete wusses, upgrading to 'first class' i.e. sleeper cabins - although totally worth it as I find I have a really good sleep on trains if I can lie down flat, and considering the hectic nature of our schedule, it was totally, totally worth it).  First thing the next morning we went to visit the Aswan High Dam where I was probably the most interested person in the whole thing (hydropower nerd alert) and then our first true temple, Philae Temple.  Seeing the hieroglyphics, the incredible size of everything, the beautiful surroundings - it really was quite amazing.

The next morning was Abu Simbel, but that deserves a whole other post (and this one is already quite long!) so stay tuned for the next installment!

Canal knowledge

Back in August we spent a wonderful long weekend in the Netherlands.  Neither of us had been before and we took the opportunity to go with our friends Bastiaan and Pip who've spent a lot of time there and who could make sure we only saw the best bits!

Maybe slightly too big?

We caught the Eurostar over, which meant we could explore Amsterdam for a few days, then on the way back down to catch our connection in Brussels to London, we could also visit Delft and Leiden.

Captivated by the canals

The weather was absolutely superb and it was so lovely to just cruise around looking at all the canals and doing the cliched 'soaking up the atmosphere'!  I particularly enjoyed kayaking around the canals in Leiden and spending an afternoon in Vondelpark people watching.  It was an incredibly relaxing weekend - and a perfect example of the beauty of living in London and having Europe right on your doorstep!

Check out the rest of the photos...

What a holiday!

We had the most incredible holiday in Egypt and Jordan, with too many highlights to count including the Dead Sea, Petra, swimming in the Nile (and sailing up it in a felucca), the Egyptian museum in Cairo, the Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel, snorkelling in the Red Sea... 

And of course, walking up Mt Sinai and seeing the sunrise - and getting engaged!  Very exciting indeed. 

We've got literally hundreds and hundreds of photos, so we're ploughing our way through them to make sure we only pick out the absolute highlights to bore you all with!  As a teaser, here are two from Petra:

Me in Petra, looking at the mosaic floor

Overlooking the Treasury in Petra - an amazing hike up to this stunning view

 It was just so great to finally be in the sunshine again and to be able to do lots of swimming.  Incredibly as well I didn't get sick which was so great and meant that we could enjoy everything to the full.  We took these biobalance pills which have lots of probiotics in them and I would highly recommend them!

So stay tuned for the photos and more stories.  There's a low of 3 degrees today in London and the wind is biting, so it's a bit of a change being back, but more incentive to stay inside and do my reading!

Busy, busy, busy

I just looked at the blog and realised that I hadn't done a single entry for the whole of September - terrible!  But it has seriously been a rather busy month for us, as I've been working nearly full time on Growth Week, which has meant that most other stuff (including my PhD) has taken a bit of a back seat.

However, now that's over, it's back to two days/week work, and I've officially designated November as 'No Fun November' so that I can make sure I'm keeping on track with my PhD due date!

Some other fun things have happened in September though - I'm now President of the Beekeeping Society (although hopefully only temporarily as it's probably too much work for me to keep doing in the long term), and I had a lovely two week stay up in Islington cat-sitting, which meant lots of tummy scratching and purring to keep me company.

We also got to go to the Olympics and Paralympics, both of which were amazing.  I must say though, I did enjoy the Paralympics more - we got a day pass to the Excel Centre and saw table tennis (below), sitting volleyball, powerlifting and boccia, as well as tickets to the final night of the athletics at the stadium.  I had bought those tickets literally months and months ago and really had no idea what we were going to see, and realising that we were going to see the 400m final with Oscar Pistorus was pretty cool!  I really liked the blind runners running with their guides as well as the high-jump - those guys were pretty inspiring.

And keeping on the sport theme, Adrian also just ran the Berlin marathon in an amazing time of 2:58:11.  How fast is that??  Good inspiration for me as I've signed up for my first triathlon, the Blenheim triathlon in June next year.  Lots of training to come!

We're off to Egypt and Jordan this weekend, which I am really looking forward to - especially the weather.  Check out the temperatures for Cairo while we're there - absolutely perfect!