on to tanzania

our last day in egypt and we're just killing a couple of hours in the air conditioned internet room before heading to the airport.

we have spent a great last week here. it started with a true travel adventure out to a desert oases on the egyptian/libyian border. we rode the bus over 3 days stopping in Alexandria and Mersa Matrouh on the way. Bus journeys are always a bit painful as they're a bit too cramped for our long legs. In egypt we're also treated to very loud arabic music or kung fu movie, and sometimes we get hours of someone chanting the koran. it seems passengers just bring on tapes and the bus driver plays them. too bad we only had cd's, but i think regardless he might have refused putting on our music :)

The first leg of the journey to alexandria we witnessed a big emotional argument as the bus was oversold and 5 people didn't have tickets. the bus company wanted to get a few people off the bus and told them they'd made other arrangements for them. but the people didn't trust the company so refused to move. so we sat for just over an hour while all the yellng occured. (we got the short version from a guy who spoke english beside us). On the second leg they sold us seats at opposite ends of the bus so i (kathryn) ended up beside a very interesting girl, roudy, who is in 2nd year at university. it's always a treat to meet a local who speaks decent english and can answer all the questions you've been wanting to ask.

arriving at the oases the bus was met by the usual horde of taxi drivers. only this time they were 12 year old boys with donkey carts. it was a very remote town that reminded us a bit of stepping into the wild west. we spent 2 nights - looked about some ruins in town and then did a 4X4 desert excursion that included hunting for fossils and a hot spring dip before watching the sunset from the top of a dune. we threw in some extra fun by rolling down the side of a rather large dune until we were dizzy and laughing like 4 year olds.

we did "2 legs in one" on the return and journeyed back to alexandria for a few nights. and what a travellers dream come true. everywhere on the coast is busy with eyptian tourists and we knew finding a hotel would be a bit of a challenge. we wanted to find somewhere decent to catch up on some sleep before heading to tanzania and its adventures. because we took the stairs instead of waiting for the rickety elevator we got the last room in a great hotel. $32 CDN for a room with a balcony overlooking the mediterranean, air con, english movie channel, normal shower (as opposed to a spout coming out of the wall, and comfy beds. we slept, ate, watched movies and generally just took a break from sightseeing. left feeling refreshed and ready for more travel.

back in cairo we had 24 hours to find a camel ride, the one thing we hadn't done here in egypt yet. we became the cheesy tourists last night as we joined hordes of others riding camels into the desert near the pyramids to watch the sunset. a little terrifying as they do a huge swing movement getting up and down, the camels i mean. kirk looked so comfortable he could have been the guide. i just hung on really tight and after attempting the 'run' once suggested the walking pace was a bit more my speed.

we'll head to the airport in about an hour and off to tanzania. not sure how much internet we'll find there (and we'll be on safari and hikes for days at a time) so might not be able to post for a bit.

we have booked our return to toronto - sept. 27th is the big day. seems like we just left and yet have been gone for ages :)

hope all is well...
k & k