Cairo, Egypt (farewell Africa)

Sunday 24th Sept 12noon

My hours in Egypt shorten rapidly under the blazing sun. The pace here is frenetic and would outdo even New York. Ramadan has started here which means that if you are a strict Muslim you cannot eat or drink while the sun is up. After dark you eat, drink and be very merry (after being very faint I imagine). Some of the shops have tapestries and lanterns hanging outside which looks very festive. I think though that after 2 weeks off no food or water during the day - the pace may slacken (or even increase more with frayed wits??!!)
We arrived this morning on the sleeper train from Aswan. Our visit to Abu Simbel was good even after getting out of bed at 3am. I was able to catch some zzzz's on the bus there and back. We got an hour and a half at the site and I was more awed by the fact that the whole structure had been moved and rebuilt exactly than about the temples themselves. Oh the trials of seeing so many wonderful things that you get tired of them. The Temple of Ramasses the 2nd (probably the most powerful pharoah) overlooks Lake Nassar (the man-made lake from the damming of the Nile). As far as views go, he and his favourite wife (he had about 50 and a few hundred kids), Nefertiri, are well set up. We had to drive through the Sahara desert in an armed convoy to reach Abu Simbel. We spent the rest of the afternoon at our leisure and after having pizza with Jonathon and Andrea (Canadian couple - who I am getting along really well with) we split up and they headed to the bazaar and me back to the boat. I don't have much Egyptian pounds left and now comes the time when I buy some stupid souvenior that I'll hate the moment I get it out of my bag again, just to use up my remaining money.

I will miss our tour boat, Melodie and the staff. They are very friendly and I was really enjoying having only men making my bed, doing my laundry and making my meals. It was a unique experience (one I'm sure will not be repeated unless I return here). It makes me sad because of the reason for it but I resolved to enjoy it for what it was. Men at my beck and call 24 hours a day!! I will miss Egypt. It has been an amazing experience, so much interests me here. The temples, the history, the culture. But the girl in me is looking forward to walking down a street without all the 'hey lady' business I mentioned before. I have to take a taxi ride to the airport by myself and I am not looking forward to it. Not the alone part but the driving in a small car on the streets of Cairo. I was enjoying the big buses that could flatten anything in their path rather than being the flatee. So if I disappear, I was last seen getting into a taxi from the Santana Hotel and I love you all very much and I have had a good life.

If I make it out of here, I go to Rome. I know that Rome wasn't built in a day but I am going to see if I can see it in one. I fly in at 7pm and fly out two days later at 11am, bound for Santorini, relaxation and a mother-daughter reunion.

Haylee I know you asked me to get some photos of children here to show Teliah but I haven't managed to. Kids here expect money for that (yes it is the 'I won't get out of bed for less than 20 pounds' generation). On a trip to a temple some kids gave us a small branch from a tree. Having learnt our lesson, my roommate and I said no but they put it on our laps anyway. We thanked them and sure enough five seconds later they had their hands out and making signals to be paid. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a leaf from a sacred tree so we gave it back to them. I don't know whether I am cheap or smart. Maybe both.

I am over halfway through my trip now. I am both saddened and happy about it. I long to see familiar faces and get the hugs that only family and friends give. But also I want to stay and see more. I would probably run out of money before I ran out of travel steam, so mum you can breathe again.

Love to you all. I will write again from Europe. Thinking of you all often.

Kym