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DECEMBER 15th ~ we’re confirmed as off to Egypt for a 15 day trip with a few extra days on the end to see us in to the new year. 

For those that are interested I have included a map of where we are going & our itinerary below.  It’s all very exciting!!!

Day 1 Cairo Welcome to Cairo, the city of the mysterious pyramids and pharaohs, tombs and temples and more than 6000 years of history. Arrival transfer from the airport to our hotel in Cairo. In the afternoon our tour leader will meet us to brief about the next days of your journey.
Day 2 Cairo Today we will first visit the Giza Plateau to explore the world famous pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mycrenos. In the afternoon we will head our way to Sakkara, the first capital of ancient Egypt, famous for its step pyramid built by King Zoser in 2700 B.C. In the evening we’ll board the overnight train to Aswan.
Day 3 Aswan Our day will start with the discovery of the High Dam before visiting the Philae Temple – dedicated to the Goddess Isis – and the unfinished Obelisk.
Day 4 Aswan, Felucca Cruise Today we’ll board our traditional Felucca to start our cruise on Nile. We’ll first visit the Elephantine and Kitchener Islands and continue our way down to north. Overnight stay on Felucca including all meals.
Day 5 Felucca Cruise Today we’ll sail all day long on Nile and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of one of the greatest rivers on the earth.
Day 6 Felucca Cruise, Komombo, Edfu After breakfast we will head our way to the Komombo Temple which was built during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and god Horus. Then we’ll continue to Edfu to visit the largest and best preserved temple in Egypt. The temple is dedicated to the falcon god Horus and was built over a 180-year period from 237 BC to 57 BC. Then we’ll head our way to Luxor.
Day 7 Luxor, Dahab After breakfast we’ll depart for the West Bank of the Nile and start our discovery with the Valley of the Kings, “the city of the Dead”, where magnificent tombs were carved into the desertrocks, decorated richly, and filled with treasures for the afterlife of the Pharaohs. Rising out of the desert plain in a series of terraces, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut will be our next stop. In the evening we’ll board our overnight coach to Dahab, the activity and leisure centre of Egypt.
Days 8 to 12 Dahab Five more days to savour the sun, sand, sea and to enjoy the activities available in Dahab : windsurfing, sailing, deep-sea fishing, swimming, but above all, snorkelling and diving. Jeep and camel safaris are also available in this charming Red Sea resort. On day 12 we’ll join a day trip to the world famous Blue Hole, the snorkelling spot near Dahab.
Day 13 Dahab, Cairo Our last day in this fantastic town. In the evening we’ll board our overnight coach back to Cairo.
Day 14 Cairo Our journey will continue with a visit to one of the most important museums in the world, the Egyptian Museum, which houses more than 100.000 relics of ancient Egypt. Today we’ll also discover the Citadel of Saladin, Mosque of Mohamed Ali, the Hanging Church and the world famous Kahn El Khalili bazaar.
Day 15 Cairo Our trip will end after breakfast in Cairo. Transfer to the airport.

Just a quick note to encourage you all to check out my friend Melanie’s paintings on my site ~ they’re brilliant & more importantly for sale!

I think she’s got a talent for painting & if you do too, please pass the information on to your friends & family in case they might be interested.  It can be shipped anywhere in the world & she is happy to negotiate on price.  So please, help a budding artist ~ you never know you might get it cheap now & it could be worth a fortune on the Antiques Roadshow in years to come!!

Click through here.  Thanks xx

We arrived at Southampton train station on Saturday & literally just missed our bus by about 4 minutes.  We then had to wait for 2 hours in a bus shelter for the next one to where we were going.  I kid you not, that’s how remote this place is, busses only go there once every 2 hours.  Surprisingly I kept my sense of humour though & managed to make the time pass by talking to a drunk old man who gave Ryan 2 conkers ~ for free!

We went horseriding pretty much as soon as we arrived in Burley, which was a wonderful experience.  We trekked across the new forest moors, which are absolutely stunning at this time of year ~ about as moody as my horse after an hour of trotting with me on her back!  She was a feisty one, but I kept her under control ~ I think we had a mutual understanding of one another.  She didn’t like me & I didn’t like her!

Then on to the tipi.  It was brilliant!  There was so much room, so much so that we had a guest come stay.  We didn’t know it had come to stay until yesterday morning when Ryan pulled back the door flap & he hopped across the floor.  It was a small green frog!  Cute little sucker too. 

Our night in the tipi recovering from our trek was lovely.  We weren’t very good at lighting the fire in the tipi ~ hence me being named Squaw Poking Smoke!  It took a long time to get the hang of it, but once we did we had a roaring old fire & were toasty warm for the rest of the night.  Initially it’s a bit smoky, but then when that goes you just get nice & warm & we were!  We made up a double bed with the mattresses that were supplied in the tipi & had quite a cosy little night, watching the fire burn away.

We also hired bikes on Saturday/Sunday & took them around Burley.  Five minutes later we were back where we started ~ it’s not exactly a sprawling metropolis, not even a town, barely even a village I have to say!  But it’s beautiful enough that Ryan & I would like to go back. 

As I mentioned about the busses, it really is quite remote, there are only 2 busses on a Sunday that would get us back to Southampton train station, so we had to ride around & around & around & around & around Burley, in an effort to stay close to get the bus.  But finally, with the 4.17pm bus caught successfully, we made our way back to Southampton to get our train home.

We fell in to bed aching & stiff after all our excercise, but it was well worth it.  A good weekend had by both x