how strange it is to think that 5 months ago we set off from Truro to head into the big wide world and take our chances in Africa.... we have now come full circle and are back in Truro!....
let me tell you the final chapter of our African Adventure...i believe we left off in Luxor....
on the 21st March we were up before the sun to head off on the long drive to Cairo we set off at 5am we followed the Nile for a while...(crocidile)....then drove to the coast and followed the Red sea road all the way up till Cairo the scenery en route is bizarre huge luxury resorts next to huge construction projects...(seemingly abandoned)...next to tumble down shanty towns next to huge resorts etc despite the fact that its coming into holiday season in Egypt the coast was deserted with a few lonely fishermen the only souls we saw as we cruised by...we arrived into Cairo about 6pm but it took over an hour to drive through the hectic traffic to our hotel...not helped by the fact that it seemed to be tucked away in a maze of tiny little streets we had a bit of time to sort our stuff out and clear the truck before we headed out for a final meal...it was at the top end of the price scale but the food was AMAZEMENT we went to a little Lebanese place me and LP shared 4 appetisers which turned out to be far more food then was required (but it did provide us with a meal the next day also!) after the meal we headed to the hotel where we watched a slide show of photos from the entire trip which was hilarious and stirred up memories..... South Africa seemed so long ago! the next day we headed off to see the Egyptian Museum and also the mighty pyramids at Giza we had a mini bus and a guide for the day which was great Waleed is an Egyptologist and really knows his stuff at the museum he showed us around for a few hours telling us the history and setting the scene for the pyramids in the afternoon as we were driving there we could see them from ages away its really quite bizarre as they are almost swallowed into the city just a patch of desert surrounded by city we started off at the GREAT pyramid this one is missing its top it used to be tipped with gold but this has long since vanished we struggled to find a place to stand where you could fit the whole thing into a photo and also tried to avoid all the touts who rather then hassling seem to hustle one guy gave LP stuff to hold then took the camera from around his neck took a photo then demanded baksheesh for it LP offered him an E£1 in the spirit of get this man away from me and he wouldn't take it he kept demanding E£10 so we walked away and he got nothing....we got back in the mini bus and drove around the side of the pyramids to a point where you can see all three at once and get a crazy photos pretending to hold them...very cheesy but cool....(don't judge me ha ha)....then we went to the third and smallest pyramid which still retains some of the granite casing that originally covered it now its just on the bottom few tiers we even went inside...its quite creepy in a way we were the only people in there its the kind of place that if you were even just a tiny bit claustrophobic you would freak out!...the ceiling is super low to walk in you have to bend double as you walk down the stairs and although it is all lit up you cant actually see the bottom it just goes on and on and on until you get to the bottom...then you can stand up but only for a moment as you then have to duck under a stone beam and walk bent over through a tunnel then you get to a room where you can stand there are more stairs going down and then more again until you reach a room divided into little sections the whole thing is completely empty and free of decoration its all just bare stone walls but it is amazing i felt like an explorer...(you have to pretend not to see the air conditioning unit and the lights and stuff)...when we came out we took a look at the middle pyramid this one still has a white limestone casing but only right at the top as it was stripped away in the search for the entrance...that night we said our first goodbyes....the next day we got to hang out with sister wife Teri and Old Williams...(they were split from the group after visa issues for Sudan)...we met outside the Egyptian museum where like something out if a movie we ran to each other with open arms...much to the amusement of a group of Egyptian students who filmed it on their cellphones and then interviewed us on the Egyptian revolution and on the state of countries in the middle east...it was all pretty surreal...our day went coffee lunch coffee all the while chatting away filling each other in on the last few weeks since we last saw each other!....Next day was sad goodbyes first of all Sam and Lynley in the morning then after spending the day together in Alexandria we said goodbye to Mark and Teri, Sue and Dave and Zan....the next few days it was just me and LP in Cairo we went to the Islamic quarter to the mosques, the bazaar and to Al-azar park a beautiful spot of green away from the hustle and bustle of the city, we went to the Coptic quarter and visited the hanging church and the indoor overpriced souk and other then that we just hung out eating a load of falafal then our flight was cancelled and we had the option of staying another day or leaving early we chose to leave early as we already had our train booked and it lost us less money...So early on Monday morning we got up and sped to the airport arriving there in about 10Min's...(that's with the taxi driver doing an insane 140km an hour right behind a bus and weaving in and out of the traffic!)...we boarded our BA flight and realised why our original flight was cancelled...there was no passangers! the plane wasn't even at 50% capacity! we arrived into London where we chilled out at Hazes flat... (thanks heaps!)... and went out for a gorgeous meal... (thanks heaps again!)...the next day...(that's yesterday)...we met up with Dave and Sue and picnicked in St James park...(and yes the picnic was from waitrose)...where we got attacked by pelicans... in the afternoon we said our final goodbyes to Sue and Dave and headed to paddington to catch our train to Truro so here we are full circle its been a crazy, amazing wonderful challenging brilliant fun five months lets hope the next 5 will be as exciting!.....
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