Mind boggling is the only expression that my limited vocabulary could come up with …until you have seen the scale and complexity of these sites with your own eyes you just can’t comprehend what the ancient Egyptians did around 1400BC that’s to be absolutely clear 3411 years ago…. ( Stonehenge according to Wikipedia dates from 2400BC)
We visited the Valley of the Queens and the Valley of Kings, sadly photography is forbidden so only a couple of furtive photos.



Ramses the IV and Ramses the VI get the votes and Tutankhamun although disappointing (its very small) has a certain something just because of the history!

We also saw the Temple of Luxor

and of course the Amun Temple at Karnak.
Down from Luxor to Aswan a fantastic drive along the green banks of the Nile past the temple of Horus


to Aswan the van is booked on the ferry, a first class cabin confirmed and tomorrow to the High Dam and to the Nubian beach

We decided to have the van serviced by Mercedes Benz in Hurgharda to ensure all the parts were genuine after 10,000 fairly hard miles….big mistake….. HUGE…..

If you have a blue Mercedes overall you must be a mechanic!

They overfilled the engine, broke the fuel line and then fitted a fuel water/separator so badly it took two days to sort out and its still a bodge….. because they didn’t have the right spare parts. We now have a permanent engine malfunction light on the dashboard but apparently “its nothing serious” just telling us that the fuel line is non standard….
Anyway enough of that…. the diving was superb and the reefs deserted the team at Emperor divers say they regularly had 20 boats anchored on the best sites but we saw no one else.

After Hurgharda we went south along the coast stopping at a couple of dive sites camping alfresco

view from the bedroom window!

and spending more time in the water and sun.


Amazing drive across the Red Sea mountains

and desert from Al Queser ( one thing about the current lack of police in Egypt is the closed desert roads don’t seem to be high priority at the moment so we just turned right) and blasted across to Luxor.

The markers must mean someone is going to build here….

Now we are safely lounging in the Marriott in Hurgharda preparing for the next leap down to the Sudan I thought a summary of our trip round Cairo and through the Eastern Desert was needed.
We decided to try and do the run through Cairo in a “oner” as the tourist attractions in Cairo were all closed…. we were at the height of the troubles!
Set off on the Alexandria Desert road early morning past the usual tanks and road blocks…


fuel was in short supply so we filled up everything we could before setting off.

About 150 miles into the middle of nowhere we found a broken down van and gave them a pull for about 30 miles….not great for our fuel consumption but they were happy. Hit the outskirts of Cairo at about noon and immediately all the signs which had been in English and Arabic turned to just Arabic! We got a bit lost and came across several crowds of protesters and signs of rioting… stones, broken glass, etc, all over the road.

We also saw a crowd round a dead body suspect it was an RTA but could easily have been a looter who had found local justice….. Eventually broke free of Cairo and set off south towards the pyramid of Meidum and Beni Suef a very poor and rather frightening provincial capital which had been the site of serious unrest in the 90’s. We crossed the Nile and got into the Eastern( Arabian) Desert itself

and set off towards the Monastery of St Antony reputedly founded in the 4th century…where we hoped to find secure parking.

Sadly we were refused entry so spent the night far off road in the desert where we judged we would be safe. We returned to St Antony’s early the next morning and had the most wonderful tour escorted by Father Ruwais

amazing coptic wall paintings from the 13th century and earlier and a fantastic atmosphere of peace and tranquility. On again to Hurgharda and a touch of luxury at the Marriott

and some diving in the Red Sea.

Went out to supper last night at the New Marina in Hurgharda, and heard that a big street party was being planned in the town center today to celebrate Mubarak’s downfall and a new beginning for Egypt. We went down in the van after a very strenuous morning on the beach!
Electric atmosphere live music and tourists and locals in jubilant mood many wearing I love Egypt T shirts… very different to the atmosphere in Cairo when we drove through. A privilege to be part of it.

We crossed the border yesterday, more red tape than you can imagine, signs that others had given up included two British registered BMW motorbikes covered in dust and seemingly abandoned.

The banks were still not open so our trip to Tripoli for the visas was worth it! Things were very much calmer than a week ago but a very strong military presence at the border complete with tanks and armoured vehicles.


Despite the armament the atmosphere seemed to be quite relaxed. The north coast near the border holds few attractions except El Alamein where my uncle Geoffrey Macdiarmid was captured …and escaped! So once we had seen the site and the British war cemetery where another (unrelated?) Macdiarmid is buried Sgt Colin Macdiarmid of 3 Sqn Royal Australian Air orce we made a bee line to Sidi Bdel Rahman which the Lonely Planet guide said had the most fabulous beaches. It does…. but the rash of new hotels and resorts makes most of the place look like a building site.

Beautiful beach with not a tourist in sight

Turned up at the Ghazala Beach Resort to be offered a free room as they had no guests….and were interviewed by Reuters about the prospects for tourism in Egypt! Watch out for the van on a small screen near you!
thevanplan on the BBC

Richard and Susan were wonderful again and we even had a Chinese New Year Lunch with a group of their friends in a gorgeous restaurant in Tripoli. During the lunch one of the girls had a call from her Libyan husband warning her to get home as quick as she could as there was due to be a demonstartion….

Chinese New year Lunch, the year of the Rabbit in Tripoli


William James and Richard come to visit the van!

All our paperwork has now been reissued and we have our Visa for the Sudan as well, which means that we don’t have to go into Cairo if things are still a bit unstable.

Idris our “escort” relaxing
News from Egypt looks better and we are going to try and cross again either this afternoon or tomorrow morning depending on flights back to the van( its about 1,400k’s).