Crazy February

February...a month of craziness for this intrepid traveller!

February saw the end of my Sth American adventure. 6mths of backpacking around this huge and vast continent was amazing. But 6mths was enough for me. I wanted to leave on a high. It wasn't my time in Sth America that I really wanted to end, it was more the lifestyle. Living out of my backpack and in hostels was starting to take it's toll. Getting old maybe? Heheee..who know's, but it was a good time to move on.

My final weeks were mainly spent in the wonderful city of Buenos Aires, the city that really NEVER sleeps! Stylish, bustling, corrupt, poor, arrogant, wealthy and loads of atmosphere. It's full of history, amazing architecture, fake money, English tourists and Tango! Basically there is never a dull moment in this fascinating city and it's always a whole lot of fun. I can see how people come here and find it incredibly difficult to break away. From the trendy cafe and bar scene of Palermo, to the colourful working class neighbourhood of La Boca (also home to the countries favourite futbol team), San Telmo and it's incredible Sunday market, to the city centre sights. Wherever you go there is always something going on to keep you more than entertained. BA is one of those cities I would love to return to with a bunch of friends to celebrate a New Year or just enjoy a week of shopping and partying. Need I say more...

From Buenos Aires and it's balmy days of 30 degrees and more, I arrived in merry old England to it's not so balmy days. Actually, 2 degrees was the coldest and 8 was the highest during my brief stay. There was also the heaviest snowfall London had seen in 11years! It was really pretty to watch the snow falling again, especially when your view is from the comfort of the couch, slothed out and wrapped up in a cosy duvet :)

London was a social stop. A time to catch up with friends. So needless to say a lot of socialising, eating and drinking occurred! From French cafes to the good old English pub, there always seemed to be much food and bottomless glasses of wine being consumed! I stayed with my wonderful friend David and his gorgeous partner Ashley while in London. They are the most generous and wonderful hosts a girl could hope for. Throw in Toby the Tibetan Terrier who loves to sing along to the closing tunes of Coronation Street and you're gauranteed an entertaining stay. It was so good to catch up with old friends, some I have not seen in years. London always hit's a soft spot in me. There is just something about the place where I would never rule out living there again? Combine that with wonderful friends who are now based there and anything's possible I guess?

From London, I headed to Egypt. I have wanted to go to Egypt for as long as I can remember, but for some reason never made it there - until now. And it didn't get off to such a great start!

Cairo was the starting point of my trip and I hated it. With a passion. There are more people in Cairo then what there is in all of Australia. And I am sure it's about 70% men. Annoying, in your face kind of men. They did my head in from the moment I arrived. There is no such thing in Cairo as a nice leisurely stroll, soaking up the city. Instead it's mastering your Arabic - no thank you, go away or get your hands off me. In less then a day they had worn me down. I wanted out. The ONLY thing about Cairo that I did enjoy was the museum. What a fantastic collection. Treasures that were found in tombs of pharaohs, Tutankhamuns by far the most impressive. And to see that gold mask of his with my own eyes..amazing. The mummies, the sculptures, the art. I have loved all things ancient Egyptian since school, one of the subjects that never bored me, so to finally be amongst all these things and all this history was just awsome.

As for the pyramids....first impressions - they were kind of a let down for me. Well more the location I guess? They are pretty much in the middle of Cairo and are situated in what felt like a massive car park. Like you were just about to enter a theme park...I was waiting for the flashing lights, "Welcome to Egypt World". It just didn't feel or look like what I had anticipated all this time? But, when I ventured down to see the Sphinx it did have a more natural feel being a little further away from the arrival point and the oh so many tourist buses and people. And with the pyramids, particularly the great pyramid as the backdrop, I finally felt that little tingle up my spine, the much awaited excitement of where I was finally kicking in.

I headed to Aswan next. Fabulous little place after the dreadful Cairo. It was here I boarded a boat which would cruise down the Nile for the next few days, various stops to be made along the way. Before setting sail I had a leisurely day wandering around the town and another day to take a 3 hour bus ride to the very impressive Abu Simbel. At one time you could only fly as the road was closed off . Now you can drive, but only as part of a convoy. So again, you literally have dozens of minibuses and coaches all travelling the long tourist road together. Travelling in a convoy made me more nervous than anything. I figured if terrorists were going to strike, they had a pretty good chance of doing a fine job with all these easy targets on the road together, guided by local police just to make a shot all the more worth while. Warped that imagination of mine at times, I know? However, I digress...the temples! These two massive and extremely impressive temples are located deep in the heart of the desert, miles from the nearest habitation. The first temple has four statues - each one the seated figure of Ramses II, one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs. The second temple, although smaller but just as impressive is a dedication to Ramses favourite wife, a Nubian woman who's names now escapes me? Although the temple is a dedication to her, Ramses is still the primary figure throughout! The temples date back to the 13th century, BC and were completely hidden by sand until the early 1800's. Then some 150 years later, they were almost destined to be submerged a second time by the rising waters of Lake Nasser. A massive UNESCO project actually dismantled the entire temple and the cliff out of which it is carved, and reassembled on higher ground. You can still see the watermarks around the base of the statues, seeing just how close they came to being submerged. What a history hey! It took my breath away, both inside and out the magnificent temples. I think I would have to note them as my Egyptian hightlight!

We sailed to Luxor next, stopping at various temples along the way. You can get templed out after a while but they continued to impress me day in, day out. Now Luxor I really liked. A million miles away from the crazy Cairo. Even though it was incredibly touristy, it just had a great feel with a lot less annoying Egyptian men! There were more western faces here than I had seen since my arrival in Egypt, but not even that could put me off the place :) It just felt more...well more Egypt? More local? Not as dodgy? I can't put my finger on it, but it felt good to wander around and spend some time there. The highlight of Luxor was visiting the Valley of the Kings. We actually rode donkeys the 7km's to get there. There were 8 of us and we all seemed rather amazonian to be jumping on the poor little donkeys. Well so I thought. Those feisty mules had more get up and go than some horses I have ridden, most of them actually wanting to gallop most of the way. It was a laugh and definately the best mode of transport I had been on in a while. As for the VOTK...another WOW. Not much above the ground, but get into those tombs way, way down under the ground and you witness some incredibly well preserved sites, their walls covered in amazing paintings depicting the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. The colours were magnificent prompting me to ask a guide if they were ever "touched up". She looked horrified that I would even speak such words aloud!

My other mention for Egypt has to be the Red Sea. Staying in the town of Hurghada which is on the edge of the Red Sea and supposedly one of the worlds great diving locations. I hated the town. Now this place was definately set up for tourists in that disgusting tacky kind of way. Hideous really but easily avoided as you slothed on the hotel's private beach away from the reality of it all. The water was cool and clean. The change of scenery much welcomed after all those temples. I went on a boat trip for a day to enjoy some sun and snorkelling out at a few of the coral reefs. Quite a bit of the coral was dead and colourless, but in some parts still bright and beautiful. The water clear to the bottom and the brightly coloured marine life spectacular to watch. It was my final stop in Egypt before having to face Cairo again. The perfect wind down after a pretty perfect and incredibly interesting February!