Back in Cairo

We're currently back in Cairo for one night before heading to Istanbul tomorrow.

After a day in Luxor, enjoying the pool we joined the convoy and crossed the Sahara. We arrived in Hurghada (east coast of Egypt, on the Red Sea) at around noon. The convoy was "interesting." We were paired with about 60 other vehicles and a number of military personnel. All members of the army, of which we've seen 100s, carry full automatic AK-47s or sub-machine guns - its crazy! As the convoy passed a small town, a kid (maybe 8 years old) posed, by pointing a handgun into the air - I JUST missed the pic! The convoy was cool because we got to see a lot of Egypt outside of the standard tourist areas. We saw many farms and rural areas as well as a LOT of desert. The topography is surprisingly mountainous but it was very cool.

Hurghada was a great break as it felt at least 10C cooler than Aswan and Luxor as it is tempered by the Sea. The water there is beautiful as it has that caribbean/exotic blue colour. We swam yesterday and after a dismal showing at the hotel buffet, made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe. We know...not very authentic, but man was it a nice break! Everything was in english, rock music was playing, and we had fajitas and a cheeseburger. The cheeseburger was about $8CAD, but the drinks were $10 a piece! Very strange. They had some crazy deals. On Saturday, you can eat and drink as much as you want for 100EGP (aka ~$20CAD) - ridiculous - too bad it was tuesday! Later that night, after a few "pops" at the hard rock, we had our first "shisha" experience - a large, "smoking device." It makes the smoke very smooth. The tobacco comes in a number of flavours. We've had peach, cherry, and apple - all are delicious. If we could fit one in our backpacks, it would already be there. :)

This morning we slept in and meandered down to the beach where we relaxed and then headed out on a glass bottom boat for a tour of the reef which included some swimming/snorkeling. The snorkeling wasn't great, but it was still fun as we were about 1KM from shore, but could touch the sandy bottom because of how the reef was situated. It was a very strange feeling. The water was incredibly beautiful and warm. We saw a variety of fish through the glass bottom - very cool.

This evening we flew from Hurghada to Cairo and had a great night in Cairo. We're finally comfortable getting around, and knowing how Cairo works and its time to go! That said, we felt like locals tonight paying "market" rates for water/ice-cream (PS - Nestle Ice Cream bars - goooood ones, are 2EGP (40 cents here), we're averaging 2 each, per day.) - ridic - and smoking shisha once again. We love the shisha! Cairo is such a neat city. Its AMAZINGLY different, but very interesting.

We have mixed feelings about leaving egypt, but are very excited to see Istanbul tomorrow!

Thanks for checking in on us!