Timeless

One of the most beautiful memories of Egypt was relaxing on the deck of the boat in the late afternoon, watching the banks drift past. It had such a timeless feel; the people dressed in robes; camels and donkeys drinking at the water's edge; men washing their horses in the river and women beating carpets along the banks and all the while the call to prayer echoing back and forth across the water. It was like looking into history.

Cruising the Nile

In order to get in some sunshine before we came home to the Canberra winter we decided to visit Egypt. We got so bogged down in work and the expense of the UK that we sadly didn't make it to Europe. That will have to be another trip. As compensation we went on a 2 week holiday to Egypt. We spent one week on a river Nile cruise, cruising from Luxor to Aswan and one week lounging around at the Maritim Jolie Ville which is on an island in the middle of the Nile. It all felt very luxurious especially after the cold and snow and hours commuting in England. We flew into Luxor, the old city of Thebes and joined the cruise. It was full of poms and germans on holidays and we shared a table with some great people thankfully no one mentioned the war.

If you haven't been on a cruise before, I can only recommend it to you. It is great value for money. We had an above the water cabin (no way was I going below the waterline) with room service, all meals and tours. It was busy because we took advantage of the guided tours. The tour guides have up to 7 years study to be able to be a guide. There was nothing they didn't know about Egypt, the pharoes, or the history of the tombs and temples that we saw. If it had been up to us to organise the time we would never have seen the wonderful places we visited. I have to admit though, there were times when I wanted to sneak off and just take it in on my own. You know, "on your right you have... and on your left you have.." gets a bit tedious. Some of the people on the cruise had been on it before. One guy had been on it over 40 times. I think once was enough for me. Dare I say after a while its a case of you've seen one tomb you've seen em all.

The Valley fo the Kings and Queens,Egypt 2009

Our first glimpse of ancient Egypt was the Valley of the Kings followed by the spectacular Temple of Queen Hatsutchep.

We visited an alabaster factory where we bought a lovely mortar and pessle and some bowls. We werent much on souveniers. Alan is a great bargainer. I managed to pay 40GBP for two cotton table cloths because I had no idea what the translation was and got well and truely dupped by the locals.

This trip has been one adventure after another. We took an amazing balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings and Luxor. It never rains in Egypt and so people dont bother having roofs on their houses. When your floating above the Nile you can see just how dependent the country is on it. There is nothing but desert and then this green ribbon of life running through it. It was wonderful going up in the balloon but I have to admit that we went up with "dodgy bros" and I am really not good with heights. I cried in fact and had a panic attack something like I did in Mesa Verde but got passed it and then relaxed and enjoyed the ride. I am very grateful that my lovely husband encourages me to go beyond my boundaries. It makes for an interesting life.Another exciting adventure was our visit to Kanak temple. This was to be a highlight with a sound and light show of the Temple at night. Well it turned out to be a wind and sand show. We were hit by a sudden sand storm. I have never experienced anything like it. We had our shirts and cardigans wrapped around our faces to keep out the sand and had to leave early to find the bus back to the hotel which was almost impossible. We missed our bus and Al had an argument with the driver of another bus going to the same place to make sure we could stay on it to get back. The wind had blown trees over and it was quite scary to be out in it. The incredible thing is that it doesnt rain at all there so it was just dust and sand.

Leaving Basingstoke

Vero and Thomas were due to return to their house that we were house sitting in on 7 May.  So we had to decide if we were going to continue in the UK; move somewhere else, pay rent etc and continue with our original plan, which was stay in the UK for a year or more and do short trips to the continent or not.  The credit crunch was an influence because we were not feeling all that confident that our jobs in Aus would remain secure.  The cost of living in the UK is very high and rents were high, so it was going to cost a packet to find somewhere else to live and they were laying people off everywhere.  We found that working full time (Al was doing 12 hour shifts and was working most weekends)  and for me commuting 4 hours a day left us both exhausted and not keen to go anywhere let alone organise ourselves to go away to Europe for a weekend.  It became apparent that we just couldnt afford to go to Europe for any length of time and we were both heartily sick of grey skys.  So what to do? Go on a cruise, somewhere with a blue sky!!!.  So with this in mind, we sold the car, packed our bags and said goodbye to Basingstoke, work and the UK anddecided to head home via Egypt and Thailand.  We had to get a summer in somewhere.

Coming Home

I must be the worlds worst blogger.  I am always so far behind the event.  Anyway we decided that while we have had a lovely time out and about in the world, its time to head home. I am writing this in Thailand but we have had some other adventures in Egypt before we got here.  We will be home on 27 May.  Can't wait to see everyone.  I intend to plod on writing blog updates to eventually catch up.  I still want to make this blog a record of our trip.  So I have a heap of US stops to add and some more of Basingstoke and Egypt and Thailand.  Overall we have had a wonderful time but as they say there is no place like home.

Stonehenge again and Salisbury

We had a lovely visit from our friend Hazel. We met Hazel in LA and travelled with her to
San Francisco and had a great day out there together at Alcatraz. Hazel had never been to Stonehenge and as it is only about 40 miles from Basingstoke we went for another look. It was just as bloody cold as the last time and just as interesting. It was so good to catch up with Hazel again. She is such a breath of fresh air and we love her from the heart of our bottoms.

We then went off for a look at Salisbury. What a place that was! Beautiful! The cathedral was spectacular. 750 years old and still standing. Those stone masons really knew how to build a cathedral. And (I'm still excited about it) the inside was magnificent, incredible carvings, gold leaf, angels, an amazing medieval clock and even a great blend of modern papermache angels; and stone carvings of the archangels heads in the same stone as the stone that the cathederal is made of. I really enjoyed Salisbury.


The houses and streets were so old and interesting and I attempted to make some arty pictures that I am afraid did not really come out as I had hoped.



Oh, well I have to develop my creative side and taking pictures is a start.

A day out in Newbury

You have to give it to the poms. They may whinge elsewhere but they don't whine about the weather here. They just put on more clothes and go out and do things. Good on 'em, I say. Alan and I thought we would take a leaf out of their book and we went out for the day to Newbury.

I was actually a very pretty town. The canals were lovely and so was the market atmosphere of the place. Alan bought me a new hat for my birthday and some gloves, and a scarf. We had lunch in a nice old pub that looked out over the canals and watched the swans and two intrepid paddlers in kyaks go by. Then we went for a wander along the canals. The whole day the temperature didn't get above freezing and all the trees and bushes were covered in frost.

Eventually, like all good Aussie tourists, we proceeded to hang out in shop doorways trying to cadge a bit of warmth from the heaters and pretending to be interested in buying something. Eventually completely outdone by the locals, who were still out and about we looked at each other and said something along the lines of it's fxxxking freezing, lets go home - to Australia we meant - but ended up back in Basingstoke.