Enroute from Petra to Amman

Run SPOT Run

We got the SPOT GPS device back.

When our van from Luxor to Hurghada returned, Muhammad our tour guide contacted me to let me know they had found it on the bus. More often than not it has been very helpful to have a local cell phone. Muhammad offered to but the SPOT on the next bus from Luxor to Hurghada. He subsequently called me with the name of the bus driver, the bus driver's cell phone number and the bus number. The bus was scheduled to arrive at 12:00 in Hurghada. I set off for the bus station at about 11:30 after my family had already turned in for the night.I was in for an interesting night.

I went to the market and grabbed a Coke Light. If you know me well, you know that I consume several Diet Cokes a day. Coke Light is not Diet Coke. I then set off for the bus station. I asked a local at the Shisha cafe where the bus station was - the hotel had already told me it was nearby - and this man was kind enough to bring me across the street and hail a cab for me. I should have arrived at the bus station several minutes before the scheduled arrival, but the unscrupulous cab driver drove me through the local Souk and tried to charge me a fare higher than the hotel and the guy who hailed the cab for me told me it should cost. I later realized that the cab had driven past the back entrance and went several kilometers further to get me to the other side.


This was the local bus station which few tourist use. It was hopping. There were many people there. buses would come and go and there was a hectic frenzy each time.

I inquired of several people including the ticket agent, some kind of coordinator, and local merchants for any information on the bus from Luxor. They either had no information, or in one case told me it had already arrived and left. I attempted to contact the driver by cell phone but he didn't speak to me or he hung up quickly. I remained at the bus station for the next 40 minutes and met several interesting people. I met a young man who was from Cairo and worked in a restaurant in Hurghada. He was very excited about the revolution. I talked to a very nice shopkeeper for a while. His business has been hurt by the revolution in a economic chain reaction - no tourists - no jobs for locals - no locals traveling.

I finally gave up. walked to the back gate and hailed a cab. Fortuitously, the cab circled the block and on the way bast the front gate, I saw that 2 additional buses had arrived. I asked the cab to wait. I went back into the terminal and found a local that called the driver from my phone. We quickly connected and the SPOT was back in my possession.

I have created a new page on the blog that has the SPOT tracking information.

Let us know how it is working.

Egyptian Jewlery/Tea time in Bedoin Village

After giving away my ring and earrings to some fabulous women in Athens one night after sharing some drinks,( we traded jewlery). Mark took me shopping on the streets of Hurghada for a new diamond ring and watch. We made a new friend at the jewlery shop.
Today, we took a 40 minute flight to Sharm  el Sheikh where we took a taxi to Dahab. Our taxi driver was Bedoin and their custom is to take us to tea, so our 1 hour trip took a detour not authorized by us where we had tea with our taxi drivers family. There were no windows in the home, no furniture, goats in the back yard and in the middle of nowhere. Our taxi driver then proceeded to get out his Bedoin tobacco (mary jane) and wanted to share with us. Mark told him he thought he should not do that and drive us 100km! he bragged that he does it all the time and can even drive 5 hours to Cairo! Given the winding roads and the speed at which he drove and the police check points, we were absolutely thrilled he did not have Bedoin tobacco.
currently we are in Dahab on our way to climb Mt. St. Catherines tomorrow where Moses talked to the burning bush and we can see Mt. Sinai where Moses received the 10 commandments. This is a BEAUTIFUL place. Egypt is truly amazing and a beautiful place.

Joanne

Traveling

This morning we took a flight from Hurgahada to Sharm el Shiek. From there we took our crazy taxi cab ride to Duhab. We also had fun finding the 4s hotel which was actually named ssss. The hotel has a pool, a foosball and pool table. Tomorrow we will drive two hours and climb Mount Saint Catherine were at the bottom Moses saw the burning bush and at the top where they found the body of St. Catherine and is also the tallest mountain on the Sinai Peninsula in  Egypt and possibly in Egypt.

During our time in Egypt, it was not like the news at all, it was quiet and peaceful.

Hunter

Banana Boat

Today all we had planned was a twenty minute banana boat ride which I did not think was going to be very hard. Little did I know there would be no way to keep myself from falling. I really wasn't ready for the turn that flipped the boat over because when we started, they told us you couldn't go fast without 4 people. We began the ride and it was fairly easy and we could stand up or take both of our hands off. Then I noticed that the ride was getting tougher as we went along until Bam, we made a tight enough turn and did a barrel roll upside down and had no choice but to let go from the bottom. We also figured out getting on wasn't the easiest thing either. After a failed attempt, we were able to get back on and continue our ride. The next time we flipped, we were better prepared. We will try to post our first video of this later.

I didn't know someone could drive a banana boat so skilfully.

Fathers' Day on the Red Sea

We are in Hurghada on the Red Sea for a little R&R from museums, history, and tombs. It is beautiful.

It seems busier with tourists than some of the other areas we have visited, but again, few American's. We have met people from Russia, Poland, Belrus - you get the idea.

We took a cruise on Father's Day to Giftin Island to snorkel and play on the beach. For the past several years, the Joanne and the boys haven't been home for Father's day, so it was nice to spend the day with them. It was a lot of fun. I read that the Red Sea is the warmest sea. Great coral reefs, colorful fish, towel orgami, dolphin sightings, and great weather left nothing else to ask for.

SPOT no more

On our trip to Hurghada, I had the SPOT GPS tracker hanging from the curtain in the van so we could track our trip through the desert. Upon arrival in Hurghada it was clear that our driver didn't know where our Hotel was despite telling us he did when we set out. We have seen this scenario many times on the Amazing Race show.

After inquiring from a number of people, we began to believe our driver couldn't even follow directions. Taking a page from the Amazing Race, we hired a local taxi to lead the way to the hotel so our driver could follow. This was despite our driver not wanting to do this, thinking it was some kind of affront. After being quickly let to the hotel, we excitedly climbed out of the van and I left the SPOT behind. I am trying to see if I can recover it, but have limited hopes.

I will see if i can replace it, but until then, it is just registering the ramblings of a tour bus in Luxor!