Back to Cairo & a visit the Egyptian Museum. It took a little over 2 hours to brisk the 2 floors which contain 20,000+ items recovered from Ancient Egypt. The most impressive section was that dedicated to King Tutankhamen. We saw his famous gold mask which was placed over the head of his mummy. He was then laid in a number of coffins (like a bubushka doll) each gold plated with the most beautiful detail of carvings and embedded glass and jewels. You can't help but stare for the longest time because we are all so used to seeing replicas that's it's hard to believe that this is the real deal.

We had our 'last supper' together as a group and then said our farewells. It was saddest saying goodbye to our fearless leader, Dino, who protected us from hassling shopkeepers, who rowed the feluccas whilst we all slept and who gave us a true insight into his country which has suffered incredibly low tourist numbers since last years revolution. Our group of 32 is the biggest On The Go have had in over a year. So if any of you are thinking of coming to Egypt- definitely do it!!

As we were staying an extra few days in Cairo, we got a chance to go back to the pyramids the following day. Our friends from the tour, Michael and Irene from Canada, stayed on in Cairo and joined us exploring.

We bought the extra ticket to go inside great pyramid, which is a steep narrow tunnel up to a chamber room. The tunnel has a wooden floor with rungs to climb like a ladder, and you have to walk doubled over to fit. It's also a little tricky to squish past when you meet another person going the other way. Not good for anyone mildly claustrophobic.

We were once again met by the ever-persistent vendors selling cheap souvenirs, it's surprising how easy 'no thank you' ("la'a shockran") just rolls off the tongue now!

On the way back to the hotel we stopped by a little felafel place we visited on the first day, just because we were feeling a little nostalgic. £E1.50 (25c AUD) for 3 pieces of felafel- amazing!

In the evening we walked the 5km from our hotel on Zamalek island, across the Nile, through Tahrir Square to Khan El-Khalili market. Among the things for sale in this overcrowded street was fireworks, stuffed foxes, gold jewellery and the usual souvenirs. We ordered grilled pigeon for dinner (which was s***) and finished off with a Turkish coffee at busy El Fishawys coffeehouse.

Our last day in Egypt involved a visit to the beautiful Citadel - Mohamed Ali's mosque (not the boxer), a walk through Al-Azhar park, a quiet dinner, a sneaky mojito and a big hug to Michael and Irene, which leads us to where we are sitting now....at Cairo International Airport waiting for a 2.30am flight to Kenya!