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Wow ive been realllllly lazing with updating this recently... oops.
Since the last time I updated this site, many moons ago, I've been up to a fair bit. I've landed myself a job in Cairo teaching English for starters. I start on the 15th April, so I've taken some recreational time out until the rigmarole of work begins once more. Actually in fairness it should be pretty interesting, but so is travelling the country.
I've added some photos of my few days in Alexandria and my time in Sinai. Alexandria was just a long weekend where I visited Pompeys Pillar, the new and very impressive library, and indulged in a spot of diving. There isnt much in the way of fish down there, but I can now say ive dived in the Med! The main focus of the dive was to see some ancient Egyptian ruins under water which were supposedly left over from a recently found palace of Cleopatara. Unfortunately most of it has been removed now, but I still saw a sphinx underwater, as well as some massive concrete blocks that were used in the building of the (now collapsed) ancient lighthouse- which was one of the 7 wonders of the world dont you know.
Otherwise Alexandria is a cool place, and a lot like Cairo would be if it were by the sea. Move a little inland and its busy, polluted and dusty, but there are signs everywhere of colonial times.
After my little trip to Alex it was back to Cairo to complete my teacher training course (all 2 weeks of it). Not much to write home about there, my time in Cairo spent drinking, meeting new people, going to watch the Cairo Symphony Orchestra (once), being hung over, eating cheap Egyptian food, playing Chess with a mate in local Egyptian cafes, and practicing my Arabic on taxi drivers.
But when I got my job offer and a start date I thought Id make the most of my time up until then by coming to Sinai. A friend was coming to a place called Dahab so I joined him. He has since left, and Im still here. Its a hard place to leave!
Its a lot of fun, its by the sea, and its easy to get into a routine of go to the beach, meet people, go drinking, sleep late, wake up late, go to the beach, meet people, go drinking etc etc. But there are also some really cool locals here, and like everywhere else in Egypt, they've really made me feel at home.
But its not been all lazing around. Case in point last night- I climbed a mountain. And not just any mountain, the famous Mount Sinai, where God spoke to Moses and delivered the 10 commandments.
We left Dahab at about midnight and arrived at the mountain trail at about midnight where be began our ascent. It was, as you can imagine, pitch black apart from our small torches, but we had our Bedouin guide showing us the way, while having to dodge camels every couple of minutes coming past us. With a few stops on the way, it took 3 or 4 hours (i think) to make it to the summit. Due to the altitude and the time of day, it was pretty damn freezing, hence my hilarious appearance in the photos- it wasnt a fashion statement. Watching the sun rise was truly amazing, as we climbed the mountain at night we had no real concept of our surroundings until the sun began to break through the clouds in the horizon and illuminate the mountain range. And what a spectacular view it turned out to be.
The descent, similarly, took several hours and our target was St Katherines Monastery which is as the foot of the Mountain. Pilgrims and (lots and lots of) tourists come from far and wide to visit the monastery, which houses the replanted remnants of the burning bush through which God spoke to Moses. For some, it was the focus of their pilgrimage, for others it was, literally "whys everyone touching that bush? I dunno, there must be a reason. Go stand near it and take a photo. Hurry up Im hot". For me the whole trip was fascinating, if a little knackering. Mind you climbing a mountain in the evening when you should be sleeping is likely to do that to you.
Speaking of sleep, I need to go and get some much needed zzzzz's. Tomorrow morning is productive day number 2 of my time in Dahab, a 9am dive in the Red Sea.
I cant quite end this entry without some mention of this evenings events. By which of course I mean liverpools 5-3 aggregate victory over Arsenal. You didnt think I'd miss it just because I was in Dahab now did you. In fact, I've already starting somewhat hastily looking into flights from Cairo to Moscow in case we make the champions league final!
Right thats me done for now, keep staying in touch via phone, email, facebook, the message board or whatever else you can think of!
Si
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