Egypt… take 4

6 April to 20 April 2025

Fair to say that the jury was split on our travel plans for Egypt. 

We were aligned on the desire to get the kids seeing something outside of Europe, and, after 92 months of winter in London, we were all feeling a visceral need to get some sun. 

Liz’s question was whether it really had to be Egypt. Our memories from previous trips there were of ancient wonders jostling with chaotic, polluted but fascinating Cairo;  beautiful sunsets on the Nile balancing against aggressive touts constantly hassling anything that moved; stunning coral reefs and sublime desert landscapes being offset against the memory of the worst food poisoning ever. 

This is before you get to the safety and logistical challenges of coming here – the size of the country, the threat of war, terrorism and general instability, and difficulty (and cost) of getting across the country as a family of 5.

There is no question that Egypt is a bit complicated – from a social, political and environmental perspective, and from an overall ‘traveller experience’ point of view too. 

After lots of negotiation and consultation with SmartTraveller and UK Foreign Office travel advisories we decided to make the trip – balancing the allure of the man made and natural beauty of this incredible country with the hassle and risk. 

Pre-trip organisation is normally Liz’s domain. She is the diva of the detailed itinerary, painstakingly researching and curating every step of our trips to ensure maximum satisfaction for all concerned. We are spoiled and we love it. 

This trip was different. If we were to do Egypt, it would be Ant’s responsibility to organise every step. And God Forbid if something should go wrong. 

No pressure. 

More negotiation as we wrangled our itinerary, and we settled broadly on 5 days across Cairo and Luxor and a week in Dahab. The rest of the country would need to wait. 

Accommodation booked. Transport booked. Tour guides booked for the historical sites. In theory there are a heap of online platforms to curate a tour around Egypt independently – but who knew if they were going to actually turn up? 

Even booking them felt strange, almost like cheating – on previous trips here we had relied on arriving in country and negotiated and haggled for everything from there. Pre-booking felt sensible for a family of 5, and the ‘premium’ you pay for it felt worthwhile considering our ’risk profile’ with 3 kids and time constraints. 

As has become tradition, family assignments were set, ready for a pre-departure presentation evening. Sienna chose Mount Sinai, Ellie the Pyramids, Jessie the West Bank and Hieroglyphics, Ant covered the gods of Ancient Egypt, and Liz the modern history of Egypt. Presentations were made, scored and feedback provided. Ellie won, with Jessie a close runner up. Ant was disqualified for overuse of ChatGPT (again).

Our departure date came up quickly, fresh off the back of the end of term, and only 6 weeks since our last trip to Eastern Europe. We scrambled to pack what we needed in our small backpacks – considering we would be travelling for 2 weeks, climbing Mount Sinai at night, snorkelling in the Red Sea and juggling temperatures between 3 and 42 degrees. Not to mention the fact that Liz planned to pack the vast majority of food that she would eat, not willing to risk a repeat of the life changing food poisoning she experienced 40 years ago. 

There was a last minute drama as Ant tried to navigate the compulsory e-visa process. The required full passport details, dates of previous trips to Egypt and full itinerary details for the trip to be completed separately for all 5 passengers, along with a $25 USD fee for each passenger. He meticulously entered all the details, paid the fee and submitted the application a week or so before departure. Somewhat predictably, the application was denied 3 days later with no reason given. A request for more information was never answered, just an offer to re-apply digitally and pay another $125 USD for the privilege. A bit more research suggested that the visa could also be purchased at the airport by exception, and with the provision of all the required information. Fair to say that e-government services in Egypt appear to be ‘emerging’. 

Armed with all the official documents we possessed, we made our way to the airport, still unsure whether our 2 week holiday would be turned into a 24 hours return trip to Cairo Airport and a rejection at the border. 

The BA flight was uneventful. Ellie was super excited that they asked us to check our backpacks under the plane (NB – ‘carrying on’ her backpack has become one of her great hang ups, convinced that everyone is staring at her when she goes on the plane with backpack on. Sadly for her, it saves us around £250 each flight, so she’s going to need to soldier on here). We had the increasingly rare pleasure of sitting as a family and before we knew it we were landing in Cairo. 

We made our way off the plane and were immediately struck by the heat and ‘smell’ of the Middle East (or should I say North Africa?). It did not feel like Western Europe anymore. 

We hustled through the airport in search of the visa booth, visions of getting caught in a 3 hour line of ‘digital failures’ in our minds. We were armed with all our official documents and ’just in case’ DNA samples. We were ready to go – they would not reject us this time. 

We got to the arrivals hall and found a large number of currency exchanges with lines of tourists in front of them, all trying to get their visas. Surprisingly the lines were moving incredibly quickly. These guys were good. 

In no time at all we were at the front. We offered up our documents. Our passports. Our other passports. Our itinerary. A letter of invitation from our places in Cairo. Pictures of our dog. The guy looked at me strangely and then looked at the $125 USD I had in my hand. I gave it to him and said ‘5’. He took the money and gave me 5 little stickers. I proffered up my passports, my itinerary. He just shook his head, and moved on to the next guy. 

Then it all came flooding back. The overly zealous but entirely ineffectual control processes that proliferate across the country. The multiple security scanners that don’t work. The bag checks that happen sporadically. The complex e-visa system that can be circumvented by just buying a $25 sticker at the airport with no other ID required. We had experienced this repeatedly on previous trips here, and apparently it had not changed. 

We smiled and made our way to the passport control where they lovingly affixed our very sparkly visa sticker into our passports and we were on our way out into the world. 

Our cab bravely navigated through the Cairo chaos into the relative sanctuary of the leafy Nile island of Zamalek, where we were staying at the Residence Iconia. The kids looked slightly agog at the chaos outside the window, with the constant honking of the cars reinforcing the scene. (NB: honking in Egypt is ubiquitous. It appears that you always have to give way to the car in front, and so cars honk when they overtake (which they do constantly, vying to squeeze at least 6 cars across the average 2 lane road). This honking can be a gentle ‘hello’ or a more aggressive sign of displeasure, but it is constant). 

Compared to downtown Cairo, the island of Zamalek is an oasis of calm – with tree lined streets, beautiful, if rundown, colonial mansions, embassies and a vibrant expat and student community. That said, it is not immune from the crazy driving or the constant honking and, like the rest of Cairo, crossing the road is done at the pedestrians risk and without any assistance. 

We headed out for dinner to ‘O’s’ a local pasta restaurant – not wanting to overload the kids with too much on their first night. Just navigating the streets was enough – no footpaths, no lanes and (seemingly) no road rules made for an exciting induction into Egyptian driving. 

Despite the squealing, we survived the walk and enjoyed the dinner, before heading back to the apartments to pass out and be ready for our trip to the pyramids the next morning. 

The next day dawned and after an excellent breakfast at the local ‘Cafe and Crumbs’ we were picked and taken to the pyramids. We had arranged a guided tour for the morning, the plan being to try and bring the history to life for the kids. 

The pyramids did not disappoint – how could they? The sheer scale is just awe inspiring.

The last time that Ant was here was with Mum and Adam and it just seemed like yesterday. I guess in pyramid timeframes it was. 

Our guide did her best to explain the history to us, but the fact is that she wasn’t able to explain a great deal more than what Ellie had researched as part of her family project. We even tested her on conspiracy theories – but sadly it appears that the 5 years that they spend at ‘tour guide school’ doesn’t cover theories around alien involvement in pyramid construction. Maybe that’s the masters course. 

The days of trekking through the desert around the site are over – there is now a road between the pyramids and tourist buses zip tourists around the site in an efficient one way system, hastening the flow of people around the site. 

Probably the highlight of the day was the camel ride. (Please don’t judge us). Liz opted out of this one, instead choosing the role of official photographer, but the rest of us clambered aboard our 4 camels (Mickey Mouse, Michael Jackson, Pepsi and Charlie; aka Taco 3, Taco 4, Taco 5 and Taco 6) for a tour around the site.

It’s amazing how much fun you can have on a camel, particularly if you’re Jessie and you get the feisty camel (perfectly matching her own personality). 

From there, we got to see the Sphinx and tried to recreate a photo from the last time we were here together in 2006 (the last 20 years have been hard on the sphinx, its really sad to see. She must be looking at us with envy). 

Still in our ‘polite tourist’ phase (hint: it wouldn’t last) our tour guide ‘insisted’ we visit a local jewellery and perfume place. After being hard sold for 15 mins we excused ourselves to much disappointed ‘tisking’ from the proprietors – obviously thinking that a family including 4 girls on holidays was a sure thing. We remembered that UK manners didn’t work so well here, and we needed to be a bit more forthright. In that spirit, we declined the offer of the papyrus museum and made our way back to the apartments. 

That evening we planned to explore the Khan el Khalili markets in Old Cairo. We’d warned the kids that this was more full on than anything we’d taken them to before – in terms of ‘busy-ness’ and hassle. We didn’t necessarily warn them about the joys of traversing Cairo on foot. 

We caught the excellent new metro (fully air-conditioned, and complete with ‘ladies only’ cars that saw Ant get ditched like a hot potato) into the centre of town, relishing the 12p investment that the ticket cost. 

We surfaced into the sea of humanity, traffic and noise that is central Cairo. The kids recoiled. We realised that the route to the market meant crossing a busy, 6 lane road – which created a fair bit of excitement. We attached ourselves to a group of locals who were similarly risking their lives, amazed at how the traffic didn’t stop, but rather melted it’s way around us. Somehow we didn’t die, but the girls were visibly shaken. 

We continued our walk down the bustling narrow streets and alleyways of Old Cairo, navigating around the honking horns of speeding motorbikes and vendors selling their wares. We made our way into the Khan el Khalili market and had a cup of tea, all the time being relentlessly hassled by vendors and beggars. The kids shrunk further into our arms. 

We finished our drinks, found ourselves a cab and bundled them home. 

Cairo 1. Children 0. 

The plan for our second day in Cairo was to visit the new Grand Egyptian Museum back in Giza. Egypt clearly had a plan to funnel all the tourists into Giza, all the business into New Cairo and leave the chaotic Old Cairo to its own devices. 

The digital presence of the new museum was confusing – it has been under construction for the last 15 years or so, delayed by normal life here + COVID. It was now open, but it was super unclear online what was actually there. Tickets were limited each day, so we had bought some online whilst we were still in the UK. 

It turns out there isn’t much there at all yet, with the old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square still the place to go to see Tutankhamen and most of the other treasures of Ancient Egypt that haven’t found there way into museums in London, Paris or New York. 

Luckily we found this out once we were on the ground and rapidly changed our plans to swap out a return to Giza and instead head to the beautiful old 1900s colonial style Egyptian Museum. 

Still a bit shell shocked from our experiences of the previous evening, we invested in an uber to take us to the museum, ensuring that we didn’t have to brave any central Cairo street crossings. (NB: uber works reasonably well in Cairo and is incredibly cheap… but don’t expect anything other than aging Ladas and ancient Toyotas to pick you up).  

We hadn’t seen any other tourists in central Cairo since we’d been here – we assumed they were all hiding in Giza. It turns out that the museum also gets more than its share. The place was heaving with tourists, hot in the 38 degree spring sunshine and as chaotic as we remembered. 

Largely unlabelled 3500 year old sarcophagus were piled up by the score and an entire room of animal mummies demonstrated that when the ancient Egyptians got into something, they really got into it. The highlight was the treasures from Tutankhamen’s tomb, particularly interesting was we’d just seen the replicas in London, and were about to visit the actual tomb later in the week. 

The visit done, we managed to coax the girls back onto the excellent metro (where they quickly nestled into their ‘ladies only’ carriage) and made our way back to Zamalek for another pasta lunch. Fair to say we’re starting our Egyptian culinary journey with caution. 

From there it was back to the airport for our Air Cairo flight to Luxor. We’d only had 2 days in Cairo, but it was enough for the girls’ first visit. Any more than that and I think we would have lost them. 

Predictably, Air Cairo was late. It eventually meandered to the gate some 2.5 hours late, before taking off and seemingly seeking out every bit of turbulence on the short flight to Luxor. It would have been quicker to catch the bus, and probably a lot less bouncy! 

In any case, we arrived safely at Luxor and made our way to the Sonesta St George – a swanky and dated but still quite lovely hotel on the banks of Nile that would be home for the next 3 days. The girls couldn’t believe the bling!

Luxor 

We arrived in Luxor in a heatwave. It was 40 degrees when we arrived, and would be the same again the following day when we were touring the Karnak and Luxor temples. To try and avoid the worst of the heat, we started at 6am and were literally the first ones into the Karnak site, when it was a pleasant 27 degrees. 

Karnak is magnificent. The site is enormous and dates back to the Middle Kingdom, some 3500 years ago. It was initially constructed by Ramses II and is connected to the Luxor Temple by the 3.5 kms long ‘Avenue of the Sphinx’. 

Over the last 5 years, they have made a concerted effort to reconstruct certain parts of the site from the rubble, and have even added some of the original colour back to some of the pylons. This makes it easier for the uneducated to appreciate the sheer scale and grandeur of the temples in a really subtle and respectful way. Too much and it would feel like Disneyland – this was just enough and it was wonderful. 

We finished our exploration of Karnak by around 8.30am and made our way up the road to Luxor Temple – which towers over a roundabout in downtown Luxor. It was already getting really hot and we were starting to lose the kids a bit. We just about managed to keep them engaged with the amazing statues which adorn every area of this temple. In addition to being a temple to the sun god Ra, the Luxor Temple site also boasts an active mosque and a Coptic Christian church (now abandoned) which makes the site particularly unique. 

By 10am we were done, and heading back to the hotel for a second breakfast and to spend some quality time by the pool, with its wonderful views over the Nile. 

That afternoon a ’cool’ change came through, bringing 60 km/h winds and a 15 degree temperature drop. Perfect for our planned sunset felucca ride. Liz opted out, Ant and the kids braved it and were rewarded with lovely views as the felucca made its was south from Luxor, happily managing the high winds. The sunset was stunning, and we could feel the tension from the challenging couple of travel days drain away. Nothing like a boat ride to help you relax. 

The sun set and we started to make our way back to Luxor. Sadly for our ‘captain’ (a kid who can’t have been more than 20, with his ‘first mate’, aka little brother who was clearly very much still learning the ropes) the cool change went through and the wind died, leaving us adrift floating slowly north past the hotel and unable to moor. We settled in for our elongated cruise as our captain made a slightly embarrassed call to a friend with a motor boat, who eventually came and rescued us with a tow back to port. 

We were super excited for the following morning where we planned to explore the West Bank Tombs and the Temple of Hatchepsut. Ellie was unamused as the alarm went off at 530 (again) and we were out the door by 6am. Luckily today was mild – a beautiful 24 degrees. 

We had planned 1.5 days here – the main sites on day 1, with another trip back the following morning to see Tutankamun’s tomb on a ‘special’ ticket. Ant had purchased a timed ticket specially in advance – and it had cost a lot – presumably because of how popular it was (he assumed). 

We made our way over the Nile to the West Bank, accompanied by the best of the 3 guides we had to date. We visited 3 tombs including Ramses IV and Ramses IX  and marvelled at the imagery in each one.

The lighting has improved massively in the tombs – LED lights have rended head torches unnecessary and do a wonderful job illuminating the incredible hieroglyphics. Guides are not allowed in the tombs, and so it was left to us to decipher the meaning of the complex stories that played out on the walls and ceilings on every side of us. 

Needless to say, this led to complex narratives about dogcats, space portals, bin chooks, little red aliens and ducks that always point in the right direction (even if there are 2 of them pointing in different directions). This is why we need guides! 

Speaking to our guide, we realised that the ‘special’ tickets that Ant had purchased online for Tutankamun were a total scam. Luckily they could be cancelled within 24 hours, so we quickly ditched them, walked up to Tutankamun’s tomb, paid a $15 fee, and walked into it. So much for the £70 ‘skip the line’ tickets – just a reminder that this place will more than happily screw you out of any money that they can convince you to part with.

Tutankamun’s tomb is a fraction of the size of the others we had visited but beautifully painted and still housed his mummy. That said, it would absolutely not have been worth a special trip back to the site, and definitely not worth the money that Ant had paid for the ‘special’ ticket. 

From the Valley of the Kinds tombs, we had a chance to visit the Temple of Hatchepsut. She was the only female Pharoah and built this amazing mortuary temple directly into the mountain side overlooking the Valley of the Kings. One of the many literal and figurative symbols of her snubbing her nose at the patriarchal elite of her time.

Hatchepsut managed to convince her peers that she was ‘reborn’ as a man and so was eligible to lead Egypt – we she did with significant success for 20+ years. Much of the art on the first floor of the temple tells of her life and successful voyage to Somalia. The girls – and Jessie in particular – loved the stories of Hatchepsut, mainly because she was clearly totally hardcore. 

We had a quick stop at the Colossi of Memnon who guard the entrance to the Valley of the Kings at the end of the tour and that was that – the ‘educational’ side of the trip was largely complete. We’d timed it pretty well – the kids were really engaged through all of what we’d seen (heat and hassle notwithstanding) but I think if we’d piled too much more on them they probably would have buckled. 

That night we celebrated the end of this part of the trip with a dinner at El Kababgy on the Nile in downtown Luxor.

The corniche area in front of downtown Luxor has been very much ‘done up’ so that the Nile Cruises which stop here get a view of modern looking shops, restaurants and the Luxor temple in the background – avoiding the slightly more chaotic reality of the rest of the city. 

As we’d managed to tack Tutankamun on to our overall Valley of the Kings day, we had the following morning as total downtime … at least until our flight after lunch. Breakfast was at 9, rather than 5.30am and no one was made to tramp across the desert. Instead, floating in the Sonesta’s pool was the order of the morning, before making our way back to very empty Luxor airport and our on time and efficient trip with Air Egypt back to Cairo for our stopover on our way to the Sinai. 

Cairo Part 2 – Heliopolis and on to Dahab 

We had chosen an apartment right next to the airport for our brief stopover in Cairo – literally somewhere to sleep before getting a bus first thing the next day across the Sinai. 

We arrived at our apartment on a mission to get to the local supermarket and buy provisions for dinner that night and for our bus ride in the morning. Our visions of a hearty home cooked meal were largely dashed when we arrived in our 3 bedroom apartment and found that it had 3 plates, 2 saucepans, no cooking utensils and nothing to wash up with. 

The Sheraton area of Heliopolis around us felt like a cross between the Divergent film set and the Simpson’s ‘monorail’ episode. The majority of buildings in the area were half built and/or falling down, interspersed with vacant lots. Rubbish littered the streets, closely monitored by packs of stray dogs. The odd house was complete and decorated with oppulent dectorations behind high walls, security cameras and beautiful gardens. 

The once ‘modern’ looking Sun City mall down the road advertised a plethora of western shops, but was largely dark and deserted, with the random exception of a fully functional and well patronised ice skating rink on the bottom floor. 

An 8 lane highway encircled the area, with almost no cars travelling on it. 

Clearly there had been big plans for this area that had not played out as expected, and it had been left half finished and derelict. Looking at the statistics, Egypt has the money to invest and be a successful middle income country – it has assets like the Suez Canal, tourism, agriculture and natural resources that others in the region could only dream about, but there are still levels of inequality and poverty that feel more extreme than they ought to. 

The streets of Heliopolis were the most obvious sign of misplaced investment and/or mis-management that we had seen since we arrived here, and was actually quite shocking. We were familiar with the political history of Egypt (largely under military rule since independence) and where it scores on both corruption and human rights tables, but even so, this level of dystopianism was quite confronting. 

We hurried past the packs of stray dogs and half finished building sites to a (weirdly)  bustling supermarket, did our shop and made our way back home to unsuccessfully cook the most disgusting meal of badly cooked rice, boiled frankfurts and broccoli. We were really giving the kids an authentic taste of travelling now. 

The following morning we waited outside our apartments for a bus to show up. There was no indication that it would – we had booked it on ‘Bookaway’ – one of the many intermediary platforms that exist to connect travelers with local operators around the world. We dropped the company a WhatsApp message, and within 10 mins a minibus arrived to take us half way across the country. Whether or not he’d woken up this morning thinking that’s where his day would take him was unclear… but we were soon on our way.

We headed east out of Cairo, skirting New Cairo City  (the new business district) and the New Administrative Capital. The various new areas went on for some 50kms. For the most part, all we could see where half finished buildings, most of which did not appear to be ‘current’ projects – the skeletons of the buildings were mostly in place, but there were no workmen working on them, and no cranes on the skyline.

Only the New Administrative Capital looked complete (from a distance) – with its skyscrapers and football stadium towering above the desert on the horizon. 

Again, our impression was that the country had massive aspirations, but these were not currently aligned with reality. 

Soon we left Cairo behind and it was just desert. As we neared the Suez Canal the security got tighter and we were regularly stopped for security and passport checks – generally by armed soldiers being watched over by sentries with machine guns and the odd tank. 

We successful navigated each of the check points, eventually heading under the Suez Canal via the traffic tunnel and popping out onto the Sinai. The Sinai is a wonderful area of the world, but not without its challenges. It’s northeastern corner borders Gaza; from there it shares a land border south with Israel until the Gulf of Aqaba where Taba (Sinai), Eilat (Israel), Aqaba (Jordan) and Saudi all sit next to each other. Further down the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba sits Dahab. 

The northern half of Sinai (from Suez to Nuweibaa, just north of Dahab) is off limits to tourists including those from UK and Australia. Our driver was planning to take that route but ultimately acquiesced to take the more southerly route via Saint Catherine (next to Mount Sinai). For the next 4 hours we watched the Sinai desert roll past the windows as we made our way south and east through a combination of flat valleys and rolling mountains and a heap of checkpoints. The kids went from perturbed by the guards and the guns, to accepting. It’s all part of the adventure, and in fact it was a lovely way to pass the day, despite the excitement of Egyptian driving (both ours and others on the road!)

Dahab and the Sinai

Dahab used to be a Bedouin fishing village before being ‘discovered’ by backpackers and scuba divers in the 1990s. It still maintains a reputation as being a backpacking destination and more chilled out than the resorty Sharm el Sheik an hour or so down the road – although it is a long way from a Bedouin fishing village now. It’s still a great dive location, and also one of the premier wind/kitesurfing destinations in Egypt. From the beach at Dahab you get to look across the Gulf of Aqaba and gaze at Saudi Arabia which has always captivated me – it was interesting to see Ellie have exactly the same reaction this trip. 

Ant had spent a couple of weeks here in 2005 during his first trip to Egypt and loved it – and was super excited to be back. The kids were excited that to have entered the more ‘relaxing’ phase of the holiday. 

We pulled into the beautiful Safir resort (yes OK, we’re still trying to take the kids to backpacker type locations, but we’re more than happy to stay at nicer places when we do it!). The resort comprised a series of white domed apartments, with beautifully tended gardens overlooking a central pool, palm trees and the blue water and red mountains of the Sinai in the background. Absolutely stunning. Yes, we were spoiling the kids. 

We dumped our bags and hit the pool. We then hit the buffet dinner, timidly at first – we had been pretty careful about what we’d eaten up until this point – not wanting to get sick – but then with more gusto. I would love to say that we explored the local cuisine around Dahab, but we didn’t (to be fair, I’m not sure there’s that much ‘authentic’ cuisine to be sampled there in any case). We ended up staying in the resort and eating all our meals there – which was perfect for this part of the holiday. Liz quickly befriended Happy the restaurant manager, who personally saw to it that she was fed gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian cuisine, at least after he got over the initial shock that such a thing was even possible. 

Our first full day in Dahab was taken up doing a pre-booked ‘snorkelling tour’. This turned out to be a very ‘rustic’, cruisey and ultimately really enjoyable day.

We were picked up in a ute with only the vaguest of plans provided, and taken to a Bedouin cafe area around the ‘Blue Hole’ snorkelling site about 30 mins north of Dahab. Tea, wetsuits and flippers were provided (at extra cost) and we hung out in the shaded cushions by the beach for an hour or so. The kids, used to our typically more frenetic pace when travelling, kept asking what we were doing. Drinking tea. Chilling out. Waiting for some as yet undefined event to happen before we moved to the next thing. 

After an hour or so we were told it was time, so we kitted up and made our way to the snorkel site and jumped in. We were treated to a lovely snorkel along the coral reef, ending up at the spectacular Blue Hole – a 120m deep hole in the coral straight off the beach. 

From there, we were transitioned onto a new group and bundled onto a boat for a 20 mins ride further up the coast. Jessie and Ant were pleased – both love a good boat ride, and it was wonderful to be bouncing along the deep blue water past the spectacular desert scenery. 

The boat ride deposited us at another Bedouin cafe alongside a second snorkelling site – the Abu Gallum national park. Another 30 mins of waiting for no apparent reason and then another snorkel – always with the same guide, but this time with about 20 people – we were gaining popularity by the minute. 

At the end of the snorkel we made our way to a series of utes that were parked in the desert up from the dive site. We piled into the back and bounced our way along rough desert tracks to the Blue Lagoon – a stunning lagoon with a shallow sandy bottom which gives it its name. We were miles from any running water or electricity other than solar, but they still managed to serve lunch (at 3pm and in our case eaten pretty selectively) – what we didn’t eat the local population of dogs and cats thoroughly enjoyed. 

The kids had so many questions about the day – what were we doing, why were we waiting, what would happen next. I had none of the answers, and they just had to go with the flow. By the end of the day they seemed to get it – there was something quite wonderful about just rolling with what we were doing and just hanging out together. We don’t often get to do things like this, totally without a schedule, and it was a rare treat. 

On the way back, Jessie decided that the bed of the ute’s flat bed wasn’t enough – so she rode back perched on the side, with the biggest smile I’ve seen in a while on her face. From there it was back on the boats and back in a bus to take us back to the hotel. 

Somehow it had all worked out and we had got back broadly as planned. 

The day had been totally different to anything we’d done with them before – and it was so fun to see how they’d adapted and normalised throughout the day. 

We mixed it up for the next day – we spent the morning doing our first dive in a while with the excellent Reef 2000 dive shop and our Dive Master Aam – a 59 year old, pot bellied, chain smoking Egyptian grandfather who took no shit from anyone. He dived without a wetsuit 12 months of the year, claiming his ample waistline was dry suit enough. Jessie loved him immediately, and before long it was reciprocated. Nothwithstanding his appearance, he was probably the most fastidious instructor we’ve ever had, and soon had all of us in line. 

The afternoon was enforced downtime as we tried to get some sleep and prepare for the main event – a 1030 pickup to climb Mount Sinai overnight and see the sunrise from the top. 

We were nervous ahead of tonight. Travelling to this part of the world can be stressful at times, and Ant in particular was feeling very responsible for the success or failure of the entire venture. So far, so good, but tonight was the big test – it could be spectacularly good, or a total disaster. 

Predictably Sena didn’t sleep, so was tired before we started. Not a great start. 

Mount Sinai is 2250m high and can get cold and windy on top. It’s a 6 km hike up rocky paths, with 750 irregular stone ‘steps’ to get to the summit – some 700m vertical climb above the starting point at Saint Catherine’s monastery. The route is interspersed with cafes and patrolled by Bedouins trying to convince weary climbers to take a camel instead – at least to the bottom of the steps. 

We were pretty lucky with the weather forecast – it was meant to be 6 degrees and not too windy the night of our climb. The night before it had been windy and zero. We had given the girls pretty detailed instructions about what to pack, but we didn’t feel particularly well equipped. We had multiple layers but only light weight fleeces – except for Ellie, who wasn’t really listening, so only packed a light cotton hoodie. On the bright side, she had packed a lovely pair of white jeans, which were perfect for the desert. Not.

At least we could hire mattresses and blankets at the top. 

The bus arrived on schedule and soon we were careering along the windy desert highway to Saint Catherine. The driver of our packed mini bus was clearly in a hurry. We all tried to get some sleep to avoid having to how close we were coming to death in our transit. 

Somehow we arrived unscathed at Saint Catherine, and by 12.30 we had met our Bedouin guide Moses (clearly named for the job), navigated all the street sellers at the base and started our climb. 

Moses (who does this climb nightly) set off at a cracking pace. Sena tried to keep up. Within 200m she was complaining about feeling sick. The Bedouins with their rental camels were circling like sharks around a weakened prey, sensing a ‘certain fare’ up to the base of the steps. We were literally surrounded by camels and guides, explaining how tough the climb was, and how comfortable the camel could be. 

Ant and Sena came off the pace, going at Sena speed instead of trying to keep pace with Moses. We found our pace and hit our rhythm, slowly but steadily making our way up the rocky path under the brightly lit moon and the glow of our head torches. Before we knew it we were at the first ‘cafe’ and back with the group. The circling Bedouins and their camels looked surprised and a little upset with her progress. 

We continued to make our way up, talking as we went. We stopped stopping at each individual rest stop, preferring to keep a slow, steady pace up the path. Before we knew it we were at our mid point, and it was time for a well earned cup of mint tea and a muesli bar. Spirits were high, although Sena was starting to look like it was 2am and she hadn’t had a proper sleep yet. Which of course it was. 

On we went, and before we knew it we were at the bottom of the stairs. The irregular blocks were lit up by the full moon as they wound their way up a saddle between two peaks.

We put on a play list and made our assault. Ahead were Jessie and Ellie, relatively better slept and feeling strong, powering up the stairs. Liz hung with Sena and I, part of the cheer squad. 

And then we were at the final rest stop. Here we would rest, warm up, grab a blanket and head up the last stretch to the summit. We were in the first group for that night and would have our choice of spots. At 3.30am we tucked into some instant noodles and more tea, before grabbing our blankets and making our way up the last 90 steps to the summit. It took us just under 3 hours of walking time and around 3 hours 45 mins elapsed time to make the summit. 

We got prime spot looking east, laid out our mattresses and blankets and settled in. Sena was asleep within seconds, exhausted.

We all curled up together for warmth. Ellie was quickly joined by a local cat who we named Larry, who snuggled into her blanket and expressed his overall approval of the situation with the deepest, loudest purring we’ve ever heard. He would stay with us for the entire time, only leaving when we did after sunrise. 

The stars were largely hidden by the full moon, but the sunrise was spectacular when it came, the beautiful colours illuminating the rocky outcrops that surrounded us.

Watching the morning unveil itself, knowing that we had earned the sunrise through the climb of the previous night was an absolute highlight. 

When it was time to go down, we gently woke Sena and fed her some warm tea. Impressively she was quickly back into it, and there was no complaining at the prospect of another 3 hours to get down. 

We made our way carefully down the rocky paths, willing the sun to warm us up as we descended, marvelling at the spectacular scenery that glowed in the early morning sunlight.

After 3 hours we were back at Saint Catherine’s monastery, a beautiful 5th century Coptic Christian church – and the home of the Burning Bush. It was a lovely way to complete what was quite the adventure. 

From there, we made our way back to the car park, said goodbye to Moses and piled back onto the bus. I think we were probably asleep before we hit the highway. 

Now that we’d finished all our ‘tours’ for the trip, it feels like the right time to reflect on how ‘independent’ travel played out for us in Egypt on this trip. 

Fair to say that it has changed here in the last 20 years – and I guess everywhere else too. There are websites and apps for pretty much everything – from hotels, to transfers, to buses and tours. Everyone in the tourism industry is on WhatsApp. 

Whilst on previous trips (pre kids) we would largely arrive somewhere and go from there, we now increasingly rely on these platforms (Bookings.com; GetYourGuide etc) to book things in advance to reduce the risk of total screw ups and judgemental stares from the children. Once booked and in country, you start getting WhatsApp messages to organise the finer points of the tour (and often to get on/up sold) 

There’s no doubt that you pay a healthily ‘tourist tax’ on this – and Egypt was probably the worst example of this that we’ve come across. In most cases we could have done things more cheaply had we negotiated in person. At least in a country as cheap as Egypt, there is generally plenty of headroom to accept the additional cost. 

Our initial concerns were that these guys were simply not going to show up – but in our case they always did. 

It’s quite hard to compare ‘like for like’ and many tours (especially to places like Mount Sinai) end up with the same group and the same Bedoiun guide having the same experience, no matter how you source it or how much you pay). Sometimes you realise that you’ve been completely shafted (like our Tutankamun experience) or that you’ve paid the ‘right’ price for something, but probably got something lower quality than you would have if you could have assessed it ‘in person’ (like our snorkelling trip). 

But generally it all just seems to work – and the whole industry is obsessed with getting a good review on TripAdvisor, Bookings or GetYourGuide… particularly by name. 

Back to our travels…. we arrived back to Safir from Mount Sinai in time for a shower then lunch; immediately gorging ourselves to refuel after the climb. After that it was time for afternoon naps and some well deserved pool time.

Strangely enough, the next day the girls weren’t up for much, so we spent the day lounging by the pool. In the afternoon, the girls went on one of those ‘mattress’ rides off the back of a speedboat in the Dahab Lagoon.

A couple of bounces too many sent us off to a local doctor and x-rays at the conveniently located and very efficient Dahab hospital (the third time we’ve had Jessie’s bones x-rayed whilst on holidays). Within 30 mins we had confirmation that there was no break (that’s 1:3 in terms of the ratio of holiday x-rays to broken bones for Jessie), her hand was strapped and we were heading back to the hotel. Pretty amazing service for 70 euros. 

That night, Ellie and Ant went wandering down the beach in search of stars, walking along the waterfront of the Dahab Lagoon looking up at the heavens. This was to become a nightly ritual through the rest of our time here. 

The following day we planned to do a couple of dives. Jessie decided to sit the morning out with her wrist, so Ellie and Ant went off to the beautiful Moray Gardens with Aam for a couple of dives. The dive sites around Dahab tend to be mostly directly off the beach, and are often surrounded by rustic Bedouin style cafes – where you dump your gear, sit on the floor on cushions under shade cloth and drink tea between dives. The dive sites themselves tend to be mostly colourful coral gardens and teeming with masses of colourful tropical fish, rather than big pelagics that tend to hang out in the Red Sea proper – overall a wonderful place to get comfortable with diving. It’s a absolutely wonderful, and Moray Gardens was no exception. 

In the afternoon we hung out as a family by the pool – Sena’s favourite thing is doing gymnastics routines in the water, and she’ll happily do this for hours, especially if Jessie is in there with her. Having family time just hanging in the pool is always a highlight. 

That night Jessie’s wrist was feeling better, so Jessie, Ellie and Ant went  on a night dive with Aam at the Lighthouse – which slightly randomly is right off the centre of Dahab. The access point is between a number of very popular restaurants. Ellie in particular loved parading past all the diners in full scuba gear – all the time muttering something about being mortified. Luckily the dive made up for the utter shame of being seen in public in scuba gear.

We had another 2 dives the following day at the stunning Canyons site – which felt like we were swimming through an aquarium at times. Purely selfishly it’s so fun to see how much Ellie and Jessie are enjoying their diving – it’s lovely to have an activity that adds another dimension (and, sadly, a whole heap of cost!) to our travels. We’re already planning our next trips. 

And just like that it was our last afternoon here. We hung by the pool and watched the sun dip behind the beautiful red mountains for the last time. We had a drink and played some table tennis before hitting the buffet, saying goodbye to all the staff who had looked after us so well. We went star gazing for the last time. 

On our last morning in Dahab Ant decided to brush off the cobwebs and go kitesurfing for the first time since France before Covid. The set up at the Dahab lagoon is perfect for boarding – shallow, flat and large, the only real obstacles were the gusty breezes and dozens of learners. Still, it was too good an opportunity to test whether I could remember what to do (vaguely yes) and it was great to have an hour or so zipping around the lake (actually, to be honest, zipping makes it sound way more dynamic than what it was. If you can imagine a scene from Driving Miss Daisy, but with kites, it was more like that; slowly meandering up and down the lagoon). It was a great way to finish the holiday, and made me want to do more again in the future. 

We ended our Dahab holiday with a lovely 45 mins of so just hanging out as a family in the pool. I’m not sure how many other families get to have cuddles in the pool with their teenage and almost teenage girls still, but we seem to have hit the jackpot there, and we absolutely don’t take it for granted. 

A final goodbye to the various staff who’d looked after us so well and we were back in a mini bus (this one required some ‘prompting’ to turn up, but was still there only 20 mins late) for our return trip to Cairo through the desert. The kids barely blinked at the checkpoints this time around – they had already become accustomed to this type of travel. It will never cease to amaze me how quick they adapt.  

Liz and the girls are convinced that I was Egyptian in a last life – having a poke at the reaction I have to this part of the world. They may well be right. I absolutely love travelling here – the history, the chaos, the bargaining, even the hassle. But I particularly love the Sinai – the colours of the sky, the desert and the ocean (from above or below), juxtaposed with the odd piece of green and the laidback Bedouin vibe makes this my happy place. I feel incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to spend another couple of weeks here, and to hopefully impart some of that onto the girls.