Blog of a crocodile - Egypt, April 4-11

Just a quick report back on a wonderful holiday.
We are a mixed bunch - one Irish and one Scot plus their two kids and another Irish pal, living in Doha and spending Easter in Egypt. Arrived into Cairo and transferred to our hotel the Pyramid Park. Despite the sign in the lobby, if this is a 5* property then I'm the goddess Isis (about whom more later!). Pretty disappointing start to the visit - five of us wedged into a twin room with three pull-out beds and no availability for an extra room.
Met our guide Dudi and the rest of our group the next morning. We were the crocodile group, four families with a total of seven children aged between 8 and 13. We were firm friends by the time we arrived at the pyramids and remained so for the whole trip. Dudi, like most of the guides, is a serious Egyptologist and seemed mildly shocked at our total lack of knowledge about his beloved history! The pyramids and funerary boat were fabulous, a real highlight and fantastic start to the trip. We had a very nice lunch in a local cafe and visited a papyrus museum where we all stocked up on gifts and practised our haggling skills (with varying levels of success!). Got some gorgeous souvenirs.
A few free hours were spent by the hotel's pool - freezing cold and not enough sun-loungers. Oh dear.
That evening we saw the Light and Sound show at the pyramid site and thoroughly enjoyed it, it was totally different seeing the site in a cool and tranquil setting away from all the tour buses, hawkers and camels!
Next day we visited the Pharaonic Village near Giza. Overall the view was that this was a slightly tacky Disney version of Egypt which may have suited very young children but we preferred to see the real sights. The afternoon was spent in the fabulous Egyptian Museum. Obviously the Tutankhamun mask is the most recognisable artefact but the place is stocked with treasures. The mummy room was well worth the extra admission fee.
That night was spent on the train - very reasonable accommodation, dinner was ok, toilets pretty awful but otherwise we managed fine. A two-hour delay in setting off made the morning drag along! We disembarked at Aswan hot, tired and I imagine rather fragrant!!! Enjoyed the visit to the Nubian school enormously and also the camel ride which followed. Our camel seemed intent on prancing along the very edge of a high dune which was slightly hair-raising but great fun! We were happy to check into our hotel which was actually situated IN the Nile, the Pyramisa Isis. It was just what we needed - huge airy rooms, lovely pool and very nice welcoming reception areas. Perfect.
Had a lovely evening at a Nubian restaurant with whirling dervish and traditional dancers. Great fun and by this stage we crocodiles had assumed a kibbutz-style attitude to childcare and were having great fun swapping children and getting to know each other better.
Visited the beautiful Philae Temple in the morning, fantastic scenery and wonderful tales from Dudi. Sadly it appeared that we were not quick enough to assimilate the history and had to be reminded to focus more than once, inspiring Karen's sad cry that she was Confused.com! In the event of any spot check or quiz one of us would invariably suggest Isis as the answer, to great hilarity. Lots of fantastic photo-opportunities and a nice cool drink in the cafe before we headed off.
Great excitement over joining our cruise-ship the Al Jamila was not misplaced. The ship was gorgeous, very airy and our rooms were great. Fabulous pool for the kids and lots of comfy chairs for us to while the days away. Had a lovely trip on a felucca boat for a few hours that evening which was a beautiful experience - very serene and peaceful. The crocodiles became over-excited at one point at the sight of what we thought was a dead body (gruesome bunch) and managed to almost tip over the boat in our rush to the side of the felucca!
Next morning we visited the temple of Komombo and then cruised up to the temple of Edfu. Felt that Edfu stood out of the two but the were both very pleasant visits. Bought some traditional djellabya costumes for our final evening and by now our haggling skills were seriously impressive!
Enjoyed an evening on board our ship, with music and party games. The multi-talented crocodiles turned out to be experts at passing bottles between their legs and cheerleading on their t eam-mates!
Next morning, we had a wonderful day trip to the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the workers. Saw a batch of tombs including King Tut - huge high point for all concerned. Visited an alabaster factory where we shopped as if we had never seen vases or statues before. Great fun!
My personal favourite of all was the visit to Hatshepsut's temple (dismissed by my butch husband as a girly temple...) which was absolutely gorgeous.
Visited Karnak Temple that evening for another light and sound show, very impressive indeed. Our lovely Dudi took us on a walking trip into Luxor's souk late that night, where we sampled the local coffee and ice-cream! Little John was in deep mourning at the thought of being parted from Dudi the next day - he had become our second tour-guide and was to be seen brandishing his Egypt paddle everywhere we went. The cry of "crocodiles - attack!" became our group's motto for the week.
The next day was our last as we were to fly back to Doha from Luxor. For one final treat we took a trip over the valleys of the kingds and queens ina hot-air balloon at sunrise. This was simply stunning and we're so pleased we did it, despite the 4am wake-up call! Unmissable. The views of the valleys and the magnificent sunrise will stay in our memories forever.
With great sorrow the crocodiles were split up - us to fly home, the Alsops off to Hurghada and the Taylors and Edwards back to Cairo to fly home to the UK. Dear friends one and all, we will keep in touch and will always giggle at our crocodile experiences in Egypt. A fabulous holiday.