Second Family Reunion Trip - Egypt

In January I also met the family in Cairo for my second Family Reunion Trip and we spent 10 days in Egypt. My son Adam joined us too, having finally got himself a passport!

We spent the first two days in Cairo, not doing much because Adam's flight out of Kelowna was cancelled because of weather and he didn't arrive until a day later. We took the opportunity to got the Khan El Khalili outdoor market to buy some Egyptian gold cartouches.

Once Adam arrived, we flew to Aswan in the south and took a Nile River Cruise from Aswan to Luxor. I really recommend it. The boat is smaller than the ocean-going liners obviously, but the food was very good, very comfortable and relaxing. We could have spent the whole four days and three nights on the top deck, never mind all the good tours and amazing sites, and the rooms were larger than the ocean cruisers with big ceiling-to-floor picture windows/sliding doors in each one. I really enjoyed all dining together at breakfast and at dinner.

We then spent five days in Sharm El Sheikh, Jeez I like that place. Its like a combination of Las Vegas and the Dominican Republic. We went on a desert barbecue with a camel ride and a belly dancer. Unfortunately a little kid from the audience upstaged the dancer!

We took several Cairo cab rides during our holiday. I normally wouldn't risk the kids lives like that, but you don't experience the real Cairo until you've been on one of their white knuckle cab rides.

We made the obligatory trips souvenir shopping, and like our experience at the Khan El Khalili Market, the hassles eventually drove us away and kept us from going back.

Natalie felt we did too much flying (10 flights in 10 days for them, I guess that's a lot!)

Poor Melanie had the trip from hell; her luggage went missing and we didn't get it back until the day before they went home. She caught a cold on the way to Egypt, developed a gastro-intestinal disorder that necessitated a midnight call out of a doctor to treat her, and on and on it went.

The highlight of the trip was either the camel ride or Adam, Stephanie, Melanie and I climbing up into the interior of the largest Giza pyramid. Dinner at the Japanese Restaurant in our hotel in Sharm was also memorable, they cooked our meal in front of us and Melanie and Natalie took turns stirring the food while it was on fire!