North of the Stupid Line

Rachel and I went on a Nile cruise in January 2009 for a week in Egypt (Monday-Monday). Cruising with the African Safari Club’s M.S. Fleurette, we stuck to a busy itinerary.

Day 2: we visited the famous Karnak Temple, a superb example of ancient Egyptian architecture depicting life around 1600 BC, and the well-preserved Luxor Temple which was situated in the heart of Luxor.

Day 3: in the morning, we crossed over to the West Bank and visited the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and the imposing Colossi of Memnon. In the afternoon, we sailed to Edfu, passing through the Esna Lock en route.

Day 4: at Edfu we visited the Temple of Horus, probably Egypt’s best preserved temple. We then sailed to Kom Ombo for a visit to the Temple before sailing to Aswan.

Day 5: in the morning, we visited the High Dam and Philae Temple which was dedicated to the gentle Goddess Isis.

Day 6: in the afternoon, we enjoyed your trip on the Nile by felucca, a traditional Egyptian sailing boat before sailing to Esna for an overnight stay.

Day 7: we took a full day excursion by air to Cairo and visited the Pyramids, the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities and the bustling Khan-el-Khalili.

Here are a sample of photos taken during our holiday.

Rachel has written a personal account of our Egyptian experience on her travel blog.

Rachel and I have spent the last 3.5 weeks travelling around the world, visiting Hong Kong, New Zealand, Hawaii and Los Angeles, with around 54 hours flying time.

Needless to say, we are bloody knackered. However, it was definitely worth it, and some of the things we’ve seen beggar belief. Here is a sample of photos for your viewing pleasure.

I’ve visited the counties in yellow.
Which counties have you visited?

made by marnanel
map reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data
by permission of the Ordnance Survey.
© Crown copyright 2001.

Doing this made me realise how bad my British geography is. I have a vague recollection of all the places I’ve been to, but strike me down with a feather if I know which counties they’re in!

I had a most pleasant journey home from London Paddington last night. The FGW train left more or less on time at 1745, and arrived at Bristol Parkway at, wait for it, 2315.

Yes, you read right, 2315. FOUR hours late. And that was only to BP, not Newport. I arranged for Rachel and my dad to come pick me up at BP as the train I was on terminated there, and I wasn’t going to risk waiting for another train to go the final hurdle to Newport. I got home eventually at 0035.

Why such massive delays? Well, about FIVE minutes before the 1745 train was due to arrive at BP, it stopped. Something wrong with the wheels, or the track. Could have been something to do with the sensors along the track that stop a train automatically (I didn’t know they could do that) if a fault with the train is detected. Well, a fault was detected with the train I was on, and it was stopped, and was not allowed to go above a certain speed. We had to wait for engineers to come and inspect the fault, and as we were in the middle of nowhere, in pitch blackness, they had to get the train to BP so that people could at least get off.

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Three positive things about this fiasco:

1. I got a complimentary cup of tea and chocolate muffin;
2. I’ll be able to claim a refund of 50% of my ticket fare as the delays were more than one hour; and
3. I taught Natalie (the girl who was in the seat next to mine) the BSL alphabet.

I would just like to extend a hearty congratulations to FGW for actually delivering me on time to Newport train station from London Paddington this morning. Shock, horror. It’s a miracle! Hallelujah! *angelic harps and chorus in background*

I don’t usually come home on a Saturday, but I was asked to present a talk about property law at the Deaf Clubs Conference today, and I duly obliged. It was quite an interesting experience, explaining legal terms in BSL to a mostly Deaf audience.