Round The World Two

The Round The World One trip was such a success, I decided to do it again about a year later, extending the duration to around three weeks. This time, I went Westbound, starting with my first visit to South America and I decided to start with Rio de Janeiro. Here, more or less verbatim, are the e-mails I sent back at the time:-

Thu 20-Jan-2005: Well, I've got as far as the SAS Lounge at Heathrow (SAS provide some facilities for Varig) so, all being well, it's Rio de Janeiro in the morning. The forecast for Rio is showers! I'll try to update you in due course.

Fri 21-Jan-2005: Rio They gave me an upgrade to 1st at Heathrow, for some reason, so that was good. After changing planes at Sao Paulo, arrived Rio and taxied to hotel. It was a bit early to check in so instead, got a taxi to Sugar Loaf and ascended on the two cable cars - top shrouded in clouds but good. Then took a car to top of Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer statue) and descended by the electric rack railway. Did a city tour by car stopping at various architectural features. Then checked into hotel (room has a view of Copacabana beach) and, after a walk on the beach, decided to try the Metro, travelling to Central where the railway station is. Just got back and issued this progress report.

My photographs are at Rio de Janeiro.

Sat 22-Jan-2005: Rio Again Breakfast, 6km walk on beach, then off by car again. Ipanema is exclusive - apartments cost up to 12 million US dollars - good beach. More good beaches all along the coast, but you need a car to get to them. Barra da Tijuca has wonderful beaches. It´s a new town (pop almost 1 million) all malls and condos. Ugh! Beyond, there are wpnderful cliffs, tropical woodland, fishing villages and swamp land like the Everglades. So many contrasts! Returned to visit the Botanical Gardens in Rio - thousands of exotic species. Then - a helicopter trip over Rio. Superb! Day started overcast but eventually the sun came out and ended up quite warm. After a light meal, I went downtown on the Metro for a wander round. There are classical public buildings from early 20th century next to modern skyscrapers. Then a walk on Copacabana beach and back to the hotel to send this. Tomorrow, I leave the hotel at 5:40 am for my flights ending up in Cuzco. Be in touch when I can.

Mon 24-Jan-2005: Machu Picchu Just a quick one `cos I`m on a slow internet. Flew Rio-Sao Paulo-Lima-Cuzco yesterday. Cuzco very attractive - like an English market town but Spanish architecture and strong Catholicism. Hotel a rather posh converted monastry! Bad night being sick - dunno whether it was airline food or altitude sickness (Cuzco is around 11,000 feet above sea level) but fine now. Today came on the Hiram Bingham train to near Macchu Pichu. Train is run by Orient Express company and is the best I`ve been on. Hair-raising bus ride up the mountain to the hotel which is just outside the ticket office to Macchu Pichu. 20 US dollars to get in. Very impressive but lots of tourists in the day. Our guide, however, was very informative. This evening, I paid again to go back on a night visit so I had the place to myself (and trusty torch supplied by hotel) for two hours and saw the moon come up. Something else!

My photographs are at Peru and Machu Picchu.

Tue 25-Jan-2005: More Machu Picchu So, I got up at 5am, buffet breakfast (they start at 5.30 for crazies who want to watch the sunrise) then 20 dollars US to go up to the recommended spot for watching the sun come over the distant mountains and bathe the whole site in dramatic lighting. Pretty good. Now, the big hill in the back of all the photos? you can climb it. They open that part of the site at 7am. Very few people at that time of day. There are steps of some sort, but it's a stiff climb and the last few feet you just drag yourself over big rocks, like the pictures of Everest. At 8am there were 9 of us at the top, including two nice ladies from the States only 7 years my junior. But, instead of returning the same way, I took the directions to the Temple of the Moon. A difficult descent which took me nearly one and a half hours, but the Temple, set in a huge cleft in the mountain, is quite spectacular. Continuing on the path, it then climbs until, eventually, you join the original route up and you can switchback back to the starting point. After 11am when I got back, tired but pleased. A shower and lunch has put me right on top again.

Wed 26-Jan-2005: Lima After lunch yesterday, I made a final foray into the ruins and at 5pm we had the hair-raising coach ride down the hill to the train station for the ´Hiram Bingham´ to Poroy. There were only about 16 passengers. The first two hours were spent in the bar car, where they try to generate a party atmosphere with live music and participation. Not really my scene but quite enjoyable. Then we repaired to the dining car for dinner (´amuse bouche´, salad, soup, fish main and desert followed by tea/coffee and brandy if desired). Very good. Then a car back to the Monasterio in Cuzco. The hotel is remarkable and has the most unusual conference room I´ve ever seen - the de-consecrated baroque chapel with pulpit, statues, old paintings, the lot. They play a CD of Gregorian plainsong all day for atmosphere. Painless transfer to the airport and a good flight in a Lan Peru A320 to Lima. Met and transferred to the Country Club Lima. This would have been lovely when built in 1927 but has recently been done over in over-the-top golf club style. It´s in the posh district of San Isidro, miles from downtown so this afternoon I had a private tour of the city to see the older buildings. Fascinating, we visited the main post office, railway station (now a museum!), various churches and the old catacombs, plus looked at many more buildings as we drove around. Faded glory about sums it up. But sad - they won´t even let you have a car window open in parts of the city for fear of attack. There are massive slums just outside the city centre. So most of the commerce and middle class has moved out to Miraflores, on the ocean, with the most ghastly modern buildings imaginable. The really successful move to San Isidro, a green low-rise residential area with large houses (and the golf club). But most of these houses have high walls and private security guards (the better parts of Rio were the same). Tomorrow, I fly Lima - Sao Paulo then Sao Paulo to Los Angeles. I think that will be tougher than the climbs yesterday!

My photographs of Lima are at Peru and Machu Picchu.

Thu 27-Jan-2005: Moving On Perhaps I was a bit unkind about the Country Club. Peruvian aesthetics seems to be based on a particularly heavy-handed interpretation of the European Baroque tradition which I´m not keen on. But they fixed the bath tap which didn´t work and I had an excellent dinner in the hotel to the accompaniment of a keyboard and a good violinist. Plus their Internet seems to work fine. So,I´m sorry. Today, the hotel provided a good buffet breakfast then I walked a few blocks through the embassy and residential area and there´s a 2,000 year old pyramid. They´re made of adobe and flat-topped (like the Mexican ones). They were just opening so, for 6 Soles (under one pound) I was first customer of the day. You can walk up the ramp and stand on top of the pyramid - perhaps 40 feet above ground level.There´s a small museum with some stunning artefacts. Then back to the hotel and transfer to Lima airport for the flight to Sao Paulo by 767-300. Now in the Star Alliance lounge where there are three PCs with flat screens. It´s around 10:30 at night and in a couple of hours, I should start the 12 hour leg to Los Angeles. 2,137 miles done today, another 6,153 to go to LA.

Sun 30-Jan-2005:
I wanted a Day Pass for the Metro in LA, but none of the ticket machines seemed to work and there's no staff. Solved the problem by jumping on a 'bus and getting a day pass there which I could then use on the Metro. I initially felt more vulnerable in LA than anywhere else. Right outside the hotel there were beggards and I saw lots of people out of their minds on drink or drugs. I hadn't realised how Spanish LA is still. Most signs are bilingual and on public transport I heard as much Spanish as (American) English. I took a trip on the light rail to the centre of Long Beach. Very touristy, with a large conference centre and lots of eating places. Not impressed. I saw the 'Queen Mary' from a distance but decided it was not worthwhile getting the 'bus to the ship. The hotel I loved. Built in the '20s in 'Spanish Italian Renaissance' style (the Cunard building in Liverpool is a less-florid example of Italian Renaissance). Although it's totally over the top, it's done with such style and attention to detail, I'm a fan (a bit like some Victorian buildings - done with great confidence). Next morning was hot and sunny. I made a further foray on bus and Metro before being picked up to go to a General Aviation Airport near LAX (I forget the name, it's the one with the Northrop aircraft works) for a helicopter ride. So then I saw from the air all the places I'd seen from the ground, plus lots more. The stars have very little privacy in their Bel Air addresses with helicopters flying over. Did you know Hugh Hefner had pink flamingos in his back yard? Then to LAX for the United flight to Hawaii in "first Class" but United's first class is barely up to other carrier's business class.

My photographs are at Los Angeles.

On arrival in Hawaii, I got a taxi to the Royal Hawaiian. Changed rooms to get a sea view and went to sleep to the sound of the surf on Waikiki beach (after a walk on the beach and a paddle). Honolulu is very built up and Waikiki is dedicated to tourism - Blackpool with sun! At least half the tourists are Japanese and some places have bi-lingual signs in English and Japanese! Hawaii makes 10 billion dollars a year from tourism. Next biggest earner is the military presence. After Pearl Harbour, most of the ships were raised and repaired but 'Arizona' sank after explosions and fire in 9 minutes. Only a few bits of steel are above water but, with 500 bodies unrecovered, the wreck is a grave site operated by National Parks and Navy. The place is teeming all day. There's a small museum, mainly photographs and a movie theatre where you're processed in batches of maybe 150. The wreck is not land connected so, after the film, you're loaded on specially-adapted high-speed Navy lauches for a trip to the concrete 'shrine' built over the wreck. Two launches shuttle people back and forth with (as you'd expect) miltary efficiency. Back to the hotel, quick shower then picked up by a 'trolley'. Waikiki has lots of these dreadful things. Basically a 'bus chassis, they've built a top that looks like a San Francisco cable car with slatted seats and open-sided above the waist. Anyhow, I had a 40-seater one of these to myself, down to the Hilton Pier, where I boarded a 100+ seater fast ferry with about 50 others for a one-mile trip into the bay for a rendezvous with ..... a 64-seat modern tourist submarine! Almost an hour's trip at depths varying up to 100 feet plus past artifical reefs, sunk aircraft and sunk boats, deliberately placed to encourage marine life. We saw one shark, a number of turtles and thousands of fish of numerous types. Quite an experience! After that another walk on the, this time, crowded beach before the sun went down. I think I'll have a quiet evening. Tomorrow night, I depart for New Zealand. Can you guess what I've planned for tomorrow?

My photographs are at Hawaii.

31-Jan-2005
Morning: Visit the 'Bowfin' submarine and 'Missouri' battleship (see their website), on which America took the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII. Afternoon: Helicopter tour. I decided that was the only way to see more of Oahu in the limited time. Evening: About to leave for the airport for the international Air New Zealand flight to Auckland, change then domestic to Christchurch. The international leg involves crossing the date line from East to West, jumping from Monday to Wednesday! (I think).

Wed 2-Feb-2005 Last morning in Honolulu: Visit the 'Bowfin' submarine. Because it was early, I was alone on the sub with 3 cleaners polishing brass. Good stuff. Then taken on stupid 'trolley' to the 'Missouri' mooring on Ford Island (no relation) which is still a military base. Most people use a self-guided or audio tour but there were two of us on an 'explorer' tour with a knowledgable guide, where 80% of the tour is not on the public route, bowels of ship, engine room etc. Absolutely fascinating. Afternoon: Helicopter tour. It was excellent value and very well organised and helped me sort out the geography of the island. Then I walked on the beach and around Waikiki shops until transfer to airport for an uneventful night flight to Auckland. On arrival in a sunny Auckland, checked in bag for 11:10 flight to Christchurch but, with almost 3 hours to spare, decided to take 'bus into Auckland. Since I was there, they've opened a new city centre railway station 'Britomart' which I checked out. Then, I was drawn to the ferry terminal. Next door, the QE2 on a cruise was moored. Dash back on 'bus to airport to find flight a little delayed. When we're called, I discovered there are just 4 passengers on a 737-300 which has 6 crew! This unprecedented event was because Wellington had been socked in by fog. They let me visit the cockpit and take photos before we left. We tried to get into Wellington en route, but failed. An interesting 'missed approach'. Disaster struck on arrival 'cos they'd lost my bag. Not knowing whether it would turn up, after checking in at the city centre hotel, I had to do a bit of emergency shopping since I catch the the Tranz Alpine train to Greymouth tomorrow. However, case turned up whilst I write this around 9:30pm, so I'd better go and make sure it's OK. Whilst shopping, a did the city centre tour on the tourist tram (genuine restored trams from various cities running on an oval around the centre. Oh, I managed to get a couple of camera memory cards transferred to CD. And so to bed ...

My photographs of New Zealands South Island are at New Zealand.

Wed 2-Feb-2005 (?) This morning, bus transfer to Christchurch station for the Tranz Alpine Express. Bit of a scrum getting checked in and luggage checked in but then all reserved seats in the (rather scruffy) 12-coach train with two diesel electrics at the head and luggage van at rear. Generator car in middle of train has two viewing platforms serving the two halves of the train. The platform was open for most of the journey, so that was where I camped out. Interesting journey and spectacular at times but we kept loosing time, first with a number of track gangs working, finally because of a points failure at Silvermills Junction. Arrived Greymouth 1.5 hours late (just like home). But the bus from the Ashley Hotel was waiting for two other passengers and me, so soon had a very good room in the motel-style hotel about 3km from town centre. This afternoon, did a tour (just 5 PAX plus guide) soing North up the coast about 50km. It really is beautiful and the weather very hot. Stopped at a number of viewpoints then spent some time at Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks. It's a tarmac path with walls leading around the cliff top with amazing views of the rocks. Later, we stopped at Trumans Trail - again a made-up path, but wandering about half a mile through otherwise completely natural bush with many trees up to 1,000 years old! The cicadas were deafening! The path ended up at a deserted shingle beach where I found my own really tiny round piece of jade! Very good tour with very informative guide, Nick. Evening, I took a walk to the shingle beach about 10 mins from hotel to watch the sun setting on the Tasman Sea. New form of water skiing - a truck dashes along the beach parallel to the shore, sometimes in the water, dragging a large inflatable ring on a rope. The skier sits in the ring as it speeds through the shallows!

My photographs of New Zealand's South Island are at New Zealand .

My photographs of the railway journey are at The Tranz Alpine New Zealand but, be warned, some of them show technical details of interest only to enthusiasts.

Thu 3-Feb-2004 Good nights sleep at the Ashley. Toast and tea for breakfast, then the hotel gave me a lift into Greymouth at 8:30am. Good walk round the town, studied the railways (surprise) then walked the 3km back to hotel via back roads. Quick shower, checkout, then picked up for visit to the Shantytown Museum - like Black Country Museum but featuring the gold mining heyday of the West Coast. And they have steam train rides! Didn't see much of the museum, 'cos I was invited to drive the train, Drove two round trips and talked to the very nice engineering manager who was driving today. Excellent! Then back to Greymouth by tour bus (3 PAX plus guide today). Currently Friday 1:10pm and I'm on the high speed internet at Greymouth station waiting for the 1:30 pm InterCity bus South to Glenfern Villas, just North of Franz Josef. More when I can.

Fri 4-Feb-2005 (some problems with server via Franz Josef) Well, the coach turned up but had to wait for the train to arrive to pick up the balance of its passengers. Fortunately, the train was nowhere near as late as yesterday. The weather was hot, the scenery going South varying from interesting to spectacular, the driver's commentary entertaining. Of course, I didn't enjoy a 3.5 hour coach ride but at least we stopped for 30 minutes and I had a walk around Hokitika. I hadn't realised how relatively unpopulated the west coast is. There's only around 40,000 and a quarter of those are in Greymouth. Christchurch I wasn't particularly comfortable in - the people seemed a bit snooty. But on the west coast, everybody seems friendly and helpful and I'm definitely a fan. The coach stopped 3 or 4 times en route to drop off parcels and dropped me off at Glenfern Villas, just North of Franz Josef. They're self-catering villas, modern but very well equipped and attractive. I'm quite impressed. Anyhow, I only had time for a quick shower before the helicopter company picked me up and took mee the 3km to the village. Met up with 5 other PAX, safety briefing, walk a short bush track to a heliport at the back of the village surrounded by a noise bund. I got an excellent seat for the outward flight (they do rough loading calculations of passenger weight to optimise the C of G for the pilot. Then a stupendous, unbelievable flight across the mountains up to the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, with Mount Cook in the background. Weather perfect. Then, actually land on an ice field at the top of the glacier and just get out and wander around, still in just a tee-shirt. An outstanding experience. Pilot swopped the passengers round for the return and we were back at Franz Josef about 40 minutes after leaving. I have awarded the flight my No. 1 helicopter award (displacing flying under the Golden Gate Bridge to No. 2). Franz Josef has many tourist cafes so I had fish and chips (bet that surprises you) at one of them and am now in an internet cafe but Yahoo is playing up for some reason. Shortly, I intend to walk the 3km back to Glenfern Villas. Pick up at 7:15 am Saturday to go back North to Hokitika. I fly to Christchurch on a 30-seat Beechcraft, on to Auckland on a jet, change again, then on to Singapore. More some time later.

Sat 5-Feb-2005 Well, today I've just been travelling. I would have happily stayed longer at Glenfern Villas. They supplied the materials for breakfast which you cook yourself so I had tea, orange juice, toast and boiled eggs. I was picked up at 7:15am for transfer to Hokitika airport. The driver was the boss of the tour company I'd been on two trips with and also a trustee of Shantytown Museum, so we had an interesting talk on the way. Still misty on arrival at airport and the lady was full of doom about having to go by bus (and miss the other connections). However, the mist cleared, the Beechcraft arrived and we were on our way only 10 minutes late. From our cruising altitude of 16,000 feet, I spotted the Tranz Alpine Express on its way to Greymouth. Christchurch Airport is a bit of a scrum, but I made the connection and got to Auckland without incident. But then I had to collect all my luggage and transfer to the international terminal. I walked. Wrong! It's about 1km. Then the signage was useless and it took a while to check in. Then there was a total hold up at Passport Control. If it's this bad with 747, I don't want to be on the A380 when it comes into service! Anyhow, I made the flight, which was actually operated by Singapore Airlines. Quite a good flight. Best entertainment system I've seen. Your own flat screen, of course, but it's video on demand. There are sixty feature films which you can start, pause, fast forward and back at will. Plus, television programmes, CDs and the usual music channels and aircraft position information. Singapore Changi is well laid out, clearly signposted and very soon I was in a taxi to the Raffles Hotel, which has not disappointed.

Mon 7-Feb-2005 Well, all these changes got me confused. I thought I was flying out Monday evening (today) but it's Tuesday evening. This morning I went on the Mass Rapid Transit to the West to a large park called Chinese Garden 'cos it has a Chinese theme. The station, logically, is called 'Chinese Garden'. Must get busy but this morning the visitors were heavily outnumbered by the workmen getting ready for the Chinese New Year in a couple of days. Intended to go to a couple of museums, but found they were both shut on Monday! Then took a long train trip round the Northern part. Once out of the city centre, the Mass Rapid Transit is elevated on concrete structures, so you can see. But it's wall-to-wall multi-storey flats. Varied designs, most basic, some look like Yuppie apartments, quite nice bits of green around and in between the estates but flats, flats, flats. Oh, and shopping malls, American-style. Back to the hotel for a simple lunch in my room then off again. I was really taken with the island of Pulau Ubin yesterday, but didn't have time to really explore, so I decided to go back. The ferry from Changi Village only runs when there are 9 to 12 passengers, so I had to wait 3/4 hour. Not good at waiting, started to wonder if I'd made a mistake. Once I got there I hired a bicycle and set off. The island is around 1,000 hectares, is run by the National Parks service and has around 300,000 visitors a year, but I only saw a couple of dozen tops today, most of the time I was alone. The island is mainly level so it's easy riding although, when you leave the tarmac roads, the tracks through the jungle are compacted earth. The parks service have provided signing, shelters and five sets of toilets around the island, so it's not exactly Robinson Crusoe. I like it. There are some quite nice cottage-style houses But most of the islanders live a fairly primitive life in rather derelict homes. It tickled me last night, as it got dusk, the bird song was drowned out by the sound of ancient Listers being cranked up to provide electricity! After a couple of hours or so exploring in the hot sun, I was quite tired 'cos I'd walked a fair bit in the morning, as well. I returned to the city and collapsed. Oh, at 8:0pm it sounded like war had broken out, but it was only the firework display at the start of the New Year! I have one more day in Singapore then Tuesday evening I'm off to my final, changed destination. Oh, I didn't tell you, did I? It's Cairo!

My photographs of Singapore are here.

8-Feb-2005 Breakfast then MRT and taxi to botanic gardens. Interesting, but lots of Japanese tourists. More MRT travel, ending up in Chinatown, buzzing with the New Year tonight. Very interesting Chinese Heritage Museum, with a recreation of the Shophouses lots of Chinese lived in on arrival in Singapore. Very hot (about 34 Celsius) so I finally caught the sun today. Back to hotel, quick shower than check out at noon. Take a trishaw (bicycle with open sidecar and one man to pedal) for the experience (10 times taxi price!). Go to Clifford Pier and charter a launch to take me to another island. About 40 minute trip, down river, across one of the busiest harbours in the world among the big ships to a pair of islands called the sisters. One island is closed (?) so we land at Big Sister. This is part of the Santosa leisure complex, with paths around the island (only takes 10 minutes to walk), beach shelters and toilets. A couple of great beaches protected by an artificial breakwater. At weekends, place is crowded, I'm told but 'cos of New Year NOBODY THERE BUT ME (and some wild monkeys I hear but don't quite see, I just see the leaves disturbed as they move). So I get my Robinson Crusoe island after all! Cannot resist a dip then reluctantly return in my launch, detouring to take a closer look at the container port. Walk back to hotel, another shower (I've checked out but can use the showers in the Spa). Then afternoon tea in the Tiffin Room. Then off again on MRT to see the big Mosque, muslim enclave, Malay Culture museum site, Little India (lots of people, very noisy, just like big India) and back to Chinatown again. I also go to the IT Mall but it was mainly closed for the holiday. Back to hotel on MRT. Coca Cola in the Raffles lobby listening to the pianist (I saw plenty of Singapore Slings but I doubt I could drink one). At 8:0pm, they traditionally play 'I'll see you again' (the Master was a regular guest). Finally, with great reluctance take taxi to airport. Staff at Raffles expressed suprise at my energy. Your correspondent is even more surprised that after nearly 3 weeks I still seem to have energy. Airport quiet (New Year?) so check in quick. I'm now in the Singapore Airlines lounge. I've had another shower and am sending this from the lounge (there are more than a dozen workstations you can use). I should be airborne in a couple of hours, just before the new year.

My photographs of the Chinese Heritage Museum are here..

9-Feb-2005 The overnight flight from Singapore was uneventful but tiring. We stopped at Dubai and everybody had to come off and go back on again. They have a very posh new terminal since I last transited through there. By contrast, I was surprised how amateur Cairo airport appeared. Anyhow, I sorted out a taxi and transferred to the Mena Park Hotel, Giza. The temperature has dropped like a stone. In the day, the sun gets the temperature up to about 16 Celsius but the locals are wearing padded jackets and scarves. At night, it's quite chilly. It's an old hotel but they've added new blocks for tourists and now have over 500 rooms. I'm in the new block but from the balcony, there's a clear view of the pyramids perhaps 1 km away. Checked in 8:45 am, 9:00 o'clock guide arrives to take me to the pyramids and Sphinx. I paid to climb up inside the Great Pyramid. You can go up to the King's Burial Chamber where there's just an (empty) stone sarcophagus. They also unearthed a 40 foot cedar boat which a guy spent 25 years re-assembling. It's housed in its own museum nearby. Fascinating. Then onto Cairo Museum (via a perfume shop and papyrus shop, natch). Here, other guides kept greeting my guide and hailing him as a leading Egyptologist. He used to be a professor at the University, but found tour guiding paid better. Extremely knowledgable. I had failed to understand before how advanced was the society and the craftsmanship 2,500 years BC. The King Tut exhibits are staggering but the quality of all the works is stunning. I've just got tomorrow morning left before I fly back to Heathrow (changing at Frankfurt). So I've booked another tour with today's guide. Next time I write, I should be home. What a ride!

My photographs of Egypt are here.

11-Feb-2005 Well, I'm back, safe and happy. Already I can scarcely believe what I've done over the last 3 weeks. Thursday morning I had an early breakfast and at 7 am walked towards the Great Pyramid. A tout introduced me to a guide with excellent English who explained the pyramid site did not open until 8 am "But follow me". His claim to fame was a photo shoot in the desert for 'Cosmopolitan' plus friendship with 'Grateful Dead'. We walked through the village hard by the pyramids, through dirt streets thick with rubbish and past the evil-smelling horse and camel stables. Here we hired two small, willing horses for a fairly short ride to the boundary wall of the pyramid site (I should mention I've never been on a horse before in my life!). We stopped at a 12-foot stone wall. Using fairly insubstantial footholds he then shinned up this wall! As I followed, I thought "I wonder if this is altogether wise?" (This has been a recurrent thought throughout my various adventures. Hasn't stopped me, though). Near to the pyramids, there are the most amazing catacombs, with beautiful carvings. Various site security men came up to us and my guide paid them off, so it was all shake hands and exchange "Good morning". As you might imagine, there's quite a thriving black economy going on. We watched the mist rising and the sun come up. It was all quite good. But I explained I had to be back at my hotel for 8:30 am for the 'official' trip. We returned by climbing down the wall, passing lots of people entering the site from the village the same way, presumably for a day's work on the site as security men or supporting the tourist trade. Like India, Egypt never uses one man to do a job if five can do it. The horses were waiting, so we had an exhilarating gallop back to the stables where I said goodbye to my guide, poorer in purse but richer in experience. I was quite relieved not to be sold into white slavery and arrived back at my hotel breathless but in time for the very academic but interesting explanations of my professor guide. We drove to another major site, Sakkara, where there are pyramids and numerous temples and burial chambers. Most of the building is in hard limestone and so the masses of internal carvings are in an excellent state of preservation. Whole walls of the most intricate carvings illustrating the lifestyle and possessions of the buried person, all accompanied by heiroglyphs adding explanations to the pictures, some of which were coloured with dyes. My guide could translate heiroglyphs 'on the fly' and discuss the artistic conventions adopted. The sheer sophistication of the society which raised these monuments, thousands of years ago, was mind-blowing and humbling. I just staggered from room to room shaking my head in sheer disbelief. One day has transformed me into a Egyptophile. Then on to a fairly small museum at Memphis which has some important pieces, then return to my hotel. Just time for a quick shower, check out, and taxi to Cairo Airport. Here, the scrum to get through security was terrifying. I had a momentary panic attack that I would never leave but a 15-minute wait, with a fair bit of pushing and shoving, got me to check-in, a short wait at passport control and then I found the relative oasis of the Airline Lounge - albeit the smallest and most crowded I've visited. Then onto the Lufthansive Airbus A330-300 for the 5 hour plus flight to Frankfurt. Good service, good food, and the most sophisticated seat I've seen. It took some minutes with both the book and the on-screen help to figure out how to drive the chair and the video. A fairly nasty 'point and click' menu system I found cumbersome, but I managed to watch the re-make of 'Around the World in 80 Days', which I thought appropriate. My own story, in 21 days, is almost more improbable than Verne's! Frankfurt is such a big airport, I only had time to transfer to my departure gate (this involved a driverless train called 'Skyline') for a very old-generation Airbus flight to Heathrow. But the food and service was just right. I'd got an aisle seat and was dozing as we came in at Heathrow. Suddenly I became aware of full take-off thrust and the nose pointed to the sky. We were obviously carrying out a 'missed approach' manoeuvre, but the man in the window seat was quite spooked! The captain explained that the previous aircraft landing had failed to clear the runway in time. We lost 15 minutes in the 'go around' and landed uneventfully. As you know, at busy airports at night it's not unusual to see the landing lights of four or five aircraft line astern on the approach. Any sort of incident requires one or more aircraft to break off their approach. As I disembarked, I thanked the crew for the bit of excitement. Passport Control was a breeze, my luggage arrived on the carousel the same time I got to the Baggage Hall, my transport home was waiting. A perfect end to an excellent adventure!

If you're still keen to travel with me, go to Round the World Three.