Mysteries of Egypt

In October of 2008 I had the awesome privilege of going to Egypt with Margi (Angel Connection - http://www.angels.za.com/) and Grant McAlpine.  What started out as a lifelong desire to visit the land of the pharaohs turned into the most amazing spiritual journey ever.  Little did I know this journey was preparing me for one of the biggest challenges of my life. 

Barely a month and a half after I returned my husband was involved in a very serious motorbike accident, sustaining serious head injuries.  It is now over 2 years later and if you met him now you would never believe he had been in such a serious life-threatening accident.

Mediterranean Azure Hotel in Alexandria.  This was the view from our room.

Another view of the hotel

The stunning library of Alexandria.  I really could have spent hours and hours here.

We then moved onto the Citadel of Quait Bay.  Slightly to the right of where this photo is directed is where the Lighthouse of Alexandria once stood. 

This beautiful stained glass was part of the dome in the Azur Hotel.

This is the El Montazah Palace, Alexandria.

From Alexandria we made our way to Sharm El Sheik where we lazed around for a day or two before attempting to summit Mount Sinai.  This was the view from our hotel room.

One of the swimming pools at the Continental Garden Reed Resort.

I originally set up this shot with a tripod etc and while the shutter was still open, a mom and daughter walked into the frame.  At the time I really considered deleting the shot, however when I arrived home and viewed the photo on my computer I was rather pleased as it had a ghostly feel to it. 

On the second morning in Sharm El Sheik I decided to get up at the crack of dawn to try and capture the sunrise.  This is the result.

The walkway at the hotel.

After starting our climb just after 02h00 we finally reached the summit of Mount Sinai at about 05h30.  This was one of my sunrise photos.  If you look very carefully you can see a face in the top left of the image.

Stunning view of the breaking dawn over the Sinai range.

Place of worship at the summit of Sinai.

View looking back towards Sinai on our way down the mountain.  The path winds its way up and follows through towards the right of the image, after passing Elijah's basin you start ascending steps heading to the summit which appears on the left of the photo.

St Catherine's monastery at the bottom of Sinai.

St Catherine's monastery at the bottom of Sinai.

Our evening visit to Luxor temple.

Across the Nile from Luxor we were treated to an early morning hot air balloon trip over the Valley of the Queens.  We had an amazing opportunity to experience sunrise over the Nile from the basket of the balloon.  It was an experience in a lifetime.

Some shots from our sunset cruise on the Nile.

The Crown Empress, our home for 5 days.

Philae temple close to Aswan.

Philae - It is hard to believe that they moved this entire complex brick by brick from another location in the 1960's.

We traveled in convoy from Aswan to Abu Simbel and this was taken from the window of the coach.

Time for a refreshing dip in the pool at Set Abu Simbel hotel.

The light show at Ramses II temple.

View of Cairo from the Mohammed Ali Mosque.

Spices on sale at the Khan El Khalili market.

Panoramic of the pyramids at Giza, Cairo.

Bent pyramid at Dashur.

Looking towards the Red Pyramid at Dashur.

This photo was such a fluke.  I had my camera up to take a shot as this gentleman stepped into the frame.  Normally if you take photos of the locals they want payment.  I had to make a duck before he could try and get some money out of me.