Well here it is Tuesday - we had a very busy weekend. Friday night - actually early Saturday morning saw us - Aymn and I - catching a bus to take us to Taba. The Engineering Syndicate that Aymn belongs to had organized this trip. We left at 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning and arrived at Taba at 11:30 a.m. The picture to the right is a sample of the scenery as we approached Taba. Prior to this the scenery was miles and miles of desert - kind of reminded me of driving through Saskatchewan - miles and miles and miles of brown - and flat - really flat. So this 'mountain' range was very interesting to see - and the mountains were quite large - nothing compared to the Rockies - but still quite impressive - the colours are hard to see - but there was lots of red granite and some grey granite as well.

The second picture is a picture of a fort that is found in the area of Taba - it was built shortly after Islam started to spread - to protect the area from the 'infidels' that were determined to put the run on this new religion. We did not get to see the fort up close - as time was at a premium - next time I want to be able to take a boat out and see it - if that is possible - would be nice to see it.


Taba is a very famous or 'infamous' area in Egypt. The third picture shows the border between Egypt and Israel. The hotel we stayed at - the Taba Hilton - was a very large court case - going all the way to the World Court - as it had been built by Israel during the time they occupied this area and in 1976 when Egypt took the area back - Israel wanted to keep the hotel - but Egypt insisted that it be returned to Egypt's jurisdiction - so after much legal maneuvering it was returned to Egypt and the border is within easy walking distance of the hotel. People from Israel walk over to stay at the hotel.

The next picture is a picture of the actual hotel - which is also quite famous as it was involved in a bombing incident four or five years ago - makes one really confident to stay in this area - but we were very fortunate and it was a very quiet weekend. On the way to Taba we drove through the tunnel that goes under the Suez Canal - as we passed through it at night - was not really all that impressive - would be nice to be able to see what you are going under - but maybe next time. It was Easter weekend - quite busy - we had to wait for 4.5 hours to get checked into our rooms as people who had booked in and were scheduled to leave on Saturday - decided to spend another time - putting a real cat amongst the pigeons - meaning that we could not get into rooms that were supposed to be available but all of a sudden were not.

The next picture is a picture taken from our balcony - fantastic view - there were two pools - one for kids - along with a hot tub and one for the adults - no hot tub - just a bar - go figure.

The following picture is one of the scenery - there were beautiful garden areas - lots of nicodemus - so it was very fragrant. The beaches were wonderful - there is lots of coral reefs to dive and see and if you had the time and the money you could go scuba diving - lots of people were snorkelling - we just spent Saturday lounging on the beach. I dragged Aymn into the water and of course he complained bitterly that it was toooooo cold - would love to get him into Kootenay Lake in BC during the summer - now there is cold - I found the water to be refreshing when you first walked in - but I got used to it within a few minutes. I have included a picture of me in the water - as well as a picture of Aymn enjoying a hammock. It was a quiet weekend - most of the people gathered around the pools as it was deemed by the locals to be much to cold to enter the water - a few hardy souls spent a bit of time in the water. Sunday we spent a few hours by the water - I got wet - but Aymn passed on the opportunity - then we headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready to check out - we were to check out at 1:00 p.m. and then the bus would be ready by 2:00 p.m. The next pictures are just pictures around the area. Taba is a very interesting area - from the shore you can see four countries - you are standing in Egypt and a hop skip and a jump to the north is Israel - across the water are Jordan and Saudi Arabia. We could see the ships going into the port in Jordan - we could also see a cement plant in Saudi. All in all it was a good weekend - much too short - but long enough to know that I want to go back and spend more time. We arrived back in Alex around 1:00 a.m. - getting home around 1:30 a.m. Aymn's phone rang at 6:00 a.m. this morning and he headed out - he will be spending the next few days with his family - after all must not shortchange them in their time allotment - that is for me only - mmmm - do I sound a tad bit bitter - you betcha - but that is another story for another day. It is 9 p.m. and I am fading fast - managed to get the garden watered - got out to get a few fruits and veggies and did three loads of laundry. Aymn very kindly informed me 'that when I have time' the balcony needs cleaning - will be getting right on that one - not likely.