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There is a lot to see in Egypt, besides the Great Pyramids. Give yourself a week or so and you really only need 2 days in Cairo/Giza. You can book at a local EgyptAir for flights to Luxor and Sharm El Sheik, which are two other places you should visit. If you want to scuba dive, consider staying in Naama Bay (near Sharm El Sheik) and spend a week going through your certifications.

You can also take Nile cruises and they have old-style riverboat restaurants/casinos along the waterways.

My trip started with a week in Naama Bay/Sharm El Sheik, I then ventured off thanks to EgyptAir to Cairo for 3 nights, then Luxor for 2, and back to Sharm before flying back to London (where I was living at the time).

Sharm:

Scuba diving, shopping, get a massage on the beach for an hour and just relax.

Cairo:

Egyptian Museum, Riverboat Dining, Giza (Great Pyramids)

I found it very cheap to simply jump on the local buses, although crammed, which take you to Giza. For 50 Piastre, rather than 20X that for taxi, and being a foreigner, you can join the locals on the buses that cruise the streets with wanton disregard for human life (you’ll see).

Giza has a few dirty old streets and shops, then you approach the strip and you will not be surprised to know everything else has sprung up around it. There is even a Pizza Hut just across the street from the entrance. I recommend going early morning, and getting in line to be one of the 500 visitors that day who get to climb inside one of the pyramids. Then walk around and if you dare, pay a camel jockey for a small ride (have friends with you or they may try to extort more money before letting you down) – tip generously. Re-visit the Great Pyramids at night for a laser light show, similar to Mount Rushmore in the US. You get a little narration, history and a few good evening photo opps.

Luxor:

I stayed at Sheraton, which is a ways from the ferry terminal. Each room is a little private bungalow, and if you don’t mind walking a bit, you can walk towards the shops, Internet cafes, etc. See some local sites with old Roman ruins, then trek to ferry terminal to go to mainland. Hire a cab (or hoof it like I did for hours) to Valley of The Kings. There are some impressive stops along the way, and I actually hiked the back side of the Valley of the Kings and traversed down the rocks to wind up within the gates and w/o paying the entry fee – oops. You still have to go back to the gates to get tickets for entry into a set amount of tombs, and also a ticket for taking photos.

Tutankhamen’s tomb charges more money to visit and I personally think some of the others are more impressive, and included in your 3-5 tombs pass. Note that these underground palaces were all dug out from solid earth and that the columns, stairs, etc were not installed… Pretty cool.

I would recommend hiring a local falluca (sailboat) driver for a couple hours, and have them take you to Crocodile Island and back. It is relaxing and you can even “man the ship” and do a little sailing on the Nile.

Enjoy!

Hong Kong is a very clean, wealthy and urban place. The views are spectacular and there is a lot to do – although in only 2-3 days, you can truly take in a lot.

I stayed in Admiralty, which is near Central on the main Hong Kong Island. After two weeks in India, I pulled out all the stops and pampered myself here with a Harbor View Executive Level Suite at the Marriott. For those of you willing to part with $500 USD per night, I’d highly recommend it. Complete with free drinks and hors d’ oerves during happy hours (7PM-10PM, I believe), the views are spectacular and it places you in the middle of everything.

During the day, you can shop till your heart’s content at the Mall just below the hotel. Or go barter with locals in small shops by taking a ferry, cab, or bus across the bay to Kowloon. I recommend walking around Central and there are gorgeous gardens along the way that you will just stumble upon. If you take a bus up past Recourse Bay, there is a small village next to the water with small shops. Near the end, are some good art galleries where you can buy knock-offs of master’s originals (Van Gogh, etc.) or some up-and-coming local artists. Be prepared to negotiate; I think I ended up paying about 1/2 the original asking price for most paitings – then paid out the nose here in the US for framing/matting. ;-)

I would suggest taking the tram tour up to Victoria Peak (late evening for night view). Also, learn the bus routes and you can travel for less and get to other sides of the island, golf, tennis, beaches and fishing, plus shopping. I believe you head toward Recourse Bay (spelling?).

You can book tours from your hotel to the Northern Territories, stopping off at jewlery factories, old temples and even the China Border. If you go early enough, you can book a train into mainland China and then return and join another group back through Kowloon (good shopping, night life, and cheaper accomodations).

Happy Travels

Things to do in and around Melbourne

1) Walk around the city. Some points of interest to have a look at are:

a) Parliament House – top of Spring and Bourke St. I think they have daily sessions where you can go in and they tell you how parliament works. Its quite interesting as Australian parliament is based on a federal system similar to the US. Here’s the details http://melbourne.citysearch.com.au/profile?id=30658548

b) Across the road to the left is Princess Theatre, which you can walk past have a look, see a show. I think the Producers is on at the moment.

c) St Patrick’s Cathedral – which is behind parliament to the left (you might have to ask directions, I cant remember the street name, its next to the grand Hyatt hotel though) is the most magnificent church that you can go in and have a look. Its very gothic and English.

d) Old Melbourne Goal – our first jail, which is on the corner of Russell and Latrobe from memory. They sometimes have exhibitions there or night tours.

e) Chinatown – Most of little Bourke Street

f) Bourke Street Mall – main shopping strip with department stores

g) Federation Square, Crn of Flinders and Swanston st, its the rubics cube looking building. The national gallery of Victoria is there and its free admission. Quite good. This building is opposite Flinders Street Station, which is one of Austlira’s oldest train stations.

h) Melbourne Observation Deck located at the Rialto building, 525 Collins st (this is where I work!) – tallest building in southern hemisphere, can view most of Melbourne on a good day.

i) Melbourne Aquarium, so you can see some sharks in action. It is on Flinders st and king street on the yarra river.

j) Opposite the Aquarium, on the other side of the river, is Crown casino, which is quite entertaining to walk through and wonder why there are so many people gambling on a weekday! Outside the hotel in the foyer they have a light show and nice fountains etc. Also, every hour on the hour after 8pm, the towers outside the casino on the river front have a fire show, which is quite good to see!

k) Royal Botanic Gardens / Observatory / Shrine of Remembrance – once you leave Federation square you can walk down st kilda road or catch a tram (very Melbourne!) at have a look at the three things mentioned above.

l) Fitzroy Gardens – Captain Cooks cottage is here, (quick history lesson captain cook discovered Australia).

m) Melbourne Cricket Ground – if you are into sport, then I would recommend buying a ticket to watch ‘Australian Rules’ that is Aussie football. Its on at the moment usually Saturday / Sunday afternoons.

n) I found this on a website, you might be interested in – Melbourne Greeter Service is a free half-day walking orientation of the city. Visitors are matched with volunteer ‘greeters’ according to language, age and interests. The service, which is available daily, should be booked at least three working days in advance. Ph +61 3 9658 9658

o) Ackland Street – a quaint little group of shops, eats and crazy sights. This reminds me of Haight street in San Francisco a bit. There is a very nice pier (St. Kilda Pier) nearby where you could sit and enjoy and ice cream and look over Melbourne’s skyline and boats in the Marina.

This site also provides other things to do in / around Melbourne http://melbourne.citysearch.com.au/feature/66/7.html

Outside Melbourne there is lots to do, not sure how much time you will have. Have a look at this site http://www.visitvictoria.com/ I would recommend Healesville Sanctuary (about 30 miles from Melbourne) that is an Australian zoo containg native animals and if you have a whole day free the Great Ocean Road (it’s a full day in the car (round-trip) so be warned).