The Nile. The Red Sea. And the Desert.

I am currently in Casablanca and it is a very interesting perspective to be in the Middle East and Northern Africa given the current geopolitical situation. I'm not going to dwell on politics nor whether this is right or wrong, however I do want to let you know that I have felt safe the entire time I have been in predominantly Muslim Arabic countries; in fact, I have been welcomed by everyone I have met.

Egypt was one of the friendliest countries I`ve been in - countless offers of tea, dinner in my felucca captain`s Nubian village, and numerous smiles greeting me. As I previously told my parents, everyone I`ve come in contact with makes a clear distinction between politicians and the people. Part of this may be simple economics of course: tourism is one of the biggest - maybe the biggest - industries in Egypt and the greenback and euro are prized. Of course, now that bombs are dropping and people are being killed things could change; however, I believe that as I continue my trip through Morocco the hospitable welcomes will also continue.

I eluded to some of the things I did while in Egypt and will let you know some details shortly. However, I have to start in South East Asia where I last left you. After spending a few days in Bangkok, I flew to Singapore where I stayed with Choot Lim (thanks, Choot and Audrey plus the rest of the Lim family). It was nice to catch up with a variety of friends zho live in Singapore, plus a chance to visit favorite spots. After a few days, though, I flew to Cairo.

Egypt is an amazing country. Walking through the desert looking at pyramids sometimes 4700 years old is a humbling feeling. Descending into a tomb to admire paintings that have been there for thousands of years leaves you awe-struck. Coming face-to-face with Tutankhamen's gold mask, walking through the immense columns of Karnak, and floating gently down the Nile are some of the other highlights.

However, simply traveling from place to place are adventures in themselves. Taking an overnight sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan, waking up at 3 a.m. to join the 4 a.m. police-led convoy to see the awesome temple at Abu Simbel not 50km away from the Sudanese border, negotiating with a felucca (type of sailboat) captain in the dark recesses of a restaurant while smoking a sisha, then sailing on that felucca for 3 days and 2 nights, taking a cruise up to Dendara, taking a local bus from Dahab to Cairo were all part of the experience.

The above is not to say that all I did was run around from one place to the next. I was able to relax in a variety of ways: sipping a tea on the terraces of the three classic hotels in Giza (Mena House), Aswan (Old Cataract Hotel), and Luxor (Old Winter Palace), doing absolutely nothing but lounging on the beach the first 2 days in Dahab, diving the Red Sea in such places as the Bells, Blue Hole, and the Canyon, dancing around a campfire with fellow travelers and the Nubian captains while singing Arabic songs (and some Bob Marley), and finally, I made some life-long friends in fellow travelers.