Tripbase started a great project a few months back. Or, that is at least when we were nominated by 1000 fights to join in. Maybe it’s been around for longer? None the less, it’s about time we finally took part!

The project is meant to connect travel bloggers together and give them a chance to show off some of the amazing content from their sites by sharing 7 links.

Scott and I have been running Dream a Little Dream since April 2008! That’s 3 years!! We’ve been around off and on for the last year. But still, choosing 7 links in the following catogories have been quite a challenge. We have tons of posts from a long time ago we love and didn’t get much exposure due to being a new site in the travel world. On the flip side however, all of our more recent posts are just at such a higher calibre due to everything we’ve learned in these past 3 years to create better content and get more exposure.

Anyways, after much hard thought here is what we came up with:

OUR MOST BEAUTIFUL POST:
Christmas ornaments from our RTW trip

http://dreamalittledream.ca/christmas-ornaments-from-our-rtw-trip/

We’ve seen some beautiful things across the world but nothing quite compares to grouping all those beautiful memories together on our Christmas Tree to ensure they last a lifetime!

OUR MOST POPULAR POST:
Banksy vs the Bristol museum

http://dreamalittledream.ca/banksy-vs-the-bristol-museum/

If we look at our site stats this one post gets the most hits day in and day out. This paticular exhibit ended a long time ago but still Banksy continues to pull in the numbers for us. It really is quite remarkable how popular street art is.

OUR MOST CONTROVERSIAL POST(s):
1. Cairo from a women’s perspective 2. The Valve Sound System Show Down – Epic Fail 3. Netherlands soft drug policy – is it working? 4. Contemporary Museum in Vienna: Mak

1. http://dreamalittledream.ca/cairo-from-a-womans-perspective/

2. http://dreamalittledream.ca/the-valve-sound-system-show-down-epic-fail/

3. http://dreamalittledream.ca/netherlands-soft-drug-policy-is-it-working/

4. http://dreamalittledream.ca/a-contemporary-art-museum-in-vienna-mak/

Okay, I cheated and listed 4. What are you going to do about it? The reason I listed 4 as we don’t really have any posts that have caused any heated discussions or debates. It was really hard to figure out exactly what of our topics is controversial to people. Thus, I’ve chosen 4 topics which I think can lead to a variety of opinions if people actually commented or is a touchy subject.

OUR MOST HELPFUL POST:
How to care for a second degree muffler burn in Thailand

http://dreamalittledream.ca/how-to-care-for-a-second-degree-muffler-burn-in-thailand/

Step by step instructions on how to care for one of the most popular injuries that can happen on the tropical islands of Thailand.

A POST WITH SUCESS THAT HAS SURPRISED US:
AK-47′s and naughty squirrels

http://dreamalittledream.ca/ak-47s-and-naughty-squirrels/

Just a simple post about our time in Riga, Latvia that continues to soar high in our site stats. Maybe it’s the title that is causing all the attention. Guns and naughty things. Yup. That has to be it!

A POST THAT DIDN’T GET THE ATTENTION IT DESERVED:
Scott the hero

http://dreamalittledream.ca/scott-the-hero/

An epic and heroic tale of how Scott saved the day after crashing our scooter and causing me to get a second degree muffler burn. Complete with crash video!! How can this not be popular??

THE POST WE ARE MOST PROUD OF:
Our Canadian Thanksgiving experience in Germany

http://dreamalittledream.ca/our-canadian-thanksgiving-experience-in-germany/

We are proud of that entire day that ended with the great success of that amazing meal!! May not be as interesting to others but to us this was a very special moment during our travels. In the top 5 for sure.

Okay, we hope you got to read something from our site you might of missed before. Thanks for reading!

Here are our 5 nominations to other travel bloggers to share their 7 links. Be sure to check them out in the following weeks to see what they shared. It was hard to pick as there have already been so many nominated. Check out this list to see the others.

1. iStopOver
2. The Departure Board
3. Lives of Wander
4. Dan’s Adventure
5.  Across and Abroad

We will not be silenced, whether your a Christian, whether your a Muslim, whether your an atheist, you will demand your goddamn rights, and we will have our rights, one way or the other! We will never be silenced!

The people are rising up against their government on the streets. The police have abandoned Cairo and other cities, the interior ministry Central Security Force thugs are looting, beating and killing people. The army is both shooting protesters and sympathizing with them asking them to stay off the streets at night so they can root out looting thugs. Civilians are on the street protecting their property. Protesters and police are stopping random cars. And an 82 year old dictator is watching his empire crumble into chaos.

A quick brief of what’s going on in Egypt if you haven’t been watching the news. Over the last week protests have taken over North Africa with Tunisia’s longtime government falling to protesters. This has spread to Egypt and in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other cities and hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets to overthrow the existing Mubarak government.

Mubarak has been in power for 30 years and the protesters have a variety of economic, political and human rights complaints. The last “elections” were rigged in 2010 and there’s a massive amount of youth in the country with no job prospects. It’s all come to a head and the people are demanding for a new start based on democracy and freedom.

It also brings to mind how fast things like this can happen in a city that your traveling. All of this instability and political protesting has really erupted in the last week. After Tunisia’s government fell to protesters, I think it showed everyone the power that the people really do have and picked up power.

I just hope that everyone remains safe. It really strikes home how fortunate we are to have basic freedoms and a democratic political party. Even if we’re not perfect, it’s something that people in other countries don’t have and are fighting for right now.

For more up to date information on what’s going on, click below

Yahoo News – A great breakdown of what’s going on

Al Jazeera – watch through Facebook. Provides the best neutral coverage:

Are you following any blogs about this reporting from local sources? If so please share.

One of the things that can take up a lot of our free time is finding accommodation. We prefer to have something booked before we hit a city so we can go and drop off our bags and relax after a day of travel. If the place sucks we spend the next day searching our new destination without our bags for something better. For our advance booking we rely a lot on one website, hostelbookers.com, for our needs. They have accurate user reviews from fellow backpackers and we’ve yet to have a bad experience when we’ve stayed at something with over an 80% approval rating. This is how we found the Alexander Hostel in Cairo.

Situated right downtown and only minutes from the Egyptian Museum, it’s a great budget accommodation that we can recommend. Haitham and his crew took great care of us, offering lots of fantastic advice. They can also arrange any tours your interested in only with people and companies they trust. The rooms are pretty basic but clean, with AC and ensuite washrooms, which are a must in this heat!

With any hostel it’s more than just the bed your sleeping on. It’s how the place is ran and the staff that are there. This is why we can recommend this place if you’re going to Cairo on a budget, and certainly to book through them for any tours. We could have booked our tours at many places but felt that if we booked through our accommodation, there would be some sort of recourse if something went wrong. Our pyramid tour was fantastic as we were taken to the destinations we wanted, the same guy that picked us up at the airport was our driver. Haitham’s friend, Wes, was our private guide who was a wealth of amazing knowledge. Wes majored in Egyptology and tourism, complete with some of the best English we heard in Cairo. It was very easy to listen to him, learn lots, and ask many questions. Never once did we have to wait for other people, feel rushed, unable to hear, or not given a chance to ask questions. We feel if it wasn’t for our private guide that day, our pyramid exploration ‘would of ended more in sourness due to not being able to avoid pretty much all touts and scams.

Haitham also arranged for our White Desert tour and again insisted we would have a better time doing it private, which he was correct as we heard some horror stories from other people who did it with a group. We did encounter some problems with the tour operator in the White Desert, and one of the ladies who was with us booked over the internet for the cheapest price and was pretty much left high and dry. Soon as we got back to Alexander Hostel, Haitham was there waiting for us to hear what we thought about the trip. We told him we had a great time once we were in the desert with Iman, but then also told him about some of the problems we encountered with the tour operator trying to charge us for things that were supposed to be included. Without any hesitation, Haitham was on the phone yelling Arabic at the tour operator. After a couple minutes he hung up and refunded us a decent portion of the tour price, which more than covered the inconvenience we experienced.

So, if your heading to Cairo and want to be treated like Kings and Queens book yourself into the Alexander Hostel and say hello to Haitham for us! He’ll warmly welcome you with some tea and give you the most honest advice you’ll get in Cairo. Don’t be threatened by this at all, he’s not trying to scam you we promise!! =)

Seriously though, Egypt is amazing for it’s history. But Cairo is not a relaxing city in any way. There’s nowhere to go and get away from the crowds. There’s no parks. No open areas. No malls to blend in. It’s just wall to wall city, and while usually that’s great in cities like Paris, London or Amsterdam, it’s tougher in Cairo. The reason for this is that everywhere you turn, someone’s looking to get something out of you. Here’s some of the top scams and problems we found in our 6 days.

We were standing outside the Egyptian Museum trying to get back to our hostel. Unfortunately there was 8 lanes of traffic with 14 lanes of cars in front of us. All of them going fast, you have to frogger your way across. Luckily a man walked up beside us, sizes us up and down, and says “follow me”. Safely he escorts us across and starts asking where we’re from. Says he has a cousin near us and invites us into his Egyptian Antiques shop for a tea. Most people see this as a nice gesture, but as soon as you step inside it’s obviously a sell job as he starts his pitches.

Or we were walking down the street when a guy stops us, and standing in our way asks where we’re from. I tell him Vancouver and he starts talking about the bazaar, and how the local bazaar is cheaper. Luckily there’s a government bazaar around the corner he can guide us to which will save us money. A couple of “no thanks” and he’s still not taking the message, following us while we walk away.

One other time we were simply walking when a guy starts following us. I noticed and through hand communication worthy of Seal Team 6, Dee and I started walking faster. Seeing this didn’t work, I invoked my digg sponsored anti-tracking techniques, all to no avail. About 4 blocks later he just appears again, and starts up a conversation. He says that he’s from Palestine (looked that way) and that his house and family was blown up by Isreal (sounds likely). He starts talking about how great Cairo is and how we’re lucky we have freedoms. How he’s blessed he’s alive and can start working. We actually have a decent conversation while walking, but then comes to the point of asking for money for a hostel. I ended up giving him a couple pounds for the interesting conversation, but obviously he was working us. And he followed us almost a mile to give us this pitch.

And that’s the thing about the streets of Cairo. Everyone’s looking to make a buck, and won’t accept no. And those 3 instances above were all within 20 minutes of walking home from the Egyptian Museum. It never stops, in fact as soon as you stop walking it starts.

Outside of the Step Pyramid – hawkers taking tickets

When you first get out of your car at the Step Pyramid, there’s a guard booth and ticket agent right there. There’s then a 150 meter walk up to the outer wall of the ruins where there’s a bunch of men standing. They’re just outside the small entrance through the wall, with no way to avoid them if you want to go inside. Upon walking through the passageway they’ll ask for your ticket, look at it and then start a tour with you while holding your ticket. They have your ticket and look official, and most people start walking with them. At the end the man will ask for some excessive personal tour amount, and most people will settle for $20 US or so.

We had heard about this form our guide, and even knowing this they’re quite convincing. The guy demanded to see my ticket, and I made sure it never left my hand. Even when we were saying we didn’t want a tour and were walking on, they still hassled us. I can easily see how many people get taken here. And there’s no recourse, because if you don’t negotiate the price beforehand you don’t have any power to negotiate. And with 15 men looking menacing all around you, would you really want to start a fight over a couple dollars?

Check the cost of the taxi before you get in

Even if you hop in a taxi that has a meter, it often won’t be turned on. Before even getting into the car, negotiate the price through the window. Often the real amount is about 1/3 of what they first tell you, just keep that in mind. If you don’t they’ll say some high amount when you get to your destination, and you can’t really negotiate it down.

Beware of extra fee’s while on tours.

I booked our tour through Haitham at the Alexander Hostel. When we were doing this he was pretty clear that once we stepped out of the hostel, everything was paid for 100%. So when the tour manager of our White Desert trip said we had to pay for all of our drinking water for the night, we told him Haitham said it was included and to call him. After the tour the manager said we missed our buses for the day and in order to get back to Cairo we had to take a taxi and had to “tip” the driver a couple hundred pounds each. We didn’t believe this and considered it a lie even as he swore on his families life. There was lots of arguing, and again calls to Haitham. Eventually they dropped us off at the bus station and we took the non-exhistant bus back. One lady that was with us had similar cost problems, but she had booked through the internet and couldn’t get ahold of her contact at the travel agency. She ended up having to pay extra for the bus and other small things.

Which is something that I recommend. It pays to book a tour through the place your staying. They have an interest in keeping you happy as your already a customer. Haitham also reccomended that we take a private tour in the desert as we’d have more food and warmer stays. This turned out true as we talked to some other people the next day and they were cold and hungry. Plus if something goes wrong you know who you can go back to. With more people booking online through sites like hostelbookers.com which asks you to rate your stay, customer service matters.

Papyrus Scroll museums

So these museums are hidden everywhere, and your driver is almost guaranteed to stop at one if you go see the Pyramids in Giza. Inside they’ll have replicas of old papyrus scrolls and show you how they make the current ones while giving you a 7-Up or tea to drink. They really begin to make you think that it’s unique and highly valuable, but then they quote you a price which is ridiculous like $200US. The scrolls are beautiful and you start to think you have a decent deal when you negotiate him down to $150.

The thing is you’ve given the salesman about 15-20 minutes of your time building up great rapport and increasing the value of his products. But the real price is closer to 10% of their original asking price. We saw similar scrolls on the street for 5% of what they started asking (tho weren’t quite as nice). We ended up getting 2 scrolls for a 1/3 of the original asking price for 1. So bargin hard with these guys, they’re professionals. Or just skip the shop and buy at the bazaar or museums for less.

Touts and Baksheesh at the Pyramids

The second you step foot inside the pyramid grounds, your being harassed by touts. They’ll put things in your hands and you’ll actually have to put it on the ground to give it back. They’ll come back again when you leave, trying to sell the same crap as before. Or offer camel rides. Or photos. Or postcards which are crap. Just keep walking away from these guys, as difficult as it is. All of their stuff is fifth rate and twice as expensive as it should be.

Then there is baksheesh, which is a custom taken too far. It’s a tip to someone who does you a service, and it goes too far. For sweeping the steps, “baksheesh sir”. When leaving your camera with the guard as you can’t take it inside “baksheesh” is printed on a basket. Someone showed us a shaft down to the “queens” chamber (which isn’t, as the queen’s tomb was always outside of the pyramid), and asked with his hand out for a baksheesh. For directions, baksheesh. It’s gone too far, and the guidebooks support it as it’s an income stream for people.

I say enough is enough! If I gave 1pound each time asked, I’d easily have spent more than our food and accommodation budget. If someone actually does a service for you, sure. But for doing SFA, don’t be guilted into it.

So that’s my short list of constant barrages we encountered in Cairo. Have you been to Egypt and experienced anything I missed? What are your thoughts on the baksheesh culture?

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Now you know how not to get scammed, why not test out your skills with cheap Sharm El Sheikh holidays from Travelsoon!

Our campsite at night

The night before our camping trip to the White Desert I had nightmares. I was scared about having to go to the bathroom in the desert as we just spent an entire day not being able to move due to our Indian Jones adventures inside the pyramids. Our legs were as stiff as metal poles, changing positions, getting out of bed, walking, using stairs and sitting on toilets were quite the ordeal. Spent the entire day hiding in our hotel room and watching movies, wondering if we would make it to our White Desert camping trip the next day. But, low and behold, our human bodys are indeed miracle machines and after a night of nightmares I was able to get out of bed easier and with excitement to truly experience the desert!

Our middle of no where stop

We didn’t know much about the tour other than it being a 1 night camping trip in the White desert with all food, water, and supplies included. We awoke early and had our included breakfast, which is nothing to brag about; Tea, non-toasted hot dog buns, jam, and cream cheese. But what else can you expect in Cairo for a free breakfast at a budget saving hotel? Then soon enough the hotel driver was taking us to the bus station. Our bus was a public bus that made frequent stops all the way for passengers and parcels to the small oasis town where we would be picked up by our desert guide. It was about a 5-hour drive, a drive that took us very far into the desert. So far that the midway rest point was literally in the middle of no-where! You could not see a single thing for miles except sand and the small building with a washroom and some snacks for sale.

Black Desert Sunset

After some typical confusion upon arriving to our pick up point we were finally off in a 4×4 Jeep with our desert guide Iman, and a security officer who carried a gun under his shirt. Iman told us it was protocol for private camping tours, both for his and our safety. Was a little strange at first as the thoughts ran through our head. The deeper we drove in the desert national park the more and more security check-points we passed… Where are we going??? But soon enough the strangeness passed as we relaxed and just enjoyed the sights going by. The sun was setting and the desert at this time of day is a beautiful glowing sight.

Black Mountain

We had to travel through the Black desert to reach the white. The Black desert is yellow sand that is covered with black soot from volcanic cones that erupted many years ago. We quickly stopped at Black Mountain for some shots and were back in the Jeep, whipping through the sand and sliding on all the turns. We were driving fast enough to frighten me but I had to remind myself Iman drives this everyday, so just trust him and enjoy the ride! Insert adrenalin smile here.

We arrived to the White Desert shortly after sunset. The ominous glow of the sun mixed with the white and purple hues from the rocks made the terrain we were exploring look like and alien wasteland. It was quite surreal and almost dreamlike. Where in the world are we? I never knew such a place of alien beauty existed on this planet, and to think it’s located in the middle of a giant dessert. A place usually associated with nothingness.

We arrived to our campsite, located just behind a large white caulk rock formation and our guide set up camp while we enjoyed our surroundings. The sand was so soft and deep and the surrounding rock formations were something we’ve never seen before.

Camping Food is always so good!

Soon enough, dinner was being cooked over the fire and then served to us. It was the best food we had in Egypt. Amazing! Funny how camp food is always better then regular food. We don’t even really know what we ate… it was so good we barely had a chance to examine it.

After dinner Iman disappeared for a bit and came back with a shisha pipe. Both Scott and I have never smoked out of one before, only heard about them. But this seemed like the perfect time to break our shisha cherries. The flavor was apple and it was the perfect match for sitting by a fire and enjoying the stars. The desert was so quiet that we could hear our ears ringing and the stars lit up the sky, almost to the point it seemed like we could touch them.

We are actually awake for sunrise!

White Desert Sunrise

Soon enough the heat of the day got to us all and it was time for bed. Mats and sleeping bags were pulled out and we were presented with a bed under the stars. Iman insisted we take a huge pile of blankets, we almost didn’t but were glad we listened to him, as it got really cold later in the night. This time I fell asleep dreaming of the sunrise and hoping we would wake up to see it. Low and behold, we both woke up as we felt the heat start to rise, the sun must be rising and we had the best seat in the house to watch it! It was a breathtaking moment watching the sun rise over the lime stone formations and made us think of the Sunday morning sunrise we always stay up for at Shambhala each year.

Our campsite during the day

Our time in the desert was a remarkable experience. The desert is a vast playground of nothingness that is also filled with some of the world’s most beautiful things.

Chicken and the Tree, White Desert

Chasing Beetles

It just keeps going!

Check out Latedeals for some great deals on Egypt Holidays.

I thought it couldn’t get any hotter than outside. The weather around 10:00 was somewhere near 40 degrees outside the Pyramid in Dashur, and climbing 200 feet up the side was exhausting in the heat. But once I set foot inside the pyramid, there’s wasn’t even a breeze to cool the air. And now with every step down into the center the air got hotter, but with a stale smell to it. The passageway was hundreds of feet long and only about 4 feet high, causing me to crouch with sweat dripping into my eyes. By the time we made it down into the center of the structure, it had to be another 10 degrees hotter than outside. It felt like I was melting, my legs were on fire and I was getting dizzy with heat exhaustion. I loved every minute of it.

I felt like Indiana Jones going into the unknown. The way these things were built is amazing. Huge stone blocks put together with not even a hairs width of room in-between them. No concrete sticking out, just the weight of a million tons pressing down keeping everything together. Yet there are passageways leading to a Queens tomb and the Kings tomb, and a large gallery that raises up 50 feet into the middle. How the hell did they build these things? Are there more passageways that haven’t been discovered? And inside a huge room where the Kings tomb sat empty, the precious items stolen long ago. Being inside made me feel like a child again. I remember reading about them when I was very young and being amazed, thinking about one day going to explore the ancient wonders of the old world.

If walking the alleys of Rome was “tripping over history”, being amongst the ruins of Egypt is like experiencing the start of civilization. This is where it all started. This is where we evolved from wandering packs of wolves to creating monuments that will outlast us. Walking through the Egypt section of the Louvre is nothing compared to walking through the endless statues, sculptures and Pyramids that are located all around the Nile. I never knew there were over 100 Pyramids dotted throughout the valley, and this was only a portion of what Egypt had to offer. It must have been some sight to see all the Pyramids in the desert, as the sun reflected off of their massive white limestone casings for as far as the eye can see. It truly would have looked like burial chambers of the gods.

After visiting the Step Pyramid, we went to the last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World, the Pyramids of Giza. I couldn’t help but be in awe of the sheer scale of the 3 Pyramids, they are much bigger than I ever imagined. And as we climbed up the side of the second pyramid of the day, the adrenaline of going inside fueled my legs that felt like mush. The thing that striked me the most odd was that there were no hieroglyphics inside the Pyramids. In fact there were no markings of any kind inside that I could tell. I always thought there would be innumerable inscriptions on every solid face inside, but apparently not.

It was always a dream of mine to go see the Pyramids, and I’m glad we were able to make it happen. It only makes me want to go back to Egypt in the future, and further south near the Valley of the Kings. The pyramids are only the tip of the iceberg in the sweltering desert, with more than 80% of the important finds being further south.

Hiding Beauty?

Living in Vancouver, B.C., a major port city in Canada, it’s common to see all walks of life walking the streets. I have seen practicing Muslim women before, covered head to toe no matter what the weather is. Long pants or skirts, long sleeve top, and a head scarf which is called a hijab. Sometimes they even wear a veiled hijab that only shows the eyes. I’ve never really thought about WHY the women choose to dress this way. I’ve always just made assumptions to myself, thinking it’s because the men in their culture don’t respect them and they are forced to hide themselves in public.

So, I entered Cairo with a very non-educated mind about the Muslim religion and soon found out my assumptions were half correct. Instead, the truth of the hijab is women choose to wear them, and dress they way they do to be treated with respect from men and not only thought as of sex objects. They believe that from the way they dress the men actually meet who they truly are and get to know the person inside first. Doesn’t sound so bad now does it ladies? Almost sounds similar to problems in our western society. How men react to you is, as much as we hate to admit it, a direct result as to how our men treat us. Dress like trash and guess who is treated like trash? Dress sexy and guess what thoughts are going through their minds? Etc, etc.

Muslim girls showing a sense of style paired with their hijabs

All of a sudden, how Muslim women choose to dress makes much more sense and many of them still have their own sense of style by pairing their hijabs with their outfits and wearing unique fashion tops or printed tees over their long sleeve clothing. However I have no idea how they can survive wearing that much clothing! It’s bloody hot in Cairo! Do they ever have some sort of internal stamina! Myself, to respect their culture made sure to get myself a pair of pants and a loose long sleeve top to wear while walking around the streets of Cairo. I had to do this shopping in October in Germany, which resulted in not many options to choose from since all the clothes for sale were made out of thick wools! I ended up with a pair of black yoga pants, and a semi see-through long sleeve top with a black tank top underneath, paired with a scarf to cover my chest. This outfit was still almost unbearable at the most of times and I often found myself rolling my sleeves up and loosening the scarf while sweating buckets.

My daily outfit in Cairo, as you can see amongst a heavy tourist site filled with westerners I have resorted to taking off my scarf and rolling up my sleeves the best I can

However, even with this respectful outfit I still felt a huge disrespect from most men in Cairo. They would never talk to me, only Scott, and if I said something it fell on deaf ears. It was always up to Scott to get the touts to go away as my comments like “We need to get back to our hotel to catch our plane” never worked in Cairo. Also, the further from the main core we went, especially while walking through the back lanes of the bazaar, I felt very perverted stares in my direction to the point that Scott could feel them as-well and told me to wrap my head up in my scarf. The moment I did that I instantly felt less stares. I only felt respect from men that worked in the tourist industry; the guides, hotel staff, personal drivers, and security. They would talk to me, make sure I was comfortable, ask my opinions, and I never caught them looking at my chest.

After my experience in Cairo, I feel I have more in common with Muslim women. Men across the world are the same and thus women have to dress in result of that. If you want to be respected you need to dress respectfully, and even though they cover themselves head to toe they are still very conscious about their beauty and style.

We arrived to our campsite in the middle of the White Desert shortly after sunset, we jumped out of the Jeep and our feet instantly sunk into the fine soft sand. Proving difficult to walk in with our running shoes on we took them off. Our guide noticed this and said,

“Put your shoes in the Jeep tonight or the fox will take them”

A fox? In the middle of a desert? Taking shoes?? This seem quite absurd to us. But we trusted our guide fully and kept them safe in the truck.

Later in the night during a stealthy Ninja pee mission, Scott and I spotted some some little poop-turds that were not there the last time we did a similar mission. Upon further inspection we ended up finding one lonely shoe amongst the poop trail, a green Puma street shoe! Knowing how much the Puma brand can cost someone and how much owners of Puma products love their possessions we picked up the shoe and brought it back to camp.

While trying to fall asleep that night we heard some mumbling in the background.

“I’m such an idiot! I can’t believe I forgot that Puma shoe. My wife is going to be one angry fox if I return without it! She is so obsessed about things like that. To me a shoe is a shoe is a shoe… but not to her!! Oh no… only name brand for her! Geez…”

We giggle slightly to each other and try to get a quick picture of the upset fox. He quickly ran away after being blinded by the flash.

The fox must of built up some more courage as in the morning we awoke to find ourselves surrounded by footprints. Probably still trying to track down that lost shoe.

Poor guy, we wish we left it outside as we are pretty certain the shoe never got back to it’s owner… Instead it probably sits alone in the back of some Jeep somewhere while that desperate fox has probably still not heard the end of it from his brand whore wife.

Luckily for once we can announce no total failure! Just lots of changes. Read On:

It’s nice to have some down time to plan things out. With such a busy travel schedule all summer there wasn’t a lot of extra time to do planning ahead of where we’re going to next. So now with a nice break in travel and generous relatives letting us stay at their place until we can easily figured out where to go next. With a strong and free Internet connection, access to a fantastic espresso machine and fresh groceries in the fridge, it was the perfect time to sit down and figure things out.

We had a general route figured out earlier to go through Turkey, Egypt, India and then on to Thailand and the rest of Asia. But we didn’t know the costs of travel and accommodation so it took some time to decide what we’d do next. One thing was we spent more money than expected in Europe, with the Euro to Canadian exchange rate being poor and sticker prices being the same or more as back home. Sandwiches in Ireland were €9, beers were often €5-€7 and so on. Basically, we paid the same money as we do back home on things as we did in Europe, which with anyone’s vacation plans that is not what you expect. One tends to travel to places that are cheaper then home. It wasn’t something that we had prepared for, I thought things would just be a bit cheaper. Apparently I was wrong.

We very much wanted to visit Istanbul and see the open-air markets. And go to the Valley of the Kings and view the inscriptions. See the Taj Mahjal and experience the crazy city of Mumbai. But we had to ask ourselves where we really wanted to go, and SE Asia was an area that we just couldn’t miss since it’s an area of the world we have been dreaming about for years. With a clear direction we could start making a plan of where to go and ensure the costs while traveling. With the great exchange rate the Canadian dollar gets in Asia it was looking to be a very easy place to go to on a now very tight budget.

Dee once again used her magic and managed one awesome surprise. While we were looking for the cheapest airline tickets to Bangkok she somehow found some random site we never used before with her amazing Google search skills and low and behold there was an Egypt Air flight out of Frankfurt that had a layover in Cairo that was cheaper then any other flight option on the net. After some investigation we managed to turn that layover into a 6 day stop over in Cairo! The one thing I had really wanted to see this trip was the Pyramids (especially after I saw the movie Zeitgeist), and when it was scratched off our list due to funds I was quietly disappointed. But now after seeing the chance to stay in Cairo and see the Pyramids we booked the flights right away, with the great bonus of it being the cheapest way for us to get to Bangkok!

I really don’t think we would have found this flight unless we had the time to wind down and do some searching while resting. I’m glad that Dee managed to do some good searching on the net and found it! So now our Itinerary looks something like this:

Cairo – 6 nights

Thailand – 60 – 90 days

Cambodia – 15 – 20 days

Vietnam – 20 – 30 days

Laos – 15 – 30 days

Europe has been great, but really it’s similar to life back home. I’m excited to explore something new in Asia, where both language and cultures are extremely different.

And this ends our tales from Europe!! Hope you can enjoyed them and you can look forward to some upcoming exciting posts from our culture shocking time in Cairo, Egypt!!
Off we go to Cairo!!