Egypt - Just getting there seemed a bit challenging...

We stayed at a hotel near Gatwick on Sunday evening.

Woke up at midnight and couldn't sleep - combination of my cold and the knowledge we were getting up soon!

Got to the Airport at 6am for check-in! Boarded as if all was normal at 8:30. Then it all started to go wrong...

9:00am: 30 min wait on the flight due to fog on the runway

9:30am: 5 hour flight in the general direction of Sinai and Taba Airport

Plane over the Alps

Plane over Egypt before heading to Sinai

5:30pm(Egypt time - 2 hours ahead): An hour of general circling in and out of awful thunderstorms - lightning touching the plane(or as one woman put it - IT HIT THE PLANE WITH A LOUD BANG) - it really wasn't that dramatic though! BUT the turbulance was something out of this world!

6:30pm: Finally a gap in the clouds appears and we risked a very wonky landing!

All safe and sound on the ground and we head into the terminal building where officials are running around not knowing what the hell to do...

TURNS OUT:

We have landed at the absolute worst possible time!

There are NO busses to collect us as the roads are closed due to massive torrential rain. ALL cellphone and landline communication is severed!

So we get our passports stamped and take a seat to see what will happen to us.

Some partake of Crisps and much Whisky

8:30pm: OPTION 1:

After a few hours they decide to send us to Sharm el Sheik - only once the Hubbub has subsided they find out the airport is closed - we find out later the ceiling of the airport collapsed killing 1 person.

11:30pm: OPTION 2:

another few hours pass by - we are hungry, tired and cold and no-one seems able to help and the officials come up with a plan to send us to Luxor BUT we have to be on the plane and in the air in 30 minutes!

So of course with over 200 irate people this cannot happen - though we try...

we all get our passports restamped(entrance cancelled) and get on the busses which take a lovely drive around the buildings only to drop us at Depatures.

We thank the bus driver for the interesting tour and make ourselves comfortable for the night.

(The Russians who were also stranded had already done this!)

Taba arrivals hall - our home til morning...

3:00am: A bus gets through with Russian passengers trying to get home. This means that the roads are open!This also means that the Russians waiting get to leave the Airport! AND the elderly and people travelling with children - about 50 people - no space for the rest of us so we get comfy again and wait for more busses...

Which don't arrive - patchy phonecalls on indistinct phone lines reveal that our hotels thought we were in Luxor!!

Even then they don't send the busses - they are waiting for dawn and I don't blame them or didn't when I saw the state of the roads myself!

8:00am: with Phil asleep on my lap - I'm way too cold to try anymore - I see THE Official and he whispers that "The busses are on the way, don't ask me how long, but they're definately coming. Oh and don't tell anyone!"

I don't really believe him - BUT 20 minutes later I hear a shout and jump and run leaving Phil to sort himself out... 3 busses heading our way!!!! FREEDOM AT LAST!!

Our Bus Driver(left) talking to one of the other Bus driver's while waiting for our Police escort. A few minutes later he drove 10 metres and then stopped - blocking the road to discover he had a flat wheel!

The Mountain pass -  Strewn with rocks!!

So we get on the busses, wait for our police escort and head out in convoy - and the roads were pretty terrible. We were the only traffic heading down the Mountain pass - Thank Goodness!

 The Mountains are really barren - we probably saw 5 trees, 3 bushes and a few tufts of grass on the hour long trip...