The modern tram system took me downtown early next morning. Two feline friends ran toward me when I walked towards the Topaki Palace the next morning between Roman grave stoneyard. I sat down for some purry cuddling that really warmed me up on this cold morning. The Harem, where the Sultans and his Corcubines reside, and various exhibitions are impressive proof of the opulent Ottoman empires.

By the time I left the Topaki Palace, busloads of tourists had swallowed up Aya Sofya Square in Sultanahmet. I squeezed myself inside the Aya Sofya and managed to admire this great Byzantine architecture triumph. Built by Emperor Justinian around 530 AD, Aya Sofya is a church in the Byzantine period, then mosque during the Ottoman era, now a museum, protected by yet another feline in front of the spotlight shining on the mihrab.

Hungury and exhausted, I sat in the courtyard of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) to watch families and tourists. School children and young couples came over and asked me for photographs, a first in Turkey, after many from Egypt, Jordan and Syria. What a difference of friendliness between ordinary locals and tourist shop or hotel keepers. My perception of Turkey was renewed in this Islamic countyard.

Among the many underground water storage area in this area, the Basilica cistern is one of the most magnificent constructions built by the Byzantine emperior Justinianus I around mid-550 AD. It has 336 marble columns raising out of water and capacity to hold 100,000 tonne of water. Fish swim freely in this impressive hugh 'tank' and Medusa's heads were put upside down underneath one column to prevent people who look at her turning into stone, according to ancient belief.

My last destination of the day is the Cagaloglu Hamam, with news article from every corner in the world posted outside this 300 years old bath house. Advised as 'One of the 1000 things to see before you die', I walked into the empty reception area and was a bit shocked by the skyhigh prices on the service list. A complete service with scrubbing and massage costs $50 and pay ahead! Another tourist trap. How can a local possibly afford this?

I reluctantly paid, went into the lady's section and undressed myself in my very own room with locks. Then an old lady brought me into the famous but old steamy room with ottoman-styled faucets and sinks around a giant marble slab in the middle. After splashing water on myself for 20 minute, admiring the interior and imagining the old days where public can enjoy this beautiful bath, the old lady came back and asked me to lay down on the marble for the scrub and massage. Although she was very professional, the entire procedure took only 30 minute and I couldn't help but think that I could have had a equally enjoyable experience in a less expensive price somewhere else. I paid for the location and location is what's sell, to tourists, at least nowaday in Istanbul and in all modern cities.

Touristic Istanbul remains copyright of the author shinenyc, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Putting cautions aside, I chose to join others on tours for the next 2 days. The regional tour started out with Derinkuyu, one of the underground cities in the Anatolian plateau 50 kms south of Goreme. Once inhabited by over 20,000 Hittites in 8 levels of narrow tunnels, it had a cross-sized church, school with private study rooms, olive press room, crematory and 15,000 ventilation ducts. Some sections can be closed off by circular stoned doors of more than two feets in depth. After the Assyrians, Persians, Romans and Byzantines ruled this area over thousands of years, these cities are used by early Christians to hide from invaders until Christianity was allowed after Muslim took control in the 11th century.

After lunch at a cave restaurant in Avano catered to group tourists, mostly older japanese and korean in this case, we were taken to a pottery and a jewelery store in Uchisha. I dragged myself through these tourist traps until we were taken to the Fairy Chimneys. These unique conical rock formation caused by the different rate of wind and water erosions on the top volcanic layer of basalt and softer bottom layer of tuff. Plenty of caves are visible and used by early inhabitants for religion and other purposes. The day ended with a chilly hike through the mountain opposite the Rose Valley which turned into a beautiful sea of soft orange during sunset. We drove through vast empty lands with occasional petrol stations before reaching Goreme.

I woke up early next morning in my cave room expecting to see sunrise. To my complete surprise, the town below me had already turned bright white and snow is still falling softly. To hike or not to hike? I wondered back to sleep for another hour. The man who arranged my hiking tour seem to care less about the weather condition, but more to make a few bucks by stuffing me with a group of young Koreans from another agency, even if it means that all the spots are the same as the previous tour except the Ilhara valley. On top of that, I was told that my overnight bus reservation to Istanbul was not made on time and all buses were full.

To make up for my disappointment over this arrangement, my driver took me into a smoky, local cafe with only Muslim men playing cards and games while others went inside the underground city in Derinkuyu. I was greeted by many stares initially but everything goes back to normal after a few seconds.

As a hiker, I put my hope on the Ilhara valley. Fortunately, the slope downhill was paved with concrete steps and walking on slippery snow along the icy river bank was more scenic than I thought. After only a few kilometres, we were treated with a simple lunch in a small restaurant and then taken back to Goreme after dark, leaving me just enough time to climb uphill to my hotel to check out with a hugh bill and rushed down the slippery slope again with my backpack, despite of the previous promise of a ride by the hotel management. They did, however, manage to make a last minute reservation for a bus to Ankara for me. 'Adjust your expectation of hospitality here, you are just another tourist to them,' I kept telling myself.

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After boarding a 5am bus from Aleppo, Syria and waiting for 5 hours to board another bus from Antanlya, Turkey to Keryseri, I was told to get on another bus supposedly going to Goreme, a town in Cappadocia area written on the ticket. That was around 11pm. I dozed off on this bus after a while and all of a sudden, the bus attendant woke me up and told me to get off the bus because this is my stop, I looked outside the window only to realize this is a highway intersection. I used my broken turkish to ask for my hotel ('otel' in turkish) and he pointed at a direction. I was deserted on the highway in a nearby town called Neveshir at midnight half awake on my first night in a country not knowing a word of the language.

I picked up my backpack and walked toward the direction where the bus attendent pointed at but there is nothing but a residential area. My brain was blank for a moment trying to stay calm and formulate a safe plan for the rest of the night. Trying to walk on a slippery icy surface carrying 30lb of lugguage on your shoulder is difficult enough, let alone you are completely lost in a foreign country. Most houses have turned off their light already at this time, I sat on an intersection with my guide book trying to phone a hostel in Goreme (where I thought I was) and hope that they will come pick me up. The call did not go through.

When an old Mercede drove pass, I had no choice but hope for the best. I waved at it and fortunately, it backed up and a woman face emerged from the open window. Since I had no idea of what she was trying to say, I pointed at the map in my guidebook. When she realized that I did not understand, she talked to her husband who was driving, turned back to me and said 'otel', then put her hands on her cheek to signal 'sleep', and told me what I thought to be 'tomorrow' 'Goreme'. At this point, the rear window lowered and a boy signaled me to get inside the car so they can take me to a nearby hotel. I was speechless. The next morning, I took a taxi to Goreme, 20 minute away.

After checking into a hotel with my own cave room in Goreme, I went to explore the Open Air Museum. This historic area was inhabited by hedites many centuries ago who built many churches inside stone caves. Many paintings are still clearly visible nowaday. After the museum, I walked alone in a nearby area with many caves in beautiful eroded rock formation. While I was having a private moment inside a small cave, a middle-aged man, the guide, appeared outside. He introduced himself and volunteered to show me around. Although I had second thought, I went along thinking what would happen in an open area, right? Not exactly.

After showing me many more hidden churches and houses in this area for the next hour speaking turkish to me the whole time, I thanked him and started to walk away. He grasped my arm at this point and tried to pull me away and point at a cave, then signaled that I should give him a kiss. I tried to pull my body away but his hold was strong. When he showed me his wedding ring and then his tongue, 'running' is the only thought in my mind. I managed to pull myself away from his arm, and run I did. He gave up after my rude gesture. Should have never taken up his guiding service in the first place, right? Sometimes, to assume that any friendly person is out to take advantage of you when travelling seems a bit prejudice especially after the exceptional hospitality that I had received from the last 2 months. It must be a preview of the complexed world I had to go back to. A bit of adjustment in human nature will be necessary.

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I took a bus from Damascus to Homs and visited the Kraz de Chevaliers, the most complete Crusader's castle in the world. Located on top of a mountain and around surrounding villages, it had almost 2000 soldiers and hundreds of horses in its glory time around 1200.

After a short stop, I jumped into a packed minibus for a freezing journey to Palymra, a city where queen Zenobia had made famous during the Roman period. Tower tombs, oasis and magnicent Roman architecture with eastern influence is not the only attraction. Most syrian bedouins also resides here in the eastern desert and provide great hospitality.

Another bus took me from Palmyra to Hama, a relaxing city with norias (waterwheels) and artist galleries inside the small old city alleys. A father with his baby chatted with me while I did my sketch of the waterwheels after sunset.

On route from Hama, I visited yet another ancient city called Apamea (Afamia) and Cities of Dead. Although I was honestly a bit 'ruined out' at this point, the history and architecture never failed to impress. My friendly taxi driver, Jihad, let me drive his taxi through the Bedouin villages. The stare from Bedouin women and children from the villages almost made me uneasy at times, I must represent all 'Asians' to them.

My last stop in Syria is Aleppo, the second largest city. The main attraction here is the citadel in the city center. With an impressive entrance and settings inside like a maze, locals and tourists climbed through walls to get the best views for the city. A group of boys followed me for a while before getting up the courage to ask for photos. I gladly accepted the opportunity. Another local merchant showed me an old insane asylum and soap factory in the old city before inviting me for tea. Just one of the many encounters and invitations from people in the country of the Silk Road, one with a modern soul formed by millions of anicent history.

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To most westerners, Syria is not always high up on their travel destination list. However, to those considering coming to the middle east, Syria is not only a hidden gem with ancient ruins that rivals those in Athens and Rome, but also people that is tremendously friendly and ready to led a helping hand to anyone. A single woman backpacking through middle east may seem daunting to most people, but in Syria, it is almost certain that when one need help, it is literally everywhere.

I took a shared taxi to cross the border from Amman to the outskirt of Damascus, a city that claimed to have the longest inhabited city in the world. Like any other cities, tourists are target of overcharging. My taxi driver drove his car into the narrowest alley inside the famous 'Old City' only to find my hostel closed. He then took me to Al Haramine, another budget hotel on a street under construction with a 2-feet sidewalk and 3m dirt hole in the middle. It takes skill to carefully balanced myself with my heavy backpack to get into this otherwise lovely hotel. The high pressure hot water showers are the best I have taken for the past two months.

The next day, a local friend of another friend of mine took me to Maloula and Sednaya, two Christian towns less than an hour away from Damascus. We visited a few churches including Monastry of Theka who escaped from her Roman father's disapprovement of her Christianity belief. Supposedly the story goes like this: the mountain opened up for her to bypass and the wheat fields at the exit grew miraculously fast to led her father's soldier believe that she had passed for months and stopped the chase. The siq for her escape now is the proof to Christians nowaday.

At night, I visited the huge Umayaad Mosque inside the old city and let myself soaked in the atmosphere of the famous souq Hamadeyi, a street with thousands of stores, in other word, the ancient solution of shopping mall.

We took a bus from Sweida and rented a car to drive to Bosra, a huge ancient city built with local black basalt stone, located more than an hour south of Damascus. The Roman theatre here is perhap one of the largest in the world and definitely very impressive due to its sheer size and dark color.

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There are millions of horses, donkeys and mules that work for the extremely poor population in this world. On average, one animal supports about 20 people. In countries like Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India etc, the recent oil hike means families cannot afford to use vehicles to transport their goods. As a result, horses and donkeys carry an impossible amount of goods and building materials such as bricks and steel bars walking through wet and mountainous terrain for long hours with minimum rest and food. Combined with their bad diet and improper treatment by their owners, most working animals end up having bodily injuries and internal diseases, sometime collapse to death. Heartbreaking stories are all too common.

The Brooke Animal hospital set up by Princess Alia in Petra is one of the many Brooke clinics in the world originated by a British woman who saved thousands of carriage horses after WWI in Cairo. Nowaday, it focuses on educating owners on mutual respect for their animals and providing free medical treatment. For more information, please visit The Brooke website - http://www.thebrooke.org/.

I came back to Wadi Musa after hearing this bad new and give support to my Bedouin family who had generously allowed me to stay with them, provided me with fabulous food and warmth in the cold nights. Together with her owner, we brought Summer to the clinic for antibiotic to treat her congestion. Because of her poor appetite, we bought apples, fresh green vegetatable and even bread to provide extra diet on top of dry hay. We also cover her stable with extra layer of wood chip from local carpenter to make sure she can sleep warm every night.

It only took me two days and $26 to visit this historic Nabatean town. But time and money can never measure the friendship and hospitality that the local people provides. Over 30 tour buses transport more than 1200 tourists in one hour in this small town. Hundreds of these horses, donkeys and camels carry them through the Siq and up the monastry in the scorching summer heat and freezing winter days. If all tourists can spend a bit more time to understand the local culture and show their appreciation by making a minimum donation to these charities, these animals will have a much brighter future. How much do we really care for the poverty in this world?

If you would like to help Summer's operation, please leave me a comment. With hope, I sincerely wish Summer can deliver a health baby this summer.

Summer of Wadi Musa remains copyright of the author shinenyc, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The trek from Wadi Dana to Wadi Fenan was fairly easy, although steep at time and very rocky, not my ideal trail choice. This nature reserve are active breeding ground for protected animals such as caracat, nubian ibex, african gazelle and various birds, although sightings of their night hunters are very rare.

After spending a night with a family in Griegra village, another Bedouin village close to the Dead sea. I headed north on the Dead Sea Highway and passed through numerous checkpoints in close proximity to the Israel border. After a short visit to the Wadi Mujib, another nature reserve close for winter, I visited Bethany, the site on Jordan River where Jesus baptised by John at age 30 before going into the wilderness. Although Jordan river is now quite polluted and muddy as ever, its reed banks had not lost one bit of its blibical aura. A family with two young girls all got baptised with a priest in the river right across from Israel territory when I arrived. A few gorgeous feline residents guarded the border with an equally gorgeous Jordanian soldier.

Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth (400m), is where Amman beach is located. A handful of tourists stripped off in the cold weather and floated themselves in the saltest sea on earth. I, however, prefered to simply wet my feet in the waves and walked along the hard salt structure formed on the shallow edge.

After a short stop at Mt Nebo where Moses is supposed to be bured, I finally made myself to the capital of Jordan, Amman. Old downtown Amman is a sea of beige houses built on steep mountain sides. Traffics are not as chaotic as Cairo but crossing the streets still takes some courage.

I visited the Roman theatre and Citadel during the wet and cold afternoon and settled down at Wild Jordan, a real refute for nature-lovers in this busy city, high above downtown, for afternoon tea and some leisure reading. I then spent the next hour walking through lines of stores trying to find my way back to the cold room in my hostel.

Blibical and Wild Jordan remains copyright of the author shinenyc, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The next few days, I did some scrambling and trekking with another group of tourists from the UK. At the same time, I also helped Simone, our wonderful Bedouin chef and Salim, his assistant, to cook, wash dishes, clean up the old campground and prepare the new ones everyday. Digging a hole in the rocky desert floor for toilet is never so much fun. This background training allowed me to gain more insight into the modern life of Bedouin tourism business, and a deeper respect for these hardworking souls of the desert.

After a few days of training, I moved from my nomadic life to stay with a Bedouin family in the rum village. A family of 6, Hader, his wife and their 6 children, welcomed me with their generous smiles, food and great hearts. We herd and fed goats, camels and played football. Aliya, the youngest daughter, learned to use all the buttons in my camera in no time by watching. She and her sister, Najee, and their siplings soon learned to take videos and direct their own movies. It is life at the simpliest and happiest.

After two weeks in this Bedouin land, I left with a great sense of appreciation, belonging, and a broken heart.

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Walking through the siq, created by tectonic forces thousands of years ago instead of water erosion, one cannot help but built up an excitment for the sight of the Treasury. Unfortunately, its fame had also brought in busloads of tourists from all over the world.

I bought myself a 2-day pass. On the first day, a beautiful female arabian horse, Summer, brought me to the top of the mountains around Petra where I can look down at the siq and escape the noise of the tourists. I then walked pass the Royal Tombs and the City Centre and started a short 25 min hike up to the Monastry, which measure higher and talled than the Treasury. Quite exhausted, I shared my lunch, chicken kabab, with two kittens at the viewpoint overlooking mountains and the Araba desert 0that stretch all the way to Israel and Palestine. A bedouin guide led me up to the top of a tomb opposite the Monastry where I can sit quietly and draw. By the time I walked down from the Monastry and went through the Great Temple and Royal Tombs, the sun had almost completely set - a perfect moment to have the entire siq by myself in the dark.

This night, I was invited to dinner by a Bedouin family from Wadi Masu (Valley of Moses) and spent the cold night next to the fire. On the second day, I ride Summer, again, with her kind Bedouin owner, Shadi, to the top of the Treasury which has a breathtaking view of the entire Petra city and stopped by the Obelisk at the Sacred Hill.

Late afternoon, I visited Little Petra, a site with vast network of channels (also built by the Nabateans) leading water from top to bottom of beautiful sandstone mountains down to many underground resevoirs. Last by not least, I took a sidetrip to the Shobak Castle, built by King Baldwins around 1100AD but overtook by a Mumlak. Exhausted after two full days of sightseeing, I retired back to my hotel and prepared to go back to Wadi Rum for New Year Eve.

To truly appreciate a landscape, we must include its inhabitants. To truly understand oneself, we must open our minds to all cultures.

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After a week of pampering myself in Dehab next to the Red Sea, I'm back in my favorite landscape - mountains. A different tribe of Bedouin people inhabit in this area for hundreds of years. Although most had moved into stone buildings in the rum village, a small no. of families still live in tents in the vast desert land.

For three days, I hiked and scrambled (easy climbing) along the many jebels (mountain in arabic) and wadi (valley) enjoying breathtaking views of this land. At nights, we enjoyed simple but delicious meals cooked by our guide, Mohammad and Simone, then spend the night chatting next to the fire, star-gaze or simply take in the 'silence'. I even spend a few moments with the desert foxes when I gave them our leftover rice and chicken - Bedouin style!

For the next few days, I spent time learning to take care of camels. I learned milking, herding (following them through the vast desert floor for hours making sure they do not wander too far while they feed themselves with desert plants), and even witness a few mating sessions.

No word can ever describe my feeling towards the majestic Wadi Rum desert in the south of Jordan. A lifetime will not be enough to explore this land. This will remain permanently inscripted in my memory, just as the Bedouin engravings on the mountains - forever.

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According to Bedouin tradition, Mt Sinai is where God gave laws to the Israelites. Pilgrims from all countries start making their way up to the summit for sunrise every morning around 2-3 am. Couple of us could not resist the temptation of camels. The hike, however for most of us took about 2.5 hours. Sunrise painted the surrounding mountain range with an bright orange tint. I made a few prayers next to the mosque and the chapel at the summit (2285m). However, "Moses' cave" where Moses is supposed to have waited to receive the Ten Commandments, is closed to the public. I hiked down with couple others using the 3,750 "Steps of penitence" route. We passed a few more bilical referencee sites including the Elijah Hollow and saw the majestic St. Catherine Monastery from above. Despite of sleep deficiency, I thoroughly enjoyed this great hike. Fortunately, my knees did not complain much afterwards.

From our hostel, we drove straight to Dehab, a relaxed budget resort town on the coast of the Red Sea. After two weeks of desert and constant doses of ancient Egyptian history, we all welcomed the sea breeze, beaches and adventure sports here. I had my first delicious seafood dinner, shared by many felines under the tables.

Normally, I would not try quad biking in tropical area where natural ecosystems can be easily disturbed by the fuel and noise from the bikes. But quad biking in the desert is in fact quite thrilling. With helmets without visors, we were all covered with sand afterwards. We drove along valleys and small dunes around 50mph until a young canadian girl who was following too close to the bike in front of her, braked and flipped. Fortunately, she lived to tell her story with only a few scratches on her rips and arms.

Some says the coral reef here rivals the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I had to check it out for myself. I started off with some snorkeling. After a few high praises from others from my group who did some diving, I decided to take my first PADI (Professional Association of Diver International) scuba diving lesson. Never a water sport person, I suddenly braved with courage from nowhere, studied a few chapters of theories, accompanied by a great instructor from the UK, finished the few confined and open water dives and received a certificate in a matter of 2 days. What is a few mouthfuls of super salty Red Sea water compared to the views of corals and fishes ain this amazing underwater world.

Dehab is not an easy place to say goodbye.

Sinai & Dehab - the Land & the Sea remains copyright of the author shinenyc, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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That evening, we had dinner on a rooftop at a family restaurant on the west bank of the Nile. We took the opportunity to celebrate the birthday of Rachel, followed by Sufi dancing with a traditional Egyptian band.

Before sunrise the following morning, we crossed the Nile and arrived at the hot air balloon location. The bright fire creates silhouettes of balloons against the dark sky. We practiced our safety procedures and started the ascend. Sunrise is always memorizing, especially when you are high above ground. Great visibility allowed us to see the Valley of the King and Queen clearly, with farms surrounded by mud brick houses below. After 45 min, we 'evacuated' a few cows and landed on a farm grazed by villagers who stared at us as if we were extraterrestials.

Riding into the Valley of the King on donkeys is definitely one of my highlight. Matt was matched with Willy, one of the troublemaker donkey. True to its reputations, Matt had more than a bumpy ride with the uncontrollable Willy. The valley of the King is where pharaohs from the New Kingdom built their tombs. We entered the tombs of Ramses IV, V, I(mummy in Cairo museum) and King Tut (with mummy in glass case). All were elaborately-decorated tombs with ancient colors still remained on the walls. Word simply cannot describe my respect to these great timeless leaders of Egypt.

After a short break visiting a local alabaster factory, I couldn't resist but to visit the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the only true woman pharaoh in Egyptian history. This mighty temple is only one of many that was built strategically along the mountain in the West Bank. After a short stay in Luxor, we headed our way to Aswan, the third largest city in Egypt, after Cairo and Alexandria. We made an afternoon visit and enjoyed beautiful sunset at the Philae Temple on Agilika Island dedicated to goddess Isis. That evening, we enjoyed a family dinner on a simple island where the nubians reside.

After a terrorist attack 10 years ago in this area, security became very tight all over Egypt and checkpoints are everywhere. A convoy of tour buses led by military police lined up at 4am the next morning from Aswan to Abu Simbel, one of the greatest and many temple theatened by the rising Nile water. Situated along the man-made Lake Nasser (created by the building of the High Dam in the 70s), Abu Simbel was relocated block by block and is a symbol of eternity for Ramses II and one of his most beloved Nubian wives, Nefeteti. Reading the stories on the wall is truly a humble experience for all who make their visit every day.

We arrived back in Aswan around 3pm and immediately jumped into a felucca, a traditional Nile sailboat, our accomodation for the next 3 nights. With no toilet or engine, only a shade awning, the felucca sail slowly down the Nile. For 3 days, we relaxed on the mattresses, ate, read, talked, played cards etc.

Most of us, coming from totally different worlds, had quite a hard time to adjust. Fortunately, we all got used to watching life pass by along the Nile and enjoying the nightly bonfire with our Nubian crews.

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After 6 hours of driving with rocky flat land and occasionally reception towers in sight, we finally arrived at the White Desert. True to its name, iceberg-like limestone pillar structures resulted from thousands of years of errosions protrude all over this landscape resembling the Bolivia Salt Flat or even Antarctica surface.

The Beduoin crew parked our jeep strategically in a 'E' shape, put up wind shield, unload our backpacks and set up an area for kitchen within 15 minutes while we were still in owe with this landscape. We talked, ate and sang our night away around the bonfire. We learned Beduoin songs and were given Arabic names by 'Foxy', the leader of our crew. I was given the name 'Yasmin'. Before long, we all creeped into our sleeping bags for our desert dreams.

With a tall nose, dark narrow face and cunning smile, Foxy is truly an amazing character, the personification of a desert fox. His limited knowledge of English did not prevent him to completely merge himself into our conservations and games. The interaction between him and his crew is a comedy show by itself.

We stayed at a Beduoin 'camp' the following two days closed to Dakhla. During our stay, we visited a local school with only a few students in each classroom. Both the teachers and students are very curious about my originality. I returned the curiosity and kindness with a few notebooks, crayons and biscuits.

Before dinner, our group also ride the camels into the desert for sunset.
Dinner at the Beduoin camp are simple and delicious, with vegetable or lentil soup, mixed vegetable, beef stew or grilled chicken. Breakfast consists of omelette, fette bread and of course, broiled eggs.

From Dakhla, we moved on to another oasis in the Western desert. We visited an artist gallery in a mud brick building decorated with amazing limestone, metal sculptures and paintings. Over lunch at a local family restaurant, I fed the family goats and cats before helping the Beduoin chef to prepare tuna salad for our group.

That night, we spent in a open valley between massive cones of colorful sandstone. After dinner, I lay down and searched the sky for shooting stars. After another night of great bonfire laughters with the Beduoins, I rised early to enjoy a very spiritual moment - sunrise.

After breakfast, we packed up and drove back into the main desert road. The Beduoin crews dropped us off at a roadside cafe around 100 km from Luxor. Our bonds over the last few days were so strong that everyone of us honestly had a hard time saying goodbye to all our new Beduoins friends. The hospitality of these desert tribes are truly legendary. They are the real essence of our desert experience.

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My first stop on the next day is the Cairo museum, one of the greatest museums in the world. It allows one to enter into a world of fascinating ancient history that deserves much more time and respect than most tourists can afford. Massive crowds of tourists and young school children poured into this treasure box. It took much of my patience to navigate through ruins, which aren't labeled that well, from the old, middle and new kingdoms among these crowds.

A few blocks away, tourists are replaced by locals in Al Khalili market, the world largest outdoor market. Anything and everything from 'made-in-china' products to antique lighting, hardware and jewellries can be found here. Although I was a little apprehensive about taking photos with my massive camera in between layers of local shoppers, I snapped a few shots and true to my instinct, some street vendors were not too happy about my inconsiderate attempt (even though the camera is opted for the entire street scene).

I met my tour group later this evening and we headed out to the Three Great Pyramids the next morning. These 6000-year-old structures are located in the outskirts of Giza where poor people had converted large farmland into mud or brick apartment buildings with unfinished top floor. These unfinished brick buildings is one way for lower class Egyptian farmers to avoid heavy taxation and allow future expansion for family members. Nevertheless, the sight of these pyramids is breathtaking. We crawled into the burial chamber of Pharaoh Khufu and took turns to lay inside his empty tomb. On weekends, these massive structures and the history behind them brought many local school children. To my surprise, I was constantly mocked by school girls for photos and conversations. For a brief moment, it seems that my mere presence had striked more interest to them than the ancient history laying into the tombs of these great pyramids.

Early next morning, a few of us chose to visit a unique neighborhood here called 'City of the Dead'. Over the years, the underprivilaged have built their houses between thousands of graves and even tombs from past sultans. While the 'City of the Dead' represents the poorest in Cairo, modern neighborhoods Zamalek and Garden City is the epitome of modern Egyptians living in fancy highrises driving luxury vehicles.

Next, we visited Islamic Cairo, where many mosques are located. Ironically, military police are also visible everywhere here, especially on Fridays and Saturdays, the equivalent of Saturdays and Sundays in the western calendar. Praying is separated by café breaks at times.

After some shopping at the bazaar, a few of us sipped Turkish coffee and smoked Sheesha at Fishwar, a historic café decorated with exquisite antiques. The abundance of tea/sheesha cafes here proved that in this part of the world, tea culture dominates coffee, which also explain the absense of Starbucks.

My last destination in Cairo is the Giza Zoo. With entrance fee of only 1 LE ($0.2), families and children packed the zoo on this Friday. The variety of animals here are quite impressive. While dogs such as Doberman are caged as zoo animals, cats roamed freely everywhere. While we walked aimlessly around the zoo, a few guides offered us photo opportunities of some very precious animals, for a small fee.

Cairo is truly a city of wonders, both ancient and modern. A few days of explorations only left me with an intense thirst for more. I only hope to come back for more.

Cairo Wonders remains copyright of the author shinenyc, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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