Short Trip to Alexandria

I almost decided to brave the long 8-hour drive to Dahab during the long Eid Al-Adha holidays.  After taking a good look at the map of Egypt, I thought it would not be such a good idea afterall.  I am not used to driving long distances and perhaps I should try somewhere nearer first.  So we went to Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city by the Mediterranean Sea.  It was an easy drive up and my boy had a good time.

My friend Boon Keng helped booked a room night at the newly opened Radisson Blu in Alex West and we also had a short tour of the garment factory Boon Keng was managing in the Alex free zone.  However, the hotel was quite a distance from the downtown and I had to drive for about 30 minutes to get there, including the time taken to trace back my route after missing an important turn.  So on the following day, I got a minibus with a driver to bring us on the half day tour of Alexandria.  We visited the tourist sites - Alexandria Museum, Roman Theatre, Pompey Pillar, Qaitbey Citadel and Bibiliotheca, which was closed during the holidays unfortunately.

But all in all, it was a short but relaxing trip and the drive back to Cairo was a breeze.  I think I will be able to take on the drive to Dahab next and perhaps break the long drive with a night in Sharm El-Sheikh.  I have uploaded the photos taken on the Alexandria trip in my MSN photo album.  Enjoy!