Figjam's Epic Adventure 'The Second Coming': This is a long time coming... The end of one journey... but the beginning of another!

23/7/11

0750(local time)-Dahab

Its been a while. I know I know… but I have excuses! First one is, I broke my computer! Yep, the little white computer that had been in my life for like 3 years finally decided it had had enough and just decided not to charge up anymore! Great News! Second reason is, is that I have change moved countries… I’m now back in the sunny shores of Dahab living life to the fullest! Lots of windsurfing, lots of swimming and lots of relaxing! That’s the way it should be!

Ok, so I think its best to pick up where I left off… But before I start, I should mention this, I have been getting grief about the length of my blog so ill try my very hardest to keep it short.

Right, so the bus journey from Porto, Portugal to Madrid, Spain was an absolute nightmare! I nearly got arrested at a border crossing, we then were involved in a (very minor) bus/car crash and then, when the bus driver pulled over for a quick toilet stop, he left myself and a Dutch guy behind at the toilet station… So I had to start sprinting down the highway after the bus! It was mental… But when I eventually made it to Madrid, I had to track down my couch surfer I was staying with. Fortunately his place was pretty easy to find, when I did find it, he was very welcoming. CJ and his mother welcomed me to their house and very quickly we had lovely Spanish beers and some amazing meat platter, with pigs foot and other tasty meats. It was fantastic.

My time in Madrid and CJ was only for 3-4 days but it was fantastic. Lovely foods, mixed with lots of late nights out in very hot weather! It was a great time, and a time that I wont forget.

From Madrid I had a flight to catch back to London Luton, and from there I would make my way back to Lizzie’s house. Lizzie met me with open arms. It was great to see her and Anna again, they always make London another home for me, its almost like they are another family.

After a few nights in London, I was then making my way back to the golden city that is Dahab.

The problem was getting all my windsurfing equipment from Lizzie’s place in Balham to London Luton Airport! It was a mission! I had to get a taxi from Lizzie’s to Victoria Coach Station, from there I had to plead until the bus driver let my massive 2.5 metre bag on the bus, which JUST fit on!

Luckily the lovely bus driver let me on, (with all my kit) and I was on the way to the airport! I was flying EasyJet from London to Sharm El Sheik, and we all know how intense their baggage restrictions are… Anyway, so I managed to get all my windsurfing and luggage onboard with no extra fee! I was very lucky!

Eventually I made it to Dahab, with Luke and Lizzie waiting for me with smiles and hugs!

The wind was great, and I spent the first 2 weeks non-stop windsurfing and remembering why I loved the sport so much!

To earn money I was taking photos of Neilson guests and giving them the opportunity to buy them off me at the end of the week! It’s a good gig because you can do plenty of sailing, and also allows you to meet as many new guests as possible.

After the second week of me being out in Dahab, Sally Lambert and John Yeomans came out to Dahab so we hung out for most days. I worked with Yeomans and Sally last year under the John Palmer reign.

Days ticked on by, until it was the 12^th of July where I was catching an overnight bus from Dahab to Cairo to meet my parents who were travelling around Europe!

I hadn’t seen them for over 14 months so when I arrived at the Swiss Inn hotel in Cairo it was so fantastic! After lots of hugs and kisses we bought ourselves some bottles of water (soon to be turned into steam) and caught a taxi to the Giza Pyramids!

What I didn’t realise was how used I was to the Egyptian way of living… meaning that its not exactly the cleanest place in the world, but because I have been around it for so long, I’m so used to it. Where the parentals wernt so much. It was a massive eye opener for them.

Once we made our way to the Pyramids and walked past all the guys haggling to sell their plastic pyramids or wanting to sell us a camel ride we saw the world wonder that is the Giza Pyramids!

What an amazing site to share with your parents. What made it even more special is that it was a Flack famous photograph that was taken of Grandfather Stephen Flack, in a suit sitting on a wall with the Pyramids and the Sphinx in the back ground!

In whole, we spent about 2 hours walking around and admiring the many beautiful pyramids, we left around 1pm right in the middle of the day, where we were just holding on to our bottle of steam hoping that it may magically turn back to cold water!

When we got back to the lovely hotel room in the Swiss, beers and lunch were on the go. A cold beer didn’t last long in my hands!

After a very needed sleep, we got up relatively early and got a taxi back into Downtown Cairo. Today the Flack family were going to check out the Saladin Castel or the Cairo Citadel.

This is a beautiful building with the Muhammad Ali Mosque that we checked out, we also spent some time walking around the Military Museum.

It was getting around lunch time, so we had a quick bite to eat, and then headed near Tahir Square (where all the protests are going on) because we were going to see the Egyptian Museum. I went to the museum on my last visit to Cairo in 2009. And from then till now, the place wasn’t looking so amazing anymore. Which was disappointing, but I suppose this is what happens when a country undergoes a revolution. We spent a while in the museum checking out the mummies and Tutankhamen mask. After a while in the museum we headed back to the hotel where we just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Yeah we did a lot of relaxing… but I wasn’t complaining!

At night, we ventured out of our hotel, and went down town again, this time we were going to check out the Khan el-Khalili markets, It was very hustle and bustle, but it was bizarre… because it was kind of organised chaos. We spent a while in the markets just getting lost and enjoying ourselves until we got a bit hungry and decided to head back. We needed an early night as the next day we were flying out of Cairo in the early morning, and flying into Sharm El Sheik.

My time in Cairo was fantastic once again, but one thing I did notice, was how quiet everything was. Normally the Pyramids are packed with tourists, but when I went this time, there was hardly anyone there! And this was the same for all of Cairo! There were just a huge lack of tourists!

The flight from Cairo to Sharm El Sheik went very smoothly, I was pretty stoked as I was in business class! Because that’s how I roll these days!

I was very happy to be back in Dahab, and from the look on my parents faces, they were happy to be here!

The parents spent about 10 days in Dahab, where they did a lot of shopping and haggling for a good price, they even gave windsurfing a full of crack! Where by the end of the week, the both of them managed to sail out, and then back again which I was very impressed with! Not bad for the old guys! Teaching Mum was bloody hilarious! Even the guests on the beach found it very amusing! It was great!

Like most good things, their time eventually came to an end on at Saturday night, it was a sad good bye, but we chat most days so it’s not that bad!

It was a fantastic experience to have them here, and one that I won’t forget!

One of the best moments with them being here, was celebrating my 23^rd Birthday with them. It was a fantastic day, with a lovely meal!

Since they have left things have been good, I’ve been windsurfing most days and learning new stuff all the time!

So until next time!

Stay classy!

Lots of love!

A slightly older Steve Flack J