Cowardly Lion

With just eleven days on the ol' egypt-counting clock i'm starting to get really nervous. If it wasn't for Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space travel company, there wouldn't have been a further destination for me to go.

"You're right, I am a coward! I haven't any courage at all! I even scare myself." -Cowardly Lion, Wizard of Oz

I'm travelling to a country that is renowned for it's terrorist links. Where newspapers are frequented with headlines of "Tourists the target of Cairo bomb" and "Islamic group claims Cairo bombing" but with terrorism in our backyards these days i guess what difference does it make if im wandering through Paddy's Markets, Haymarket or Khan el-Khalili, Cairo.



I'm travelling to a country where the respect for woman is non-existent. Where 85% of the female population has been circumcised. Where the wife is not equal to the man and should not be seen smoking or drinking. Where female tourists are depicted as prostitutes and are taunted and touched by other Egyptian males.



I'm travelling to a country 10855 miles away on my little ownsome for a month. I'll have noone to bounce questions off if i don't know what im doing....ok so thats most of the time. I'll have noone to laugh at my insanely witty and hilariously funny sense of humour ;-)...except for me. Most importantly, i will have noone to give me a cuddle when i get homesick and sooky...and no, Achmed the rug merchant's advances will not count.


So please get me started on flying. Why is it flying down the freeway on the back of my motorbike with nothing between me and the skin biting, bone breaking bitumen road put's a cheesy smile on my dial and yet being in tombed in a cylindrical pressurised tincan hurtling through the sky at 400km's per hour is enough to put my stomach in my throat and imprints of my sweaty palms in the arm rests...Hmm.. when i put it like that who can blame me really.

I'm sure its normal to be getting a little bit nervy ...and you know, i'm sure its normal that my nerves are affecting my sleep. Oh and I'm sure its normal that this pre-holiday stress is causing me to have a stomach ulcer.



But HEY, i love travelling!!!!