Day 2 Pyramids – Cairo You can have a nice lazy morning and go to the Pyramids around 10.00am via Pizza Hut and KFC. You can stare at the largest man-made structures in the world along with the many other tour groups off the Nile cruise boats and be in and out in half an hour. This is how 95% of people visit the Pyramids. I always hear the same comments after doing such a trip. "That was not what I expected, I thought the Pyramids were out in the desert somewhere, not next to all this. That was a real disappointment."

15 years ago, my wife Penny and myself saw the Pyramids in a very different way. We hung out with some students who lived nearby and at around 4.00am three horses appeared as they heard Penny as an equestrian. We galloped off into the desert with no idea of where we were going, following our guide. After a mile or two we came over the brow of a hill and saw one of the most amazing sights of my life – the biggest triangular silhouette you've ever seen came looming out of nowhere! It was amazing. We rode around the Pyramids without another person in sight.

I still remember that moment we saw the Pyramids rise out of the desert from nowhere, and have put together a program that gives you a similar experience.

You ride for 10 minutes through the old town seeing people getting their horses and camels ready for the coming day's tourists along with children going off to school and people going about their daily business.

You turn a corner and go through the back door to the pyramids, your guide from Tarek's stable deals with the gate keepers requests for baksheesh. You move out into open desert. If your a rider you can gallop off here and ride around in the desert any where you want, keeping an eye on where the ones who don't ride are and the guide.

Through the back streets of Giza we go in search of the open desert

You can take as long as you like walking around the pyramids. Depending on what day it is, you can go inside one of the three large pyramids right down into the middle of the structure, if you can handle the claustrophobia and heat that is.

As the crowds begin to arrive, if you chose not to go inside one of the pyramids, you venture into the building that looks like a huge desktop printer next to the largest pyramid. Inside is the oldest boat in the world. rasha will take you around and explain in detail how and why it was built. It also has clean toilets, the only ones available in the pyramids complex.

After looking around the three main pyramids, you walk down to the Sphinx and with no rush, when you have had enough time, you walk back out into the main street and a short distance back to Tarek's stables that are now buzzing with activity.

You leave the Pyramids around 12.00pm with Rasha in the same people carrier you arrived in so you can leave your bags etc in there. You head back into Cairo. Your next stop is the Knan Al Khalili Bazaar in the ancient Islamic part of Cairo but you will stop at a traditional Cairo restaurant Rasha recommends for lunch before getting to the market that has clean toilets. You will need to pay for this lunch as it is too complicated for me to get Rasha to pay for it. It doesn't cost much and it gives you the choice to have what you want. Once your all refreshed, you are dropped off a mile or so away from the Knan Al Khalili market and stroll through the non-touristy streets to get a real feel of old city and what life was like here in medieval times. Rasha train for 4 years in Egyptian antiquities and will be able to answer your questions and islamic life here from the beginning, up to the present day.

Islamic Cairo has more Islamic monuments than any other city in the world and most of them are right here in the old city, all around you, giving you a real feel of medieval life. We stroll along the street in no hurry, stopping for tea or a juice from the local juice bars and using when needed the not-so-clean toilets dotted around the markets.

A workshop that invited us in for a look around and tea

After tea you head off into the various markets were there are all sort of things for sale and depending on what you are looking for and depending on where we go. We have our own shop in Siwa and have wholesale prices agreed with some of the shops for jewelry and silver in the Knan Al Khalili, so you can get some good deals on certain items from us, but it's more fun to do your own haggling and buy it here.

Most of the items sold in the bazaar are not high quality and it takes a good eye to spot the difference. You can practice your bargaining skills and test your eye for an unusual antique or just walk around and take it all in if your not in the mood for shopping.

You can spend as long as you like in the Kala Khalili market. Once you have had your fill, Rasha will telephone the car and your picked up and taken back to the Victoria Hotel. It's a big day out, but a memorable one. In the evening you have dinner included in the cost at the Victoria Hotel, if you wish to eat out in one of the many good restaurants in Cairo which we highly recommend, we will reimburse you the price for the set menu at the Victoria when you arrive in Siwa. It's up to you. Obviously if I am not with you I cannot pay for your dinner if you eat out of the hotel. If you are a large group, I sometimes come up to Cairo and join you for this part of the tour and so can obviously deal with paying for dinner out if I am there. As a lot of our groups are between 2 and 5 people it keeps the cost of the tour down if I do not join you in Cairo. Remember any bars or clubs you visit in Cairo will not be included in the ' all inclusive' costs, but I am happy to recommend where to go if you want to experience the Cairo night life. This is the only thing that is not included in the price.

Day 3 Traveling to Siwa Around 8.00am, depending on when you want to leave, your driver appears at the hotel and your bags are all collected and put into the people carrier ready for your journey. You can stop whenever and wherever you want. Around lunchtime you pass the Commonwealth War Graves at El Alamain. It's a moving place, and reading the stories of each solder lost in the battle here, which they say changed the course of the Second World War, makes your reflect and imagine what it was like.

If I am traveling with you, lunch is included in the price in a great local restaurant with grilled chicken, salad and some sort of pies. I have no idea what they are, but they taste great! If I am not with you and you want to go for a swim in the Mediterranean your driver will stop at a 5 star resort called Charm Life for an hour or so break. As long as you buy a round of drinks they are happy for you to use their facilities but they do a great buffet lunch for around 120 EGP per person. Any costs at Charm Life is down to you.

You follow the Mediterranean coast down to Marsa Matrouh were you turn left and spend the afternoon driving through the remotest place you have probably ever been. You enter the Sahara Desert where you start to realise... your really are going Somewhere Different.

The road to Siwa is very good and comfortable to travel on, you can read a book whilst driving along. The desert here is vast and as you stare out of the window and see the camels grazing at the side of the road you can image traveling to Siwa like Alexandria the Great. you can stop for tea in the Bedouin tea house half way and normally sleep for the rest of the journey.

Day 5 The Sights – Siwa In the morning everyone can do their own thing, go swimming in the springs, sandboarding on the edge of the desert in the jeep, walk around town or mingle with the neighbours in the Shali.

At around 2.00pm, Omar who works for the local antiquities department and who speaks very good English meets us at the Siwa Villa and we all take off in the jeep(s) for a private tour of the sights of Siwa.

The pharonic tombs have mummies and paintings inside Mountain of the Dead has been the burial ground for Siwa for 5,000 years. There are hundreds of tombs here, several dating back to the pharonic times. The mummies inside still have their original hair and are an amazing sight.

Dinner will be at the Siwa Villa or in a restaurant of your choice in town, depending on how you feel.

Nasser's jeep can take us deep into the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert

We head out into the Great Sand Sea for some serious dune hopping. We have discovered some very interesting places out in the desert that we like to keep a secret so as to not publicise their locations to other desert travelers. Some of the fossils, mummies and petrified forests are in danger of becoming extinct (again) due to people taking home the fossils as souvenirs.

We insist that, were there are rare fossils, people do not take any home, there are places where we will take you where it's perfectly OK to take some shells or fossilized leaves as there are many of them.

Siwa is one of the best places on earth to sand board. We have the biggest dunes!

After a day of exploring the desert and flying over some very big dunes we set up camp under a large dune for protection against the wind.

Mohammad sets all the tents up ( if there is room for him to come with us) and Nasser sets about cooking the evening meal. You are required to do nothing but sip on a cold beer or climb to the top of the dune to see the sunset.

Day 7 Day off – Siwa On the way back to Siwa in the morning we pass by Bira Wahed to have a soak in the hot and cold springs right out in the desert. Bira Wahed gets very busy so this is the best time to visit when no one is around.

Day 8 Siwa – Baharyia Early start with Nasser arriving around 8.00am at the Siwa Villa. Mohammad packs all your bags on the roof rack and makes sure you have not left anything behind.

We make sure all the passports and permissions for the 420 km desert crossing to Baharyia are all correct and off you go.

Day 9 Baharyia – Cairo In the morning before setting off to Cairo, you go to see the two 'must sees' in Baharyia. The Golden Mummies that were discovered by a boy walking along with his donkey – the donkey fell into a small hole in the ground and over 10,000 mummies were discovered. The mummy room has over 15 mummies on display. The other 'must see' is the pharonic tombs on the edge of town that, due to only being recently discovered, are some of the best examples of painted pharonic tombs in Egypt and definitely worth the climb down a long stairway deep into the Centrex of the tomb to see them.

After visiting the mummies and tombs, we head back to the hotel were our people carrier will be waiting for us. Cairo is a three hour journey from Baharyia and so as long as we get off in good time, you will have the whole afternoon available in Cairo to visit the Egyptian Museum.

Egyptian Museum in Cairo is huge and well worth the visit.

The Egyptian museum is massive. It has more ancient artifacts that any other museum in the world. It really is worth the trip. Entrance fees for the museum are included the cost of hiring a guide for an hour to show us around and fill us in on some interesting facts about each of the main exhibits. Due to the large increase in cost, the Mummy Room is now not included in our tour price and so will be up to you if you wish to enter it. It is a very small part of the museum and it is not necessary for you to have an amazing experience. The entire Tutankhamun exhibition is included in the standard museum entry ticket and is the highlight of the museum.

Day 10 Departure – Cairo Depending on when your flights are, you can go sight seeing or hang out in the markets again, whichever you like, and then off you go. There is no budget for monument fees or car on this day as most people fly with BA, which leaves at 6.30am so there is not much time for anything except a good breakfast at the Victoria Hotel before jumping into the people carrier and heading out to the airport and back to reality!

The above itinerary has been tried and tested and has a good balance of lots of adventure combined with relaxing days to take it all in. Due to Somewhere Different only catering for private groups, we can add in additional days to the itinerary at any stage, so if you would like to stay in Siwa for another four days or in Cairo for an extra day at the beginning or end of the trip we can add them in and give you the cost for each additional day at the planning stage, Cairo is the most expensive place to stay and Siwa, due to us owning the Siwa Villa there, the least expensive.

To make enquires about this tour please go to the All Inclusive Holiday form and let us know you are interested in the 'Western Desert & Siwa Safari' holiday, a rough idea of dates that would suit you, the number of people in your group and any additional days you would be interested in adding to the tour. I can then look at flights and specific dates and provide you with a total cost for the tour. Click here to view our other All inclusive holidays to Egypt.