After our UNIWORLD riverboat docked in Luxor, we flew back to Cairo and then to Sharm El Sheikh International Airport on the Asian side of Egypt. To say we were fagged and weary was an understatement; we were overwhelmed by all that we had previously experienced and the daily five a.m. wake up calls on the riverboat added to it.

After staying in Iligan City (an industrial town in the Southern part of the Philippines) for 3 weeks, I could really appreciate the simple things we Americans take for granted. Things like clean beautiful architecture, cemented roads, clean air, reliable internet access, free movie channels, reliable phone service, etc. We're really spoiled here in the U.S..