I had the delightful experience of visiting my mother, Helene, and her husband, Moustafa, where they live in Sakkarah, Egypt in May, 2010.

Sakkarah is a village about 30 minutes from Maadi and 45 minutes from Cairo (depending on the traffic). I got to ride horseback in the desert, ride a camel, visit pyramids and other antiquities, visit villagers, eat delightful Egyptian food, and learn to say a few things in Arabic.

Here are some of my favorite videos and pictures from the trip.

Talking on Cell Phones in Dahab, Egypt

This one I love because it just tickles me. I love the way Moustafa laughs.

Camel Eating Trash from a Dumpster in the Sinai, Egypt - Part One

In the Sinai near the beach, the Bedouins let their camels roam free to forage...from the dumpsters. Mom says you don't want to mess with the Bedouin's camels. They know which ones are theirs. We even saw one eating a plastic bag. It could be a new solution to our pollution problems. :o)

You can hear Moustafa's Egyptian music playing in the background.

Part Two

Close-up of the same camel. The beach and the Red Sea are just beyond the line of buildings you see in the background.

Driving in the Village of Sakkarah

This is the only paved road in Sakkarah that I saw, and it's the through street to commute to Maadi or Cairo. It's a great video because it shows the huge variety of modes of transportation: donkey-back, donkey-drawn cart, horse-back, horsedrawn cart, motorcycles, tuk tuk (3 wheeled motorcycles named after the putting sound they reputedly make), cars, trucks, walking, and finally...camels. Stick with it to see the camels at the end and note the herd of goats at the beginning. The camels were my favorite part of the whole trip. They are enormous and amazing animals.

Rooftop View of Date Palms in Sakkarah, Egypt

View from the rooftop of Helene and Moustafa's home: date palms, the desert in the background, you can almost see the Old Step Pyramid of King Zoser through the trees. It's a great place for rooftop camping as a base of operations for touring the village of Sakkarah, horse-back rides, camel rides in the desert, visiting the Memphis museum, the Papyrus factory, the old Step Pyramid, the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid and a drive to the pyramids in Giza. To make reservations, visit www.ride-egypt.com

Bargaining in the Shops

Moustafa spent some time bargaining with the shopkeeper each time we made a purchase. Sometimes we would walk away and the shopkeeper would run after us. Sometimes we'd walk away and they wouldn't. I didn't get everything I wanted, but it was fun and turned out well. :o)

Mom and Moustafa on Horseback

Photo Slideshows

Although the trip was amazingly not interrupted by the volcanic ash clouds, it was cut short by the strike held by flight attendants for British Airways. I didn't get to ride the falluka sailboats on the Nile or make it the Great Pyramid and Sphinx at Giza... oh well, something to look forward to for the next visit.

I learned how to say "Behave yourself!" in Arabic and fortunately, I didn't need to use it much!

Something I was unable to capture in the photos is the crazy driving and traffic. It's a free-for-all. If I understood Moustafa correctly, there is only one speed limit and thats 100 km per hour. So basically people drive as fast as they can up to that limit. If there's a space, a car shoots into it. There's no concept of not tailgating. We got a scratched bumper and a serious dent added to the car during two separate incidents in the very short time I was visiting.

Everyone was friendly, helpful and very generous. It's an amazing place to go.

And for the commercial plugs... :o)

• I'd like to recommend the newly remodelled Sultana if you're looking for a place to stay in the Sinai near Nuweiba: Sultana Village Hotel
• And Helene and Moustafa would be delighted to have visitors, host your stay, show you around, take you horse-back riding. It's what they do for a living: Ride-Egypt.com THANKS MOM!!!

Happy traveling!