Concert Review: CMC ROCKS FESTIVAL (Day 1), Ipswich, QLD, Australia

What’s the country music scene like Down Under? I decided to find out by heading to the biggest country music festival in the Southern Hemisphere, CMC Rocks, held every year at Willowbank Raceway in Ipswich, QLD, just outside of Brisbane. After a shuttle ride from the station, I arrived at the site which was pretty much a city in itself. I wandered past all of the delicious (if overpriced) food stalls, the Ariat store selling cowboy boots and hats, the merchandise store with a line winding its way out of the entrance as punters tried to get out of the blazing sunshine, and the two huge stages right in the middle.

First up on the Main Stage was young Canadian singer Tenille Townes, whose excited and chatty nature was a great way to kick things off. She played a mix of original songs including latest single Somebody’s Daughter, as well as a few covers including U2’s Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For and Keith Urban’s Love Somebody. Having this mix worked well in her favour as even those of us who hadn’t been familiar with her before were able to sing along and enjoy the show.

We then switched to the smaller Stampede Stage for Aussie Aleyce Simmonds. I appreciated that the festival had made an effort to support local artists as well as Nashville stars, as well as ensuring variety between acts. Aleyce was quite different to Tenille, being on the more ‘twangy’ side of country as she performed songs which had been hits on the Country Music Channel (CMC) such as Only On My Terms with its uplifting ‘stick up for yourself’ type lyrics, Rejected, Mighty Mighty Love and a cover of Pink’s Try.

Next was The Sisterhood Band, who I was excited to see having seen them perform at Nashville Meets London, and who had a great introduction by the MC at CMC Rocks, being described as ‘two kickass bad girls who like tequila and are going to melt your face off.’ Indeed, they certainly put in a good effort, starting off with the rock-fuelled Walk Away, both girls showing off the musical DNA running through their veins, being the daughters of Rod Stewart and members of 80s country music group Baillie and the Boys.

If you walked in at this point, you might indeed think that you’d arrived at a rock concert as The Sisterhood showed off vocals that would put Steven Tyler to shame on tracks like Thirteen, Closing In From Miles Away, Half Way, and some new tracks they wanted to try out on the crowd including Bullet, Get Up And Go, and Anywhere With You. Whilst not necessarily what my mind goes to when I think of country music, I really did enjoy the duos high energy set and am sure the rest of the crowd did too.

We had another Aussie in the form of Imogen Clark who was certainly a lot more country than the last. She played a bunch of upbeat pop tracks like Late Night Girl and a few ballads like slow-dance track You’ll Only Break My Heart. As any good country artist should, she told us about the stories behind some of her songs too, like High Tide, inspired by a poem her mum had penned about people experiencing life differently based on how empathetic they are.

By this point the sky had changed and the temperature dropped just in time for 6 time Grammy winner Brandy Clark to take to the Main Stage, wind whipping her hair as she performed a number of her satirical songs like Big Day In A Small Town, My Favourite Lie, Love Can Go To Hell, Get High, You’re Drunk. I wasn’t familiar with her music before this festival – or so I thought – only realising once I had left that she had co-written some of the greatest songs to hit country music, including Miranda Lambert’s Mama’s Broken Heart, The Band Perry’s Better Dig Two and Kacey Musgraves beautiful Late To The Party. A very talented lady indeed!

And then, the skies opened – and I mean weather as you’d never seen it before. The show was stopped as a severe weather warning was called out over the speaker system and we all ran for cover as the torrential rain pelted down and the wind ripped gazebos off their feet. I was supposed to have an interview at this point, but the huge cracks of lightning right outside the media trailer (which, in its tin can form, was no doubt very attractive to lightning) scared me right out of it and on top of a picnic table outside as the ground began to flood. It went on, and on, and on. Two hours later, and it was deemed safe for the show to go on, although Danielle Bradbery and Lindsay Ell’s set had to be cut.

We continued right on with Ashley McBryde, punters certainly a lot muddier than they’d been a few hours ago. I saw a lot of similarities between Ashley and Brandy in terms of their singing styles, although Ashley opted for a more serious route with songs about drug abuse (Living Next To Leroy), adultery (American Scandal) and the ever heartwarming ‘believe in yourself’ track Girl Goin’ Nowhere. Then the storm returned.

Knowing that I would see all of the acts on the remainder of the days bill at some other point throughout the weekend, and not particularly in the mood for hypothermia/saturation/electrocution/ruined electronics, I hedged my bets and decided the best action at that point was to return home and pray for better weather tomorrow. The show did continue in spite of the inclement weather, with the rain finally easing off as Luke Combs sang When It Rains, It Pours. How ironic.

I hope you enjoyed today's review! Make sure to leave me a message in the comments and follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry for even more reviews and interviews coming soon - thanks for reading!

TRAVEL: Nile Cruise, Egypt (Part 5) - on the river & Egyptian life

Before you start, make sure to read my last Egypt blog here! 

As our boat made its way back upstream, we awoke one morning in Komombo for the most dreaded day of the trip for me, the nothing day. We had nothing planned, so would be forced to relax for a whole 24 hours. Luckily, whilst the boat was moored for the other group to visit the temple, we were free to get off the boat if we so wished. Eager at any chance to be doing something, I set off for a walk along the street. Quite honestly, there was nothing there, perhaps why the tour guides take you straight off the ship to the site, and then right back on. 

The two Discover Egypt guides, Essam and Mohamed, had arranged for a Q&A on Modern Egypt in the Lounge bar for anyone who was interested, so about ten of the thirty or so guests showed up. Most of the questions asked revolved around politics or terrorism, which I didn't think really represented Egypt to the full and must have been difficult for the guides to answer. I can only imagine how infuriating it is to have a whole religion conflated with terrorist activity and be expected to answer questions as to why such extremists exist in situations like this, and wished there had been more questions on the culture of modern Egypt itself.

The day continued with some reading (plenty of books are necessary for trips like this) and swimming as we cruised upstream before docking in Edfu. Again, we rushed off the ship to take advantage of dry land, but regretted it soon after. I found the main streets of Edfu to be dirty, smelly, polluted and hot, although granted they can't do much about that last one. Garbage was everywhere and the hot weather made it reek, coupled with the exhaust fumes from the tuk tucks that scooted along the streets. Feeling like I couldn't breathe was not the most pleasant of experiences, although this did improve slightly as we walked through the market. 

We were stared at by quite a lot of the people, as I imagine locals don't tend to see tourists out for a walkabout, as they're usually whisked away by horse and carriage to the temple and back without interacting with anyone. I found it quite nice that we were greeted in a friendly manner by plenty of people saying hello and wishing us a good morning (even thought it was the afternoon), although must admit that given the pushy nature of most of the people we'd come into contact with at tourist sites were sceptical as to whether they wanted to sell us something, although this only happened a few times. 

Pleased to be away from the pollution, we made our way back to the boat along side roads and returned to our relaxation. As I returned to my room after sunset, Essam caught myself and some of the other group members to answer our questions on culture, including what he would be doing if he wasn't a tour guide (a journalist, but it's too hard to find jobs if you don't have the connections), whether most women work (no, but that is partly due to high unemployment in the country as a whole), whether those working for instance as farmers strived for more (everyone will always want more), what they thought of tourists effectively stripping off into their bikinis on top of boats given the conservative nature of the country (they understand we are tourists and it is not our custom), what would happen if a girl refused to wear a hijab after the age of twelve (she would be explained the religious reasons as to why she has to wear it), and whether arranged marriages are common as they were in Jordan (yes, although in a slightly different manner - Essam is married to his cousin so he knew her beforehand and asked his mother to speak to his uncle to arrange a marriage). Very informative, and gave me a better view as to what life is really like in Egypt. 

Dinner was another Egyptian do for the benefit of the new arrivals to the ship, so plenty more insensitive (IMHO) outfits to be found. Dinner was interrupted at about 8pm as we went through a lock on the Nile, lining up two boats at a time, entering through one gate, sinking as the water level decreased, and leaving through the other gate on a lower elevation that we'd arrived. An interesting sight to see indeed.

I figured this was also where we'd picked up our boat buddies a few days ago as another boat (potentially the same one) attached itself to our side and hurled scarves and other embroidered goods up to the top level, almost into the swimming pool! I wondered what they would have done had their goods not been returned... And then for our final full day on the boat, coming soon to the blog!

I hope you enjoyed today's travel blog! I'll be back with more very soon so make sure to stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry, and drop me a message in the comments below with any comments or questions you may have about my adventures - thanks for reading!

Concert Review: CMA SONGWRITERS SERIES 2019 (Cam, Jimmie Allen, Travis Denning, Laura Veltz, Ross Copperman), Indigo at the O2, London

*Scroll down for a photo gallery of the event!*

The evening started with a promise by Burning House legend Cam that this would be the best night of C2C. High expectations, but I was willing to believe it. As host, she was joined on stage by country songwriters and performers Jimmie Allen, Travis Denning, Laura Veltz and Ross Copperman.

Looking flawless in a silver sequined dress and rainbow shirt, Cam kicked things off with Diane. She began by explaining that this was song she had written in response to one of her friends being cheated on. As her friend never got an apology from the ‘other woman’, Cam wrote herself into the woman’s shoes to become Diane as she sings “I promise I didn’t know he was your man / I would have noticed a gold wedding band / I’d rather you hate me than not understand.” Her killer vocals had already got us all hooked.

Cam introduced Laura amidst a shower of well-deserved compliments about Laura’s ability to write hit songs, to which she responded that she was thrilled to have had the chance to do press today (that’s me! Interview coming soon!) which made her feel like a real star. Her story began that she had scheduled a writing session with Josh Osborne, and upon walking in, revealed that she’d “got a little drunk last night.” Any guesses as to what the outcome was? Eli Young Band’s Drunk Last Night, of course! It felt amazing to hear these songs as they were no doubt originally sung when the ideas were being tossed around by the songwriters.

Travis received the simple introduction of “Y’all, this is Travis,” to which he jumped in to explain that his first song was about a guy and a girl, jokingly adding how proud he was to be bringing that concept to country music. This song was After A Few, which he began singing with his fabulous Southern Drawl. Halfway through, he stopped after a bum note to apologise for his sinus infection impacting his vocal chords. Such an intimate setting was important for things like this, as no doubt at any other concert the crowd would’ve just thought he couldn’t sing. Travis proved us wrong!

Cam moved on to introduce Jimmie as someone who “always has a smile on his face and love to give” – what a nice introduction! I’ll need help explaining his story as he started by saying he was a huge Disney fan and loved Peter Pan, and then jumped into a song called American Heartbreaker. I wasn’t quite sure of the link, but maybe you can help? Regardless, it was clear that a lot of people in the audience loved him, so he was a great addition to the bill.

Ross was next, this being his first time back in the UK for 10 years, who played for us Kenny Chesney’s Setting The World On Fire, again lovely to hear the song as it would have originally been played.

We were then back to Cam and a song she wrote with Sam Smith called Palace, about how you create a house, a life, a palace, for yourself and the person you’re with, which can sometimes end in ruins no matter how hard you try. The song was filled with super high notes that only Cam and Sam Smith could reach – funny how you could tell the song was written by and for particular artists.

Laura followed up by showering Cam with compliments, explaining that if anyone sang Palace on The Voice, they’d just have to win. She told us her next song was a goofy one, and one they’d tried to stick as many swear words into as possible. The result was Maren Morris’ Rich, which if you listen closely, you’ll hear Laura as the ‘kaching kaching’s on the track!

Travis moved on to one of his favourite songs, Michael Ray’s Her World Or Mine, which was almost moving me to tears with its sensitive lyrics and beautiful guitar.

Jimmie told us that he’d met someone outside who had requested he play a particular song, and launched into Shallow from A Star Is Born, only to stop after few lines, much to the chagrin of the audience who would have loved to have heard it! But alas, this was the Songwriters Series and was supposed to be about songs written by themselves, so instead Jimmie sang Make Me Want To, about catching feelings for someone too fast and wanting to tell them you love them. With its lyrics about long legs and cut-off jeans, the type of which I think ought to be phased out of the genre, this was a bit too much bro-country for me.

For some reason, Ross decided to start his next section by making some political comments about the US and the UK – perhaps not his best decision, and so he swiftly moved on to sing Keith Urban’s John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16, getting back in favour with the crowd by substituting the John’s for John Lennon, John Cleese and Elton John.

We had a surprise in store for us next as Cam invited UK country act Ward Thomas onto the stage to accept the John Walker Award for exceptional acts outside the US. They were then convinced to sing Cartwheels, which I think they did very well given no prior warning. Cam followed on with My Mistake, explaining that she had grown up in the era of Sex & The City where if women wanted to succeed, they basically had to act like men, down to how they managed their relationships. Thus lyrics like “He’ll be gone before the morning light / But he’s my mistake to make, all night” were born.

Laura exemplified what we were all thinking as she said she was such a fan of Cam (aren’t we all?) before moving on to a song that had been moved around from the likes of Carrie Underwood before ending up with Kane Brown called Live Forever, again full of lovely lyrics. Jimmie said that it was his 4 year olds favourite song, and I can see why.

Travis moved on to his version of a love song that he’d written with Devin Dawson, who had come to him with the title Snakes and Needles. How does one work with a title like that? Well, you’ll just have to ask Travis because they created an actually brilliant song about not being afraid of the likes of snakes and needles, only afraid of losing ‘you’. Songwriting at it’s finest, really.

The inspiration kept on flowing as Jimmie introduced Warrior, written about his mother and his grandmother, whose scarf he keeps in his back pocket. It was such an emotional song that the woman next to me was brought to tears, and Laura aptly followed up by saying that when she had started writing back in 2008, had she presented such an emotional song to any male artist it would have been turned down, so she was proud that Jimmie was leading the charge of male artists performing vulnerable songs.

Ross took a moment to speak about a question he was asked in press today, about one question he never gets asked (I asked it!) – and his answer was his wife, who inspires much of his music, including the Dierks Bentley recorded Woman, Amen. There’s something about being mentioned on stage that makes your heart happy, so thank you Ross for sharing that with the audience!

We got another surprise with new Cam music, this time a song written with Lori McKenna about thinking you’re over someone, but thoughts of them creep back into your mind, just as smoke does sometimes in a non-smoking hotel room. This song is Forgetting You When I’m Alone, a beautiful, beautiful track that quite frankly I think could rival Burning House. You heard it here first!

I found Laura to be quite amusing, and she showed this again as she introduced her ‘job security song’, explaining that even if she never wrote another good song, this could pay her bills for the rest of her life. She’s not wrong, as she launched into Dan & Shay’s Speechless, aka everyone’s new favourite wedding song. I was well impressed that she was reaching those high notes only Shay Mooney can hit, so props to you Laura!

Travis’ next story was an interesting one, about how a friend of his had picked up an ID he found on the floor in a bar which looked a little like Travis. Somehow this turned into a great song, David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs, the namesake of which actually appeared in Travis’ music video for the song. Plot twist though – the man’s real name was Ashley David Parker, but Travis liked the way it sounded the other way round. The more you know! I couldn’t help but think that Travis sounded a lot like Jason Aldean, so if he follows Aldean’s trajectory, who knows how far he’ll go!

Jimmie began his final song by explaining that he’d previously worked as the likes of a trash collector and janitor until he made it in the music business, and that that should be reason enough for anyone to pursue their dreams, particularly given how popular Jimmie has since become since he released Best Shot, which he played for us now. He stopped after the first chorus to run upstairs and play for all those in the balcony, a nice touch (even if he was a little breathless!)

Ross told us that he had wanted to write a song that made an impact, and so working with Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally, ended up with Kenny Chesney’s Get Along, a true anthem about learning to live with each other.

And before we knew it, we’d made it to the end of the night with just one song left. No guessing which one it might be, but you might not know the full story being Cam’s Burning House. In a very vulnerable moment, she shared that the song had actually been inspired by a time that she’d broken up with someone in the worst way possible – over email, and not only that, but the very day before he was due to visit her in Nepal. Naturally, she knew that it had been a very hurtful thing to do, so found herself wanting to offer him a real apology the next time she saw him. In the days before this happened, she found herself dreaming about him trapped in a burning house, and how in the dream, she went inside and laid down beside him. Years later, she found someone else who had had the same dream, explaining that it relates to some things that you just can’t fix. So there you have it, the true story behind one of the most beautiful songs ever created. I will never listen to Burning House and not be moved, and hearing it live in that still room was a truly special moment.

Well, the rest of C2C is still ahead of me, but as of now, I will agree with Cam that the CMA Songwriters Series will be a night that will be hard to beat. If you ever have the chance to listen to songwriters perform live, please, please do, as they are some of the most fascinating and kind people in the world. I look forward to hearing much more from them in the future!

I hope you enjoyed today's review! Interviews with Travis, Ross and Laura, plus full day-by-day reviews of C2C Country 2 Country will be posted soon, so make sure to stay tuned to the blog and my Twitter @CiarasCountry for all of that. Thanks for reading!

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Concert Review: KEITH URBAN, O2 Forum Kentish Town, London

*Scroll down for a photo gallery of the event!*

It’s rare enough that we get big name country music acts coming to play this side of the pond, let alone playing an intimate show, but this year Keith Urban decided to treat us to his first UK show in 12 years (?!) ahead of his headlining gig at C2C. With a capacity of 2,300, the O2 Forum Kentish Town isn’t the smallest venue, but certainly a lot more intimate than the 10x that arena shows he’s used to playing.

Opening act was new kid on the block Kerri Watt who, in her block coloured leotard and white boots, exuded 60s vibes. Her musical style was certainly on the rockier side of the country scene with songs like Cut Me Loose, Kissing Fools, and Can’t Catch Me, although we did have a brief interlude into more country material with the Jessie, full of guitar strums and storytelling lyrics. It seemed to me that she wasn’t too sure of what to do on stage as she sang, but no doubt gigs like this and her upcoming C2C slots will help to build her confidence in this respect.

We were no doubt breaking all kinds of fire safety rules, crammed into the O2 Forum with little room to breathe, but such a large crowd meant a great welcome for Keith as he appeared in silhouette form to humungous cheers. We kicked off with Never Coming Down, Keith already showing off his insane guitar skills, the likes of which I had only seen before with John Mayer.

Song number two came in with something of a throwback in the form of Days Go By, and I was surprised to see this was a song that some concert-goers weren’t familiar with, guessing that they must have picked him up in later albums (Ripcord being my best, in my humble opinion!) I, for one, was thrilled that Keith picked and chose from across his whole career.

He carried on with Comin Home, featuring a video clip of Julia Michaels rocking out to her part while Keith looked effortlessly cool on stage. If there was ever a man made to perform, I think I’ve found him. It was at this point that Keith took a moment to say hello, shouting out “London, we finally made it back!” and indeed, it certainly had taken him longer than expected to make it back. I only started going to concerts back in 2009, and yet this was the very first time I was able to see him!

The intimate setting seemed to have Keith in a more chatty mood than I imagine he’ll be at C2C, inviting a fan who was at his last show back in 2007 on stage for a photo and just talking free-form as he moved about the stage. It’ll be interesting to see how this compares to Friday night’s show (the review of which will also be posted on this blog!)

We moved on to one of my favourite tracks, Somewhere In My Car, it becoming completely obvious that Keith was leading the show and could well have done it singlehandedly. Whilst some artists rely heavily on their band members, Keith was 100% the lead guitarist and could easily have carried the show on his own (although the band were fantastic in their own right, as Keith made sure to highlight to us throughout the show by having each member come forward and perform for us.)

We hit another throwback with feel-good roadtrip song Long Hot Summer followed by the beautiful Parallel Line, which I encourage you to consider for your first dance wedding song! We carried on with Put U In A Song and Fly With Me, Keith extending his arms towards the crowd to draw them in. At this point, the rest of the band exited the stage and we were left with just Keith and his acoustic guitar. The crowd hushed as he played Stupid Boy and Love Somebody, Keith turning the mic towards the crowd to hear us all sing. What a special moment!

Another special moment occurred when Keith asked us to imagine what would happen if a blackout hit the venue – how would we light up the stage? Cue the sea of phone lights which did a great job of illuminating Keith and the band as we moved onto Good Thing and the super poppy Love The Way It Hurts.

We hit ballad city at this point with Blue Ain’t Your Colour, which somehow provoked a few members of the audience to get aggressive – I wasn’t aware that such a song could provoke rage in some people! But Keith dealt very well with the scuffle by playing the calming Making Memories Of Us, practically whispering into the microphone at one point.

I loved hearing the super fun Droptop, accompanied by a VT of Kassi Ashton rocking out to her part, which was followed by Keith freezing on stage (I genuinely thought time had stopped) as we transitioned to Cop Car. I’ll always be impressed by this song as it’s hardly a topic that would normally inspire great songwriting, but somehow it works!

Kerri Watt returned to the stage to fill in for Carrie Underwood for The Fighter, during which time Keith made his way into the centre of the crowd (what is it with artists doing that recently? Check out my reviewof Dan & Shay who did the same!) firstly for a duet with the full crowd on that track, and then for an insane 10 minute medley of some of his greatest hits including Kiss A Girl, Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me, You Look Good In My Shirt, and even a bit of Post Malone’s Jackie Chan.

He stopped to explain that since we’d given him all this time and energy to watch him perform, he wanted to give something back, something real. This turned out to be his very own guitar, which one lucky girl in the audience got to take home with her! I mean, c’mon, how can you not like this guy?

I love it when a set feels long, and by this point I felt like I’d been watching Keith play for hours, and could easily have continued to do so for hours to come. Back on the stage, we picked up the pace with Gone Tomorrow Here Today and John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16 before finishing the set with Wasted Time. I don’t think I’d ever sang or danced as much at any concert before.

Everyone left the stage, the faint glow of a sign proclaiming ‘Keith Urban’ projected on the back as we stamped our feet and chanted “Keith! Keith! Keith!” We jumped into an encore of You’ll Think Of Me and Horses, ending on a complete and utter high. The band took a well deserved bow, and off they went to get ready for the slew of concerts still to come. Keith, meanwhile, jumped straight off the stage and began walking through, shaking hands and signing things. What a man. I can’t wait to do it all again this weekend!

I hope you enjoyed today’s review! I have loads and loads more country related content coming soon, including full coverage of C2C (with Keith as headliner!) and plenty of interviews and reviews. Stay tuned to @CiarasCountry on Twitter and this blog to find out more. Thanks for reading! 

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TRAVEL: Nile Cruise, Egypt (Part 4) - Abu Simbel Temple

Before you start, make sure to read my last Egypt blog here! 

 I've never been good at mornings, but at 4am on one of the mornings of our Nile Cruise, I received my wake up call and dragged myself out of bed to the coach. A promised three hour journey lay ahead of us, although it turned out this was actually more like four hours. We drove out of Aswan and through endless desert watching and waiting for the sun to rise. It's been a very long time since I've seen the sun rise (I'm not much of a morning person) and seeing it rise across the totally flat horizon of the desert was really something special, an clearly defined orange orb before the rays started to appear. 

After many many hours, we arrived at Abu Simbel, home to temples for Ramses III and his wife Nefertari. Ramses temple was impressive due to the four massive stone statues that sat outside the temple, and of course the stunning carvings that adorned the inside, showing offerings to various gods, and scenes from Ramses life including various wars and meetings with such gods. 

One of the most interesting carvings depicted Ramses in a chariot, but he had evidently been unhappy with how it had originally looked and asked for it to be corrected (I think he wanted to be depicted with bigger muscles by the looks of it!) As any good stonemason knows, carvings cannot simply be erased so this was quite a fruitless task, as they simply etched over it, leading to Ramses looking like he has four arms and his horse eight legs... Not quite what they were going for I'm sure. 

Another interesting structure was four statues inside of the temple depicting four gods. On two days of the year, October 21st and February 21st, the sunlight shines directly into the temple and lights up three of them, leaving one in darkness - the god of darkness. How clever! The other temple was of similar style but unique as it is one of only two temples dedicated to a queen, the other being to Nefertiti. 

And I haven't even gotten to the best bit. Like the temple on Philae, these massive temples were also moved to make way for the growing Lake Nasser as a result of the construction of the High Dam. It was an incredible feat of engineering that they deconstructed such intricate carvings and put them back together in a slightly different location, so cleverly done that you definitely wouldn't realise it had happened had you not been told. Very cool. 

In contrast to our almost eight hour round trip, the one and a half hours spent at the temple paled in comparison, plus we'd had to pay $85 extra for the excursion as it was not included as part of our Discover Egypt Nile Cruise. Worth it? I'm in two minds - it's a long way to travel, and tickets themselves only cost $8, so I'm not sure where the other $77 was going behind paying the driver and fuel. Nevertheless, who knows if I'll have the chance to return to Egypt again, so might as well do it while we're here! Plus, seeing some cyclists making their way across the desert in the middle of the day with nothing around for literally hundreds of miles was an experience in itself! 

Back on the boat, we had a late lunch and a little rest before walking down the street to pick up a felucca, a famous African boat controlled only by sails and no engine. We spent a pleasant hour and a half cruising very slowly up towards the Movenpick hotel and back. Aswan does seem to have one of the most picturesque parts of the Nile that we've docked in, and this is partly due to the lovely view of feluccas gently drifting back and forth. We also had entertainment on board in the form of four young boys who sailed up to us atop a surfboard and started serenading us with their own versions of Frere A Jacques and the Macarena. A lovely way to spend the afternoon. 

As we'd reached as far down the river as we were going to go, the boat collected a new group of guests who would effectively be doing the same route we had done up until this point, but in reverse - from Aswan back to Luxor. Thus, in the middle of the night, the boat began its journey back up the river for our final days on the river, coming soon to the blog!

I hope you enjoyed today's travel blog! I'll be back with more very soon so make sure to stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry, and drop me a message in the comments below with any comments or questions you may have about my adventures - thanks for reading!