'The Adventure of a Lifetime' by Rosie Pugh

My journey to Snowdonia for a workshop was an event that would prepare me for the adventure of a lifetime. I was taken to the bottom of a slate quarry and then I had to walk to the top. It was very, very steep and I had to walk over broken slates. It was made more difficult as I was, at the time, recovering from ME; but I managed with the support of the group I was with. When I reached the top we had to enter a large, dark cave in single file. I had to learn to trust the person in front and have confidence in myself. It was hard. The journey was fearful and had to be completed in complete darkness except for the beam from a tiny light. Finally we reached the centre of the cave that was lit with tiny, tea-light candles. It was amazing. We had reached our destination.
I was unaware, at the time, that I was training for an adventure that would take place years later in Egypt in September 2003.
I travelled to Egypt with a party of thirty-nine and there was only one person I knew, the lady who organised the trip. I did not know the history of Egypt but was open-minded to the experience. We flew from Heathrow to Cairo, stayed one night at the Sheraton Heliopolis Hotel, then in the morning we left by coach to Tel-el-Armana for the beginning of our desert adventure. First we had to pick up an army escort to take our coach through the desert. It was in case of bandits. I was thinking, ‘What on earth am I doing here?’ Believe me if I had known beforehand what I was going to be doing I don’t think I would have gone.
Eventually we left the coach and wandered the desert sands and felt the atmosphere of times long ago. The experience was breath taking. We travelled to many places: Minya, Luxor and sailed down the Nile. We went to the Great Temple of Abydos, the Temple of Knowledge built by SetiI and the Temple of Dendera dedicated to Hathor, Goddess of Love and Music.
Later, we travelled by train to Aswan. This allowed me to see how poor most of the people were, but how they worked together. They used water from the Nile; there were no fancy machines but there was something that looked like a hose pumping the water. The straw that was left from the harvest was used on roofs, walls and gates.
We travelled on to many places, but the big adventure was when we went into the Great Pyramid. We were there for two hours and had paid to have the pyramid to ourselves. We entered exactly as we did in the cave in Wales, one by one with only a torch each for light - so we had to trust the person in front. It was a steep climb and it was scary. It took a very long time, especially in the dark with only the light of little torches.
When we reached the top we entered through a small door that led into a small room with a tomb that was now empty. We celebrated, as it was a great achievement. Yet again I had conquered my fear. The history of ancient times could be felt all around us..
We arrived back at our hotel and my friend and I celebrated with a bottle of bubbly, coffee and a platter of fruit. We raised our glasses to the pyramids and the sphinx, as they were across the road from our suite. We saluted the ancient times of long ago.
What a feeling and an adventure I had!