Desert Stars - 16 Hours Overnight Bus Continues | Cairo to Aswan

Overnight Bus to Aswan | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 3 (Part 23) 01D20

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

After the last stopover, our tour bus kept moving and the highways took us cutting through the desert. This was the first time I experienced skies full of stars in the middle of the desert. 

What I regret about this is that I was not able to take pictures or videos because the bus was in motion. I have never thought that stars can be that bright and skies can be so close to the earth.

It felt like the sky was falling over head and the stars looked like they could be touched by hand. The desert in the middle of nowhere, the pitch black surrounding, the skies, the bright desert stars above us - the whole environment felt like I was on a different planet.

I saw that my other tour mates were sleeping and they missed these unique moments, which they would probably never get another chance in life to observe.

The star-moments didn’t last too long. Very soon our route took us away from the desert and the stars were gone.

A little later, I started to see the sun coming out and the world outside started to unfold in the daylight. We were passing small towns and villages and I started seeing people on the street or outside their homes. The general population in this southern region seemed to be darker and have distinctive features.

We were supposed to go to our hotel first to freshen up, but we were already behind schedule so our tour guide decided to finish sightseeing first and then check in at the hotel.

We were heading to the airport to pick up our other tour mates who flew over, instead of taking the bus.

Real Estate In Belize

Do You want to buy, build or rent in Belize

Published Date : Nov 29, 2009

There is a great amount of interest from prospective real estate investors in the country of Belize, especially among those folks who are looking for retirement homes or basically people who want to relocate abroad to escape from the rat race they have known all their lives. Those in the know come back with information of how easy it is to acquire a home in Belize and even for those who do not want to buy, rent itself is so low you will not believe when people report rents of between $100 and $200 a month. And for the adventurous ones who want to build their dream homes, the cost of land is not anything people of this generation have heard of at anytime in their lives, only the very old can relate to the low figures.

Currently there are no restrictions to any foreigner who wants to acquire a piece of real estate in Belize and if anything there may actually be incentives to attract more people to come and own. Just like you would do when you want to buy a house any where else, investing in Belize should not be an exception where the rules are involved. You will realize that the rule that dictates the place of demand in determining prices applies even here. Many foreign investors want to buy houses next to the beach and for that reason the costs of such properties is obviously high. We have hundreds of people relocating from the United States, UK and even Canada and because they come with the dollars then you can expect the cost to rise dramatically.

You will need to come over armed with your good negotiating skills because these guys will take any chance to milk you out of all your cash if you are willing to pay any figure they are going to quote for the house you want to acquire or even rent. You know it appear to be fact all over the world the person who makes money in real estate is the buyer and not the seller so at any rate you have a deal when you buy. The experts in real estate will tell you that knowledge is king and therefore if you spend just a little more time in Belize before settling on a deal, you are likely to clinch a real winner when you finally sign the dotted line.

Just like with any other lucrative market there could be a few bad guys out there who will be looking out to dispose that piece of property that is really worthless. The old adage about the deal that is too good being suspect will hold true here more than anywhere else. There are countless people who have bought what they thought was a real sweet piece of beach land during the dry season and when the rains came they discovered it was actually marsh land which has no real value. So it pays for any prospective buyer of a house or piece of land in Belize to take just a little more time before they commit themselves, the watchword would then be that you don’t come with an itchy pocket, be willing woo wait just a little longer and you will be glad you did.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Nov 29, 2009.

Book Hotel & Flight For Free With These Credit Cards

Credit Cards That Let You Travel Free

First Published Date: July 6, 2015

If you are looking for a free vacation this year, look no further than WestJet RBC World Elite Credit Cards and Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card. These two cards let you fly and stay in a hotel totally free for the first year and partially free (at a very low cost) continuously for subsequent years as long as you hold the cards.

The WestJet RBC World Elite Credit Card comes with a $250 WestJet dollars welcome bonus and you will also get an annual round-trip companion flight for $99 (plus tax and fees) every year, letting you fly anywhere in Canada and the continental US (excluding Hawaii and Puerto Rico). What it means? You can virtually fly for very little on your first year of card membership, considering you also got the $250 for free.

Want to include an upscale hotel for free as well on your trip? The Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card comes with 30,000 bonus points and 1 free night just for trying the card. That means you already got up to 5 free nights at a category 1 or 4 free nights at category 4 hotels. And you also get one free night continuously for subsequent years as long as you hold the cards.

Don’t like to fly WestJet or stay in Marriott hotels for free? Try these other 2 cards instead that offer almost identical bonuses like the above 2 cards: The Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express or the MBNA Alaska World Elite MasterCard Credit Card.

What you read so far is one of the many secrets I will be sharing with you in my next book Credit Card Hacks: What Credit Card Companies Don’t Want You to Know. Stay tuned as I am working on the last few chapters of this book and should be able to get it to you in 3-4 months.

The A to Z of Mortgages

A is For Amortization

First Published Date: June 9, 2009

Taking out a mortgage is something that most of us do, sooner or later. There is a lot of fear and uncertainty attached to the idea of taking out a mortgage, not least because the term of a loan taken out to buy a house will generally be longer than if it were taken to buy something a bit smaller. Typically, the term for a mortgage will be in the region of 25 years – a very long time by anyone’s estimation, and a time in which so many things can change. Think about it – the average length of time an individual spends in a job these days has fallen to about three years. Although the average does not apply to everyone, and takes into account that people will spend a very short time in some jobs, it still offers the possibility that you will change jobs more than a couple of times during the term of your loan.

In addition, mortgages are considered to be a little bit nerve-wracking by some because of the jargon which is so often used by those who are selling a mortgage or by the financial experts discussing what the future holds for mortgage owners on the daily news – something of a motif of the age, it has to be said. Maybe most people just about understand what a mortgage is but beyond that, all bets are off. Take the average person (someone without a mortgage, as a preference) and ask them what a “principal” is. Someone who works in a school, or an actor in a lead role? That’s likely to be the response. Even if you mention that you’re talking about money, you’re still more likely to get a confused frown than an accurate reply.

When things get even more complicated, therefore, the average consumer is likely to become still more confused. Ask the average individual, mortgage holder or not, to tell you what “amortization” is, and the eyes will begin to glaze over before you have even mentally added the question mark. This is a pretty important part of a mortgage account, and there are still several people who will be unable to tell you what it is. The reason? No-one has thought to tell them. It could be argued that this kind of thing should be taught in schools, because money smart kids will be less likely to get wrapped up in debt later on.

Amortization is defined as “the allocation of a lump sum amount to different time periods”, and an amortization schedule forms part of any mortgage agreement you may have or take out in future. On a typical amortization schedule, the amount you pay each month towards your mortgage account will be detailed both in terms of how much will go to paying down your principal and how much will pay off the interest on your loan. As time goes on, assuming your loan has positive amortization, you will find that more of your payments are going towards paying off the balance of the loan. The kind of amortization you have will be influential in how efficiently you can pay off your mortgage, so ask any mortgage advisor to take you through your options.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on June 9, 2009.

3 Cheapest Countries to Buy Citizenship

Global Citizenship on Sale

First Published Date: July 8, 2015

Diversification knows no bounds, so why not diversify your passport portfolio as well? Having citizenship from a second or third country can come really handy if you are an investor or entrepreneur trying to take advantage of global opportunity, or even a corrupt 3rd world country official who is trying to escape and enjoy the millions of dollars you stole.

I will go through a few countries today, but there are so many more countries out there offering citizenship and residency that I can’t possibly mention them all. Do your research if you would like to find out more.

1. St. Kitts and Nevis – You will only need to donate $250,000 or buy a $400,000 real estate property to get citizenship in this two-island paradise. The citizenship application is only 3 pages and takes about six to eight months to process. Citizens can travel to 131 countries visa-free.

2. Antigua and Barbuda – Donate $200,000 or buy $400,000 in real estate property. The process takes three to four months. Citizens can travel to 132 countries visa-free, including Canada and UK.

3. Dominica – Invest $100,000 plus fess and receive citizenship. There is no need to even live there. Citizens can travel 87 countries like the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore visa-free, but a visa is required for North America or European countries. Dominica is not to be mistaken with Dominican Republic.

If you are looking for European countries, several countries offer citizenship such as Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, etc., but it will cost you several millions dollars.