Dan Cruickshank's journey reaches new heights of discomfort in the heat and dust of the desert - via the breathtaking but remote circumcision paintings of the Dogon in Africa to a love affair in Egypt with the most beautiful woman in history, for whom he must brave two giant jackals.
In between he witnesses the grotesque masks of Mali that connect the world of the living with the world of the dead; survives a powercut in the middle of the deepest, darkest chamber of the dead in the Great Pyramid outside Cairo; chooses to live a day in the life of a Roman trader in Leptis Magna; and identifies with Laurence of Arabia rather than Colonel Gadaffi in the desert of Libya.
One amazing surprise is the biggest mud building in the world, which cools down in the African sun through 104 saucepan lids on its roof - possibly the simplest ventilation system in the world, but also the most ingenious.
As he floats into the sunset down the Nile, Dan contemplates how it will feel to re-enter Europe after four months away.
Download our android app!
