EGYPT TRAVELOGUE

HURGHADA

Egypt was the second country that Richard and I travelled to together. We spent over three months there, ideally we had wanted to begin our trip in Cairo, but we found a package deal that was much cheaper than just flights alone would have been. So we started our travels in Hurghada (Ghardaka), one of the popular Red Sea diving spots, where we stayed for a fortnight in a self catering apartment a few minutes walk from the sea. It was nice knowing that when most of the other passengers from our flight would be returning home in a fortnight, we were at the beginning of what would be one of the most amazing, interesting travelling experiences of our lives, so far. Hurghada is a very busy diving resort, our apartments were full of divers most of whom had been on our flight. Neither of us are interested in diving, and apparently the best marine life that Hurghada has is found far offshore, we were informed that Sinai was far superior. Tourism accounts for 95 percent of the local economy, so although diving was not going to fill our days, we found enough to do. Actually there wasn't much else to do apart from the various water sports on offer, but there were bars, mainly within resorts. We spent the first week trying to sort out a problem with our mobile phone, (not for pleasure, we needed to be in constant contact with home for various reasons). Well at least our little phone problem made the days go fast, all we had to sort out next was our forward travel plans for our stay in Cairo. There were plenty of good places to eat in Hurghada, all with extensive menus. Our trip to Hurghada was so long ago that I do not remember the names of any of the restaurants we ate in. We did have a particular favourite not far from the apartment that served the most delicious okra we had ever eaten, I became quite addicted. As Hurghada is full of tourists it is supposedly expensive but we didn't find it so, we ate and more importantly drank out every day. We found out that the best way for us to get from Hurghada to Cairo would be by coach. So we booked two seats on the 'Super Jet' bus which departed from the town in the afternoon. I think the journey took about 8 hours, I don't remember how much it cost but I do remember that it was excellent value. The coach was new with air conditioning, toilet, movie, and a snack was offered; a roll, crisps, drink etc. When we arrived at the Super Jet Terminal there were quite a few people waiting for the bus, and by the time the bus arrived for boarding it had a full load. We all had designated seat numbers, but these kind of rules are not usually adhered to by the Egyptians, as we were soon to learn. We didn't care where we sat as long as we were seated, but as with practically all of the journeys we made whilst in Egypt, on trains, coaches, and even by taxi, there was always someone sitting in our seat. Nine times out of ten it was due to someone sneaking on without a ticket, so we always ended up with a couple of seats ... eventually! One thing that was constant the whole time we were in Egypt was the severe pushing and shoving by the locals whenever the opportunity arose, and yet they were never actually in a hurry to get anywhere! We are not bothered about being the first to board and be seated, in fact it was all rather amusing to watch. On this particular journey we were the only 'foreigners' on board, and we seemed to provide much amusement and interest for the other passengers. We were seated right at the back of the coach with a group of young brothers, I remember them watching us for the whole 8 hours. Everyone we saw in Egypt always had lots of food with them, and I mean lots, each person appeared to have enough for a family for a week, we had none so maybe that was why we were so interesting. The journey was pleasant enough but we couldn't wait to get to Cairo.

CAIRO

The coach approached the centre of Cairo through the slums on the outskirts of the city. Everything began to feel very busy and loud and dirty, as we knew it would. We were dropped off quite a way out of the centre, and as soon as our lily white skin saw the light, we were fought over by a lot of taxi drivers. After securing a good price for the ride to our hotel we were about to get in the taxi when a policeman approached us. No, we hadn't broken the law, he just wanted to make sure we were not being ripped off! Well that was a great start to our stay in Cairo, and our whole time there was fantastic. For me, I would say that I felt safer in Cairo than in any other city I have visited in the world. I always covered myself, arms, legs etc, because I don't like to get a suntan, and yet I still had the occasional nasty comment from some men. Oh well, they judge every western female as an 'easy' target. I am pleased to say that they were not threatening in any way though, just feeble mutterings under their breath as they walked past me. Sometimes I would look round to reply and they would always run off, so nothing to worry about. As we were planning to spend at least three months in Egypt we wanted our money to last, so with this in mind we looked at a few possible hotels before we picked the best one for us. We decided to stay in Zamalek, the northern half of Gezira Island, which was much quieter and cleaner than central Cairo. This was a beautiful area full of offices, embassies and smart houses. About a third of the island belongs to the Gezira Sporting Club, where anyone willing to pay the membership fees can play golf, tennis, and horse ride on land set out by the British Army given by Khedive Tewfiq. Non members are strictly refused access. We stayed at the El-Nil Zamalek Hotel, Midan Sidki, off Sharia Aziz Abaza, Tel: 340 1846. We were offered a choice of room, all were spacious and en-suite, with phone, TV, huge fridge and air conditioning, some rooms had a balcony overlooking the Nile. The people who worked at the hotel were so lovely and helpful, and the beds were always changed and the room was cleaned daily, and all for the amazing price of about £14 per night, excellent. Whenever we felt like a little bit of luxury we would have a drink in one of the bars at either the El-Gezirah Sheraton, the Nile Hilton, or our favourite the Cairo Marriott. The Cairo Marriott, Sharia Saraya el-Gezira, off 26th July Street, Zamalek, Tel: 340 8888, was within easy walking distance but sometimes we were lazy and took a taxi. Obviously the surroundings at the Marriott were a little more luxurious than at our hotel, having said that whatever our budget I would still have stayed at our place because it had character, unlike a lot of the soulless large chain hotels. Our main reason for going to the bars in these other hotels was for a change of scenery, and there were more people and it was lively. I think that the people who ran our hotel had a very different view on the joys of alcohol consumption in public too! The older original building of the Cairo Marriott was a palace constructed for Empress Eugenie, some parts of the building are gorgeous and well worth exploring. We spent quite a lot of time there enjoying drinks in the atmospheric, wood panelled billiard room bar, as well as enjoying several meals outside by the pool. Considering that the Cairo Marriott is a four star hotel we were both surprised that when we paid our bill we never ever received any change, it wasn't that they thought it was a tip, it wasn't only coins that went missing, and we are generous tippers! Along with many other guests we had to chase the waiter, and we both had food poisoning from there, after which we avoided the food. The food poisoning was the least of out worries though as we both had dysentery during our travels in Egypt, and yet we still fell in love with the country! We had read that if you are just visiting Egypt for a couple of weeks then be very careful with everything you eat and drink, but if you are going to be there for any longer then you don't need to be as careful, as your body will adjust. But we decided to be careful anyway, not that this helped! We were both very ill for a long time after we returned to the U.K. So that advice obviously wasn't worth the paper it was written on, or maybe we are extra sensitive little flowers! As we were going to be in Egypt for a few months we spent our first week in Cairo relaxing. We walked round generally getting a feel of the city, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the busy place that was going to be our new home.

PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

We were looking forward to visiting the Pyramids, and after a week settling in we set off to see them very early one morning by taxi. The Pyramids of Giza were not that far from our hotel but we wanted to be there before they got too busy. It turned out to be a good decision to leave early as about half way there our taxi suffered a flat tyre. This took quite a while to change, our driver did offer to get us another taxi but we thought we would stay and help him and then let him continue our journey to the Pyramids. Before we went to Egypt I had always imagined the Pyramids to be out in the middle of a desert somewhere, not near to anything or anyone. But the Pyramids of Giza are so close to houses, hotels etc that as we approached them in the taxi they appeared fake, like a prop on a film set. As our taxi drew closer we couldn't wait to get out and start exploring these world famous creations. Even with our flat tyre we still arrived nice and early, which was good as although the site was not yet open there were already quite a few people waiting. As soon as there were signs of life in the little ticket hut, we joined a queue to purchase our tickets. As is common in Egypt when we arrived at the front of the queue we were informed that we first needed to queue up elsewhere and then return to this original queue for our tickets. There was no apparent reason for this, but the Egyptians do like to exert power over you and they are obsessed with paper work, they never use one piece of paper when ten will do the same job! Anyway a group of us, all independent travelers, followed these instructions only to be told that we should have stayed in the first queue, they love to mess with your mo-jo! Back at the first place where we had all queued, we were still at the front as it was so early not many other people had arrived yet. Then the ticket seller decided we could now purchase our tickets, we were all ready with our money when a man pushed to the front of the queue demanding to bulk buy tickets for three coach loads of people who had just arrived! Needless to say this did not go down well with a now quite restless and impatient crowd, the tour guide soon saw the error of his ways and quietly went to the back of the queue, I should think so to! Once the tickets had been purchased there was quite a mad rush across the sand towards the Pyramids.

The Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)

The largest and oldest of the Pyramids at Giza is that of the IV Dynasty pharaoh Khufu, more commonly known as Cheops, said to have reigned between 2589 and 2566 BC. This pyramid was originally 140m high by 480ft, measuring 230m along its base, these dimensions were reduced by about 3m with the removal of its casing stones. The weight of the pyramid is estimated at six million tons, and contains over 2,300,000 blocks with an average weight of 2.5 tons, with some weighing 15 tons. We entered this pyramid by an opening that Khalif Ma'mun a treasure hunter created in 820. Once inside we headed on in a crouching position until the path split, one way was the descending corridor to the 'unfinished chamber'; which as it's name suggests is not the most interesting place, although the 100m descent along the corridor will certainly get your heart pumping, and the other direction takes you to the ascending corridor. It helps to be quite fit once you are inside the pyramid as walking the ascending corridor can be quite hot work as it has a gradient of 1:2 and it runs for 36m until it meets another junction. Ahead was a horizontal passage 35m long and 1.75m high which took us into a limestone chamber with pointed roof known as the 'Queen's Chamber', although there is no evidence that a queen was ever buried there. We went up further in to the 'Great Gallery' which was built using Muqattam limestone. It was incredibly hot inside the great gallery even with a small number of us inside. The sweat was running off of us, as was normal for us we had taken several bottles of water with us. You can't carry too much water with you, although at first the weight was a burden we soon solved that by drinking it! The 'Kings Chamber' sits 95m below the apex of the pyramid, built using red granite blocks, rectangular in shape measuring 5.2m by 10.8m by 5.8, apparently Hitler ordered a replica be built under the Nuremberg Stadium, strange but true? As sometimes happens in life when you see something for the first time it can be disappointing, not as magnificent as you had thought, I had hoped that the pyramids at Giza would be as amazing as I had imagined. As we walked nearer I was not disappointed, they are absolutely huge, people looked like ants walking round these massive monuments. There were quite a few older people who found that once inside they couldn't make the steep climb up the wooden walkway, unsure of their footing they exited gasping for air, because the interior was very hot and still. To stand outside and admire the pyramids, the sheer size of them is something neither of us will forget, it was a truly amazing experience.

The Pyramid of Chephren (Khafre)

The second/middle pyramid is situated on higher ground than the Great Pyramid of Cheops, and has much steeper sides making it appear taller than Cheops. Originally the base covered 214.8 square metres and it was estimated to weigh 4,883,000 tons. As was the case with the Great Pyramid there is an unfinished burial chamber, and an upper chamber. In 1818 Belzoni located and dynamited open the sealed entrance, to find that some thousand years before Arab tomb robbers had gained access. In 1993 there was an explosion inside the pyramid, probably a bomb, which injured some tourists. Inside Chephren's burial chamber Belzoni wrote his name in black letters in celebration of his find. The granite floor of the chamber has the sarcophagus of Khafre who reigned c.2558-2533 BC, set into it.

The Sphinx

The Sphinx was supposedly carved from the soft limestone that was left after the harder surrounding stone was quarried for the construction of the Great Pyramid. There are many stories about the age of the Sphinx including the American geologists who in 1991 claimed that it could have been up to 2600 years older than originally thought, due to its bedrock being heavily eroded by water, which they said could have occurred during the Nabtian Pluvial era 3000-1200 BC. Then there are others who argue that the erosion was caused by the wind! I am sure that since we visited Cairo there have been many more theories brought forward. Unfortunately the Mamluke and Napoleonic troops used the Sphinx for target practice, causing the loss of much of its beard. Along with the damage caused by the target practice there were shoddy repairs using cement to fill the cracks which have left the poor old Sphinx looking tired. I believe that since our visit these mistakes have been rectified.

The Pyramid of Mycerinus (Menkaure)

The Pyramid of Mycerinus is the smallest of the three Giza Pyramids. Menkaure (Chephren's successor), started this Pyramid but it was his son Shepseskaf who completed it. Story has it that an oracle gave Mycerinus just six years to live, which could explain the smaller size of this Pyramid, because he decided to live his life to the full I guess he had more fun activities planned than the construction of another huge Pyramid. That is not to suggest that the Pyramid of Mycerinus is any less impressive that the two larger Pyramids of Chephren and Cheops. This Pyramid is often called the Red Pyramid because the lower half was wrapped in Aswan granite. The unfinished chamber is in the superstructure and the final burial chamber is found underground. A basalt sarcophagus (which was unfortunately lost at sea whilst being taken to the U.K.), and human remains originally thought to be that of Menkaure's, later thought to be a XXVI Dynasty replacement, were found here in the burial chamber.

The Pyramids at Giza were imposing in their austere simplicity, and they were one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and after talking about it for so long we had finally made the trip to Egypt, and seen them up close, phenomenal.

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Before we visited any other sites we spent the next few days enjoying Cairo. We ate out at a lot of restaurants during our stay, one of our favourites was called 'Aubergine' I think. It was quite close to our hotel, and always very busy. The menu was very good, and everything was served up on different shaped plates with the food displayed in various artistic patterns. There was a good restaurant on the main road that served a variation on egg and sausage for breakfast, it came on top of a pizza! The coffee shops in all of the major well known chain hotels also served good snacks and cakes. There were also many street vendors selling juices, and kebab type snacks. We noticed that there seemed to be a large number of shoe shops in the area near our hotel, along side the snack bars and jewellery shops. Richard bought a pair of snake skin shoes which are very 'loud', thankfully he has never worn them! There were a few shops selling tourist tat, but in our particular area the shops were a bit more up market. There were some great clothing boutiques, where I bought a few pieces, mainly good quality cotton tops. We also found a lovely jewellery come silver shop, everything in there was beautiful. We bought a card case and some napkin rings, all silver, which were priced by weight. Haggling is the accepted behaviour when purchasing anything in Egypt, there were always good deals to be had. There was a small but wonderfully air conditioned shopping centre near to our hotel with a surprisingly good selection of shops, mostly selling clothes and some great shoe shops. Although there were battered old buses running all over the local area we preferred either to walk or take a taxi to explore Cairo. The city is best explored on foot, even with the guys trying to sell you perfume, or find you a hotel, or arrange trips to the Pyramids, you name it they can help you! We loved everything about Cairo, the hustle, noise, and even the thrill when we successfully made it across the road safely. Drivers don't tend to pay any attention to the traffic lights, they prefer to obey the traffic police ..... usually! We ventured further afield from our hotel to visit the markets, downtown Cairo, Coptic Cairo, Mohandiseen, Heliopolis (Masr el-Gadida), and other places to generally soak up the atmosphere. I must admit that we did pass a good many hours in the bar/restaurant 'PUB 28' which was our local watering hole in Zamalek. In fact we spent so many hours drinking there that we were on first name terms with all of the bar staff and we had a bar tab. The bulk of the patrons were ex-pats with a good mix of local alcoholics! The food at Pub 28 was also excellent and we enjoyed many meals there.

THE MUSEUM OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES

At the time of our visit to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities there were apparently 136,000 exhibits for us to view. Unfortunately the building was obviously way too small to adequately display this many items, and the lighting and poor or non existent captioning on most items was frustrating. Many of the artefacts were stacked up so high in glass cases that even with a ladder you still couldn't see them. Having said that, we both thought that this was one of the most interesting museums we had ever visited. Auguste Mariette founded the museum in 1858, he excavated the Serapeum at Saqqara along with several of the major temples in Upper Egypt, he was buried in the grounds at the museum. Obviously there were lots of guided tours at the museum which lasted about two hours, we walked round alone spending almost the whole day there. The queues at the entrance were unbelievable, so many people, independent travellers as well as large tour groups. As often occurred during our time in Egypt the queue started out orderly and soon turned to chaos. With all the pushing and shoving it was surprising that no one was seriously hurt. When we first joined the queue it was roughly in a straight line up the steps, but after a while it began to curve, and as there was not much order to the queue we just walked up to the front and went more or less straight in. As we were closely followed by several tour groups who had to keep stopping whilst their guide explained certain exhibits to them, we seemed to spend our day in the museum in a crowd yet on our own. It was great, we managed to see all of the main exhibits we had wanted to, without having to crane our necks to see over the heads of other people. There were so many wonderful, interesting artefacts I couldn't possibly mention them all here, but probably the most memorable for us were the treasures of Tutankhamun. There were almost two thousand items spread out among a dozen rooms. The Tutankhamun exhibits are one of the biggest attractions at the museum, so we made sure that we headed straight to these rooms as soon as we entered. Of all the Tutankhamun exhibits room 3 which contained his gold was amazing, with his haunting funerary mask forming the centrepiece. This piece was actually well displayed with correctly positioned spot lights, enhancing the full majesty of the mask. You could easily visit the museum all day, every day for months and you would still only scrape the surface, there are so many interesting exhibits.

The Nilometer ~ Roda Island

Roda has two main sites of interest, the main one is The Manial Palace, and the other is The Nilometer. As these two attractions are not close to each other we took a taxi, as we didn't want to be too tired from walking in the heat to appreciate either. Egyptian agriculture was dependent on the annual flooding of the Nile. Every August the river's level was measured by the Nilometer, and then the crop yields were estimated and the taxes would be set in accordance. A reading of 16 ells (8.6m) foretold the valley's complete irrigation. A reading that differed greatly more or less would bring flooding or drought. With the announcement of the Wafa el-Nil (abundance of the Nile) there would be public celebration. There would no doubt have been a Nilometer in existence since pharaonic times, but the Nilometer we visited dates from 861. The stone lined shaft of the Nilometer obviously descends way below the level of the Nile, and was connected to the river by three tunnels at various heights. Only the uppermost tunnel was accessible, around which were Koranic verses in kufic script. Looking up, the interior walls were ornately decorated with gold on a dark background which reflected beautifully under the sun. The Nilometer is kept locked, (probably due to lack of interest from tourists), access can be gained from the caretaker, who gladly showed us around. It was quite nice being just us two after the crowds at the other sites we had seen in Cairo.

The Manial Palace ~ Roda Island

The Manial Palace was built in 1903, the architecture portrays the taste of King Farouk's uncle Prince Mohammed Ali. There are many different styles, Syrian, Moorish, Ottoman and Rococo all happily mingling together. Inside the gateway was the Reception Palace, its salamlik embellished with stained glass, polychrome tiles and decorative wood carving was beautiful. Upstairs were the guest rooms, and on the stairs there was a model of Qaitbey's Mausoleum made of mother of pearl. The prince's mosque was elaborately decorated and reflective of the great mosque of his namesake in the Citadel. There were lots of stuffed animals in the Hunting Museum as well as butterflies and an hermaphrodite goat. The Prince's Residence was luxuriously decorated in a infusion of Turkish and Occcidental styles. On the level above there was an amazing silver four poster bed from the Abdin Palace, in the Obsidian Salon in the private appartments of the prince's mother.

The Citadel

The Citadel, a centuries old bastion crowned by the minarets of the great Mosque of Mohammed Ali. The Citadel was begun by Salah al-Din, (known throughout Christendom as Saladin), the Crusaders' chivalrous foe. Salah al-Din reigned from 1171 to 1193, his nephew Al-Kamil developed the Citadel as a royal residence, later being replaced by the palaces of Sultan al-Nisir. The Citadel houses many sites of interest including, the Rifai Mosque, the Mosque of Gawhar Lak, the Mosque of Sultan Hussan, the Akhur Mosque, the Mosque of Mahmoudia, Bab al-Azab, the Mosque of Suleyman Pasha, Bab al-Qullah, the Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir, the Military Museum, the Carriage Museum, the Seized Museum, Yussef's Well, Al-Gawhara Palace, and the Mohammed Ali Mosque. Today the main interest of the Citadel are associated with Mohammed Ali, successor to the Mamlukes and Turks. In 1811 he layed on a banquet for 470 Mamlukes in the Citadel Palace, then after they left he had them ambushed in the lane behind the Bab al-Azab, the locked gate opposite the Akhur Mosque. Once you walk through the gate and pass the inner Bab al-Wustani you are in a courtyard which has the Police National Museum, from there you can visit both the Carriage Museum and the Seized Museum. The view from the terrace out over the whole of Cairo makes visiting the Citadel well worth while. In a pit are the excavated remains of the Qasr al-Ablaq or stripped palace of Sultan al-Nasir, whose mosque stands on the Citadel, although very much overshadowed by the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. The day we visited the Mohammed Ali Mosque it was fairly busy but very calm and quiet after the noise of Cairo's crazy streets. The Mosque was erected between 1824 and 1848, with the domes later being demolished and rebuilt sometime in the 1930's, it was very interesting to look round. There was a very decorative clock which was given by Louis Philippe, it was swapped for the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, also a Turkish Baroque ablutions fountain. The interior of the Mosque's domes were decorated like Faberge eggs. Overhead were globe lamps and chandeliers illuminating the Thuluth inscriptions, a gold scalloped mihrab and two minbars. Mohammed Ali is buried beneath a white marble cenotaph. We spent a few hours walking round the Citadel, lingering at the Mohammed Ali Mosque. I could write in detail about all of the other Mosques and museums in the Citadel, but as this is still Cairo and I have lots more places in Egypt to write about I don't think it is necessary.

Cairo Tower

The Cairo Tower (Borg al-Qahira) stands 187m above Gezira and offers spectacular views of Cairo. The tower was built between 1957 and 1962 (with help from the Soviet) combining pharaonic and socialist realist motifs, within a lattice work shaft constructed from concrete blooming into a lotus finial. There is a revolving restaurant on the sixteenth storey, and a Soviet style cafeteria above it, although we didn't use either so we have no idea what they are like. The reason we, and most people, visited the tower was to go right to the top and see what are probably the best panoranmic views of Cairo. You can see the medieval quarter below the Citadel, and the sere Muqattam Hills, Roda Island, Zamalek (our hotel), Shubra and the Nile Delta, and on a clear day where the city turns to desert you can even see the Pyramids on the horizon.

We usually walked everywhere or took a taxi but whilst we were in Cairo we wanted to use the Metro (the first in the Arab world), just to see what it was like compared to other cities in the world. Obviously as with any city it was busy, but not excessively so as most Cairenes cannot afford the fares, but surprisingly clean and efficient. As with many modes of transport in Egypt there were separate carriages for women passengers. The Metro was supposedly non smoking, but we noticed that people smoked everywhere in Egypt. We were happy standing up, but almost as soon as we left the station we were offered seats by nearby passengers, we politely declined as we were not travelling far. Overall I think the Cairo Metro was a perfectly good way to get around, possibly nicer than the London underground - which isn't saying much I know! As neither of us are bothered by the heat, in fact for us the warmer the better, we did walk a lot during our stay in Cairo building up a thirst, any excuse for us to pop into Pub 28! We also thought we would take a ride on a River Taxi (water bus) which we did. We went from Old Cairo to Roda Island and back again. It was a lovely relaxing ride with both of us causing quite a deal of excitement from the other passengers, especially the children. They kept trying to touch our skin, and were chatting away and giggling, there were no other 'foreigners' on the trips we took so I guess we were a bit of a novelty. In fact almost everywhere we went in Egypt we attracted a lot of attention from the younger generation, especially Richard, his hair was very blonde at the time, they seemed fascinated by him.

OLD CAIRO ~ COPTIC CAIRO

Old Cairo (Masr al-Qadima), is where the Holy Family were thought to have taken refuge in the fortress town of Babylon. There were medieval churches, the Coptic Museum and a synagogue. The Coptic Museum is between the Hanging church and the Roman towers of Babylon. It has a collection of Coptic artefacts, beautiful stained glass domes inside its mashrabiya'd wings. The museum traces the transformation of Coptic art from Greco-Roman times into the Islamic era 300AD-1000AD. You can enter the courtyard of the Hanging Church via the cafe in the museum grounds. The Hanging Church's claim to fame is that it once owned an olive stone chewed by the Virgin mary?

HELIOPOLIS (Masr al-Gadida) and MOHANDISEEN

Both Heliopolis and Mohandiseen are wealthy areas on the outskirts of Cairo. We knew that they were both full of shops and restaurants, (many fast food joints due to the vast number of American workers), so we thought we may as well go and have a look round. Heliopolis was born thanks to a Belgian entrepremeur, when due to a population boom in Cairo there was a great need for housing. Baron Empain wanted to create a garden city in the desert. Heliopolis was set out in a grid system by Sir Reginald Oakes, originally the wide roads were lined with apartment blocks, and there were all the modern facilities such as schools, churches and even a racecourse. Later on in the 1970's, as poorer quarters began growing around Heliopolis, unfortunately the racecourse was turned in to a fun park and the burger joints took over. Mohandiseen was laid out in the 1960's to house the growing number of media workers. One evening in a bar somewhere in Zamalek we got chatting to a bunch of American guys who were living and working in Mohandiseen. The area really did feel like a small slice of America, with roads full of boutiques and as in Heliopolis lots of junk food joints. Everywhere very clean with lovely wide marble pavements, which made a change from walking in the road in the area near our hotel.

It was time for us to say goodbye to Cairo for a while as we headed off to Aswan. We decided that we would leave most of our belongings at our hotel in Zamalek, taking only what we needed with us. The people at our hotel were more than happy for us to leave our stuff behind the reception desk. I joked to Richard that that would probably be the last time we saw any of it, naughty me, on our return everything was exactly where we had left it it had not been moved an inch. We knew this because all of our bags were thick with dust!

ASWAN

We took an overnight train down to Aswan, spending most of the journey surrounded by sleeping soldiers. Poor Richard was particularly unwell during this journey, just before we boarded the train I suggested that maybe we should go another day. But Richard felt that it would be best to just get moving, and after having quite a lot of trouble when purchasing the tickets I wasn't going to argue. There were a few other gringoes in the queue wanting to buy train tickets, and each time any of us got to the window we were told that we couldn't buy any. There were various reasons, from the train being full to there not actually being a train to Aswan. Each time we were told to come back later and ask again. Richard was sitting on the station floor resembling a corpse and I was obviously worried about him, so I decided enough was enough. I spoke to all of the other 'foreigners' I could find and arranged for us to all queue up together, forming a barrier right across the ticket window, we were definitely going to be buying tickets. Once we were at the window we were once again fobbed off with reasons why we couldn't purchase any tickets. It wasn't until all of the local people behind us, who we had stopped from getting in front of us, started shouting that we were finally sold tickets for the overnight train to Aswan ... Hooray! As I have said before they do like to mess with you, it's all part of the fun of travelling in Egypt! Once we were onboard the train we made ourselves as comfortable as possible, settling in to surprisingly comfortable seats for the night. I was willing the time to pass quickly as Richard was not looking too good. After what felt like days not hours we finally arrived in Aswan. It can get very warm with temperatures of 23c-30c in the winter and 38c-54c during the summer. If memory serves me we were in Aswan in March, and most days were around 40c. As I have said before the heat doesn't bother us at all, but hummidity is another thing. It was very hummid the whole time we were there, and there was no respite in the evenings. In fact they often felt worse than the days, because the heat would come up from the roads and pavements hitting us in the face and burning our skin. When we went out to eat in the evenings it was quite difficult to breath easily, once again this was the perfect excuse for a cold beer! We stayed at the Oscar hotel, and although we are not that keen on air conditioning we were happy that our room had it. The Oscar was pleasant, friendly staff, clean room, with a very popular bar downstairs, apparently the cheapest place to drink in Aswan. The bar was a particluar favourite with the Felucca captains, who would come in sober, drink lots of the local date wine in a very short space of time and then stagger out very much the worse for wear! Our hotel was considered mid-range, and whilst we were in Aswan we went for a look round at the more upmarket Old Cataract hotel. The security at this place was quite severe, it wasn't just a case of wandering in through reception as you do at most hotels. There was a barrier and security men who asked us exactly who we were and why we wanted to enter the premises. We must have looked like undesirables! The hotel is an Edwardian Moorish relic, which has undergone sympathetic refurbishment. Made famous by Agatha Christie, there was even a suite named after her, the hotel was featured in the film Death on the Nile. As we were not guests we just stopped in the bar to enjoy a drink. Being regarded as rich khawaga (Egyptian term for foreigner), we were asked for baksheesh in Aswan more forcibly and more often than anywhere else in Egypt. There are many different views on this, some people say that tipping is expected and they are happy to do it, and they are happy to give baksheesh when asked to help nessecitate certain procedures, and they feel that it is okay to give money to people begging in the street. Other people say that by giving to everyone that asks it encourages dependency on foreigners, and can cause some people especially lone women travellers to feel threatened. I guess everybody answers to their own conscience. There were quite a lot of organised tour groups wandering round Aswan whilst we were there, particularly in the bazaar. Though quite why you need to be guided round a market I don't know, could it be so that the tour guide can get you to linger at certain stalls belonging to his friends or relatives? Or am I just too cynical! I don't blame them if they can earn something extra, good luck to them. We did find it funny watching as many of these tourists bought various things that they obviously didn't want or need, it's a funny old game! The bazaar was selling traditional items, spices, baskets, rugs and ebony (or pine covered in thick boot polish), there didn't seem to be any tourist tat places, but I guess that has probably changed by now. Walking along the corniche at night was very pleasant even with the hassle from the boatmen trying to sell you felucca trips. We told them we were definitely not interested, but they were quite relentless going lower and lower in price, obviously thinking that we were just trying to get a good deal. We found a good restaurant, the Aswan Moon on the Corniche near the Horus. It had a floating extension and was lively at night with Nubian music. The food was better than the service which was eratic and we were always short changed, along with most of the other patrons. We kept going back though because the food was good, especially the Nubian dish of okra in a spicy tomato sauce, if it ain't broke don't fix it!

ELEPHANTINE ISLAND

There was a group of huge black rocks which look like a herd of elephants bathing in the water, at the southern end of Elephantine Island, hence it's name. There were Nubian villages nestling in amongst the palms some decorated with Hadj scenes, whilst we were walking round there we got chatting to a Nubian who lived there. He invited us into his home, making us very welcome, and serving us delicious mint tea. There is a luxury hotel, Aswan Oberoi which is reached by it's own private ferry, and secluded from prying eyes by an enormous high fence. The main sites of interest to tourists were at the Southern end of the island which was were we headed.

THE ASWAN MUSEUM

The Aswan Museum was small, especially after the amazing museum in Cairo, but we managed to spend a good while in there looking round. The ground floor was the most interesting, we saw a gold bust of Khnum and a mummified ram which was his sacred animal and its gilded sarcophagus. There was a black granite statue of Governor Ameni, and lots of smaller pieces such as pots and jewellery. Originally the museum was a private villa belonging to Sir William Willcocks, designer of the first Aswan Dam.

As in Cairo (Roda Island) there was a Nilometer in Aswan, and many other sites of interest. There was the Island of Plants (Geziret an-Nabatat), also known as Kitchener's Island which was presented to the Consul General Kitchener in gratitude for his military exploits in the Sudan. It was here that Kitchener let his passion for exotic flora run wild, resulting in the most beautiful botanical garden complete with brightly coloured birds. This island was reached by felucca and well worth the trip. Other sites of interest included The Ruins of Yebu, and on the West Bank of the river The Aga Khan's Mausoleum, and The Monastery of Saint Simeon, and The Tombs of the Nobles.

THE TOMBS OF THE NOBLES

Situated on the west bank, we visited the Tombs of the Nobles which were absolutely amazing. The detail and quality of the artwork was fantastic, the paintings were so fresh looking as though painted very recently. We bought a photo permit which was well worth doing as we have some good pictures of the colourful artwork. All of the tombs are at different levels, Old and Middle Kingdom ones being the uppermost, and the Roman tombs are situated nearer the waterline. The tombs were numbered and walking up the path from where we purchased out tickets took us to the highest numbered tombs first. Although we had tickets we were asked for baksheesh for every tomb we entered, well you can't blame them for trying! We spent a good while looking round at the Tomb of Sirenput I - #36, Tombs of Pepi-Nakht - #35 and Harkhuf - #?, Tombs of Sirenput II - #31, and the Tomb of Mekhu - #25 and Sabni - #26. The sun felt particularly warm that day, and after all the walking we had managed to drink several large bottles of water. We were very happy once we got back to town where we enjoyed a few ice cold beers, they sure hit the spot.

THE UNFINISHED OBELISK

One of the last sites we visited before we left Aswan was the Unfinished Obelisk. As the name suggests it was an Obelisk that had not been finished, due to a flaw being discovered in the stone when it was almost completed and cut free from the bedrock. I can't imagine how frustrating the people who were working on this huge section of stone must have felt after all their hard work, so near to completion then having to abandon it. I'm not sure if it was because the massive peice of stone was on its side in the ground, and you could walk all along it resembling ants, but it was absolutely massive. Apparently had the Obelisk been completed it would have stood almost 42 metres high and weighed around 1168 tons, so I guess that is pretty impressive. On completion the Obelisk was apparently to have been a partner for the Lateran Obelisk in Rome which originally stood before the temple of Tuthmosis III at Karnak, and is said to be the largest Obelisk in the world.

We wanted to travel by boat from Aswan to Luxor, stopping off for a few hours at both Kom Ombo and Edfu on the way. There were literally dozens of cruise boats sitting along the Nile. We didn't want to book the boat trip through an agent because we thought that we would get a much better deal if we dealt directly with the crew. So one evening we walked down to the water, and then one by one went aboard every boat asking where they were going next and when. We told them we would like to look at the cabins, and last but not least how much they would charge us. Although from the outside all of the boats were much the same the interiors were very different, from quite basic to very oppulent like floating palaces. Because some of the boats had to moor along side each other it was quite tiring having to climb over from one to the other, and we were very pleased when we finally found a boat that was leaving when we wished to depart, all we had to do now was to strike a good deal. After a little negotiation we were booked up for the following day, excellent. I think we had booked a two or three night cruise, as we were not in a hurry to get to Luxor. We were looking forward to a nice trip along the Nile, being wined and dined in style. Our cabin was very spacious and fully equipped, the boat had a large deck area with lots of seating and a swimming pool, and the restaurant looked nice. I don't think the cruise was full, there were quite a few other passengers who were already half way through their trip when we arrived onboard. There was a good mixture of nationalities, no other English people though. There were lots of Italian people who as usual all looked and smelt so clean and gorgeous, not like us two we were a bit dusty and beginning to show signs of wear and tear from our Egyptian travels! As we set sail for Luxor we settled down to some serious relaxing on deck, drinking, playing cards and enjoying the views. One day whilst realxing on the top deck we were pelted with empty film cannisters, they were thrown aboard from the waters edge by children asking us to put money in and then throw back to them, quite ingenious, those were the days before digital cameras were the norm! The days passed quickly with stops at Kom Ombo and Edfu.

KOM OMBO ~ THE TEMPLE OF HAROERIS AND SOBEK

Kom Ombo is about 30 km down the river from Aswan, and home to a large number of Nubians who settled there after being displaced by the creation of Lake Nasser. This was a pleasant place for a short stop during our Nile cruise. The main attraction in Kom Ombo is the Ptolemaic Temple of Haroeris and Sobek a few km from the centre of town. As we approached the temple we were greeted by the twin entrances, the inside was split down the middle. The left side dedicated to the falcon headed Haroeris the 'Good Doctor' and his consort Ta-Sent-Nefer the 'Good Sister'. The right side had Sobek the crocodile god, his wife, and their son Khonsu-Hor. Inside we walked round the outer Hypostyle Halls, and the inner Hypostyle Hall where we saw reliefs of Neos Dionysos being purified by Thoth and Horus, and the painted images of Neos Dionysos's coronation before Haroeris, Sobek, Wadjet and Nekhbet. There was a relief of Sobek in his reptilian form, and wonderful reliefs showing Ptolemy VII receiving the sword of victory ~ hps, from Haroeris accompanied by his sister Cleopatra and his wife. The detail on every surface there was amazing, everything looked so fresh and new, untouched by time. It wasn't really that busy at the time we visited which made walking round even more pleasurable.

EDFU ~ THE TEMPLE OF HORUS

The other place we visited during our Nile cruise was the provincial town of Edfu, which is home to the best preserved cult temple in the whole of Egypt. The Temple of Horus dedicated to the falcon headed god Horus. This temple was built in the Ptolemaic era although it respects all the canons of pharaonic architecture. For us, along with Karnak this was one of the most amazing sites in the Nile Valley. The Temple remained buried up to its lintels until the 1860's. Inside the Court of Offerings we saw the wonderful festival reliefs. Everywhere we walked in this amazing monument we were surrounded by the most fantastic detailed reliefs. We spent a good while at Edfu, but when it came time to leave we could have very happily stayed a lot longer as there was just so much to take in. As with Kom Ombo everything looked so fresh and new. Everybody seemed to thoroughly enjoy the visit to this wonderful place.

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It was our last evening on board our Nile cruise, and time for dinner. We were seated with all of the lovely Italians I mentioned , I think the staff were trying to make us feel and look bad because we had got such a good deal! This was confirmed during our meal, we got chatting to some other diners who didn't know that you could walk onto any boat and book yourself a cruise. One group of people in particular stuck in my mind, they were American and had paid double for their trip, needless to say they didn't seem that happy! The food throughout the whole cruise was much as we expected, mediocre and our last night was much the same, except unfortunately the main courses were all fish, which was fine by me but not for Richard as he is not the biggest fan of fish. I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner but Richard went to bed a little hungry after eating just a few vegetables. He got the last laugh though as I was taken seriously ill during the night. The beds in our cabin were very comfortable and we both slept very soundly, until the early hours when I began feeling slightly unwell. This feeling soon worsened and I was violently sick, as I am sure the other passengers were too, as almost everyone had eaten the fish. I couldn't wait to get to Luxor, I just wanted to get off of the boat so that I could die in peace, as by that time I was so ill I felt that I was beyond any help a doctor could give me! I am by no means a hypochondriac, so Richard knew that I was very poorly.

LUXOR

When the boat finally docked in Luxor, I couldn't walk, I could just about stand with Richard practically carrying me. We had to arrange for our luggage to be kept on board whilst Richard got me to a hotel and straight to bed. I don't really remember much about this, or my first few days in the hotel, I just slept and moaned and wanted to die! After about five days I felt a little better and I decided to go downstairs to the hotel bar/restaurant where I knew I would find Richard. It took me all my strength to get down two flights of short stairs and I felt as though I had climbed a mountain. When I left our room I had felt slightly better but I now felt as though I would pass out. The bar was quite busy with travellers, and a few locals sitting drinking and chatting. I found Richard talking to a guy who introduced himself in his lovely thick Irish accent, before telling me that I looked like a corpse! So that's the Irish charm is it! We told him about the perils of Nile cruise cuisine and he promptly disappeared, returning a couple of minutes later and handing me a silver foil strip containing two tablets. Take these he said and you will feel better before you know it. Under normal circumstances I would never ever take anything from a complete stranger, but I was feeling so bad I didn't care. I said to Richard kill or cure, and swallowed them both before I gave myself any time to think about the stupidity of my actions! Richard ordered me some food, YUK, just the thought of food made me feel ill, but as I hadn't eaten for days I guess he had a point. I can't remember what he ordered but I did manage to eat a few mouthfuls, well you shouldn't take tablets on an empty stomach! Amazingly after about twenty minutes I did start to feel much better, maybe I would live to see another day! A couple of days later and I was completely back to normal, although to this day I am very wary of eating fish, or anything not cooked by my wonderful husband. I have since been told by my doctor when we returned to the U.K. that I will always have a dodgy tummy, and he was right. Amazingly even this unfortunate episode during our Egyptian travels didn't dampen our love of the country, we would both visit Egypt again without hesitation as we loved it and there is still so much that we haven't seen. I didn't even know where we had been staying for the first week in Luxor, but as soon as I was feeling better we went out to see the sites! We were staying at the Venus Hotel, on Sharia Yussef Hassan, Tel: 372 625. For a low budget hotel it was very good, clean, and our room was en-suite. The bar, Mars Bar, served good, reasonably priced food, and of course nice cold bottles of Egypt's famous Stella lager, and imported draught lager, which at the time we visited was the only place you could buy it ~ delicious! The location of the Venus was very central, and only a short walk from Luxor Temple. Luxor was very busy with local people and tourists milling about 24 hours a day. We loved the atmosphere in Luxor but obviously with tourism accounting for 85% of the economy at the time we visited it wasn't unusual to see 'foreigners' getting hot and bothered by local people wanting to get them inside their shops or to book a Felucca trip or ... you name it they had it for sale. We didn't experience any hard sales as there were always large groups of tourists nearby to deflect the attention from us two unimportant independent travellers! Or should I say we used them as cover when walking round the crowded crazy streets! We explored most of Luxor on foot, but there were always plenty of offers for rides from the Caleche operators. Caleches are basically horse drawn carts. We saw some very poor condition and cruelly treated horses whilst we were in Luxor, which one evening led to one so called horse lover/owner being given a serious beating, but that's another story which I don't think I will write about. For those who wish to see the streets of Luxor from a horse drawn vehicle there were horses who were clearly well looked after and cared for. It's just a matter of not jumping on the first one that approaches you.

LUXOR TEMPLE

As our hotel was close to Luxor Temple it was one of the first places we visited. It was a surprising sight to see Luxor Temple right in the heart of town, sitting on the main road by the waterfront. The temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun-Min and Khonsu. It was the Harem of the South where Amun's consort Mut and their son Khonsu resided. The temple's founder was Amenophis III ~ 1417-1379 BC of the XVIII Dynasty. The temple has had various additions, by many different people, including the rebuilding of its sanctuary under Alexander the Great. The reliefs at Luxor Temple are fantastic, probably due to the temple being buried half way up in sand and silt. Inside the entrance to Luxor Temple was a run down mud brick Roman chapel which housed a headless statue of Isis in a toga. A courtyard leads to the Avenue of Sphinxes, which as the names suggests is where we saw a perfectly neat row of large carved Sphinxes which had human faces. Originally the temple gateway had a pair of Obelisk which stood 25m high, now only one remains after the French removed one in 1835 and had it re-erected on the Place de la Concorde. The French were also responsible for destroying the erect phalluses of the four dog faced baboons which were at the base of each obelisk. I didn't know the French were such prudes! We saw the temple during daylight as we wanted to appreciate all of the detail and the reliefs, but you can visit at night when the grand colonnades are lit up by spotlights. We walked by at night on many occasions and it looked kind of tacky and fake, I think it it much more interesting during daylight.

LUXOR MUSEUM

The Luxor museum was further along the river in the opposite direction from our hotel. We enjoyed a nice stroll along the edge of the water to look round the museum. It was surprisingly interesting after the wonderful collection we had seen in Cairo, with all of the exhibits well displayed and labelled. There were statues and funerary items from local temples and the Theban Necropolis. There was a big pink granite head of Amenophis III, and an alabaster crocodile headed Sobek, as well as many other interesting pieces in stone. We also saw a fantastic mummy casing from Lady Shepenkhonsu's tomb, and from the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the kings, a funery bed along with a beautiful gold inlaid cow's head. In the New Hall we were greeted by huge statues of Tutankhamun, Queen Nefertari, Ramses II and Hathor and Horus.

KARNAK

Visiting Karnak was for us the second most impressive site after the Pyramids of Giza. I may have said that about some of the other places we visited in Egypt, but Karnak was absolutely amazing. Karnak is only 2.5km North from the centre of Luxor, and the whole site of Karnak is spread over 100 acres. The Precinct of Amun is the only part which is accessible and this area covers 62 acres. To fully appreciate such a vast area we spent the best part of the day there. You could quite easily whiz round in a couple of hours though, or spend 4 or 5 hours and really examine everything. As with most of the sites in Egypt they are extremely busy in the morning when all of the tour groups arrive. If like us the heat doesn't pose a problem for you, then visiting in the afternoon will enable you to look round almost on your own, which is much nicer. Karnak consists of three separate temple enclosures, the Precinct of Amun is the grandest, in dedication to the supreme god of the New Kingdom, it is an amazing eighteen times larger than the Parthenon. Obviously the sheer scale of Karnak was not born over night, it expanded over 1300 years from its XII Dynasty core. At the height of its supremacy Karnak's wealth was colossal. During the reign of Ramses III a list of assets included, 65 villages, 433 gardens, 2395 sq kms of fields, 421, 662 head of cattle, 46 building sites, 83 ships and 81,322 workers and slaves. We saw so much during our visit to the temple complex of Karnak, too much for my two finger typing to write about! In full detail I could easily fill a book, but very briefly we explored, the Temple of Amun, the Temple of Ramses III, The Great Hypostyle Hall, The Jubilee Temple of Tuthmosis III, The Temple of Khonsu, The temple of Opet, The Precinct of Mont, The Aten Temple, The Precinct of Mut, The Open Air Museum, The Pylons and the Obelisks, to name a few. Karnak, and the Pyramids at Giza have to be seen to be truly appreciated.

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Once we had seen the main sites we had wanted to visit in and around Luxor we went back to Cairo. We travelled from Luxor to Cairo by train, but I don't remember anything about the journey so I guess it must have been very uneventful! Whenever we were in Cairo we always stayed at the same hotel, they were used to our frequent comings and goings, and gave us a choice of rooms. We always chose one that looked out over the Nile, it was so nice to lay in bed relaxing whilst watching life on the river. After a relaxing couple of days back in Cairo we caught a train to Alexandria ~ El- Iskandariya, it took about two hours.

ALEXANDRIA ~ EL-ISKANDARIYA

Egypt's second city Alexandria had a very cosmopolitan feel to it, its sights looking back to when it was the capital of Greco Roman Egypt, and the seat of Cleopatra. Its nineteenth century architecture reminding us of colonial days gone by. In 332 BC and just twenty five years old Alexander the Great wrested Egypt from the Persian empire. Ignoring Memphis the ancient capital, he chose to build a new city connected to his Macedonian homeland. He decided on a site in the fishing village of Rhakotis, leaving things in the hands of his architect Deinocrates he travelled to Siwa, then onto Asia where eight years later he died. The corpse of Alexander the Great was returned to Egypt but the priests refused to bury him at Memphis. His final resting place remains a mystery, although many archeologists are of the opinion that his body lies somewhere beneath Alexandria. Although we only stayed a few days in Alexandria we liked it, and whilst we were there we visited Fort Qaitbey (Citadel of Qaitbay). This limestone sentinel is a landmark originally built during the 1480's, with later work by Mohammed Ali, it has great views of Alexandria. Inside the keep is a mosque whose minaret was blown away in 1882 by the British, and upstairs was a small naval museum with Roman and Napoleonic sea battle relics. The fort occupies the site of Pharos, Alexandria's great lighthouse and one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The lighthouse was built during Ptolemy II's reign ~ c.279 BC, on instruction of an Asiatic Greek, Sostratus, possibly conceived by Alexander the Great. It would have stood between 125 and 150m high with a statue of Poseidon on its summit. Alexandria is the centre of Egypt's wine and spirits industry, and yet bars were not that plentiful. One in particular that we knew of and were looking forward to visiting had closed down when we were there. There were many other sites to visit in Alexandria but as we were only there for a short time, and alcohol was not on sale in many places, we had other things on our minds! Monty's Bar at the Hotel Cecil was a nice place to stop and watch the world go by, but a favourite of ours was the Spitfire Bar. The Spitfire Bar had the feel of an English pub so we were happy, and they sold imported and local booze. It was supposedly popular with expats although we were not there long enough to hear any. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your point of view, there were a lot of fast food joints ~ yuk! We saw McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Wimpy and a Baskin Robbins, which were all very busy with locals, mainly teenagers and young families. Thankfully, there were lots more interesting and more tasty options available as well. Having said that, one morning we went to The Trianonon, situated on the corner of Sa'ad Zaghloul and Ramleh, for a light snack. Famed as the swankiest patisserie in Alexandria, where Cavafy once worked upstairs, and with an ornate interior complete with gilt columns, popular for its flambee dishes and serving beer, we thought we couldn't go wrong. We both ordered a beer which was served promptly and more importantly cold. We had drank most of our drinks by the time our food arrived, Richard began to eat his, and thankfully before I had eaten any of mine I spotted an interloper nestling on my plate. We spoke to our waitress and as we were obviously not going to be eating our food asked to speak to the manager. When the manger came to our table he offered us some different food, which we declined. We just wanted to leave, but didn't want to be chased for leaving without paying our bill, although quite why we showed such courtesy when both the manager and waitress didn't seem to think there was a problem I don't know! For good measure before we left we decided to let all of the other patrons sitting nearby know about the bug in my food, oddly enough the staff had wanted to keep this very quiet! As soon as we were outside I threw up, the thought of eating bugs didn't really get my appetite going. Whilst leaning against the wall outside the entrance to this 'upmarket' cafe/restaurant, several people were deterred from entering, and most of the other people who had been sitting near our table inside also left ... I wonder why?! For our short stay in Alexandria we stayed at the cheap and cheerful, Union Hotel 164 26th July Street. The hotel was Art Deco, very clean with very helpful friendly staff, our room was bright, spacious and en-suite. I remember that the beds were probably the most uncomfortable we had ever slept in, they had wooden slats on top of which was a very thin mattress, needless to say we spent most of our time out exploring. Maybe that was the plan of the hotel, to get the guests up and out early, no relaxing in bed in the mornings! Our room did have a lovely huge covered in balcony, which more than made up for the hard beds, it was complete with chairs and a table where we sat and played cards, and watched the hustle and bustle of the people on the streets below and the crowds waiting for the tram. During the day we walked along the sea front, the beaches were surprisingly busy with local people, mainly families. All of the women, young and old, went into the sea fully clothed, leaving the water to return to the beach seemed to be a real struggle for them with metres of soaking wet fabric clinging to their bodies. During our walks along the coast we were approached by several groups of young people, mainly guys, for a change they didn't want to sell us anything they just wanted to chat, practice their English skills. The local people were friendly and although it was busy there was a feeling of calm. We didn't do much in Alexandria, but as well as Fort Qaitbey there were many other sites of interest. Destroyed in the fourth century, Cleopatra had begun building a temple for Antony, the Caesareum, it was completed by Octavian who dedicated it to himself. Originally it had two obelisks out front which remained there until the 1870's when they were moved, one to London on the Embankment, the other went to New York's Central Park. Commonly referred to as Cleopatra's Needles, a misnomer: erected in Heliopolis fourteen centuries earlier, the obelisks were moved to Alexandria fifteen years after she ended her life. Alexandria's principal Synagogue is worth a look, there was an elderly lady who spoke English, French and a little Hebrew there to show visitor's round. Before 1957 there were approximately fifteen thousand Jewish people in the Community, now there are less than seventy elderly Jews in Alexandria. The Coptic Cathedral of Saint Mark across the road is another place of interest. The Roman Theatre is also worth a visit as are the Fine Arts Museum and the Greco-Roman Museum. The other main sites to visit are the Anfushi Tombs, Ras el-Tin, the Western Harbour, the Eastern Harbour, Pompey's Pillar, the Catacombs of kom es-Shoqafa, the Zoo, and Nouzha Gardens to name a few. Next for us was a bus journey to Siwa.

SIWA OASIS

I know that we travelled by bus from Alexandria to Siwa and that it took about 9 hours, yet I have absolutely no memory of most of the journey. I do vaguely remember passing through Mersa Matrouh about 3/4 hours after leaving Alexandria to pick up a few more passengers. One passenger in particular, a young man, springs to mind because he caused a few problems. First he touched a young local girl who was travelling alone, the driver made him move seats. His new seat was right behind me, and it wasn't long before he reached round the side of my seat and touched my arm, as I was almost asleep this really made me jump. Before Richard even had the chance to point out the error of his actions, we were surprised when the bus practically performed an emergency stop. This young man was then unceremoniously removed from the bus by the driver aided by most of the other men on board. It was a very surreal moment. Once we were on the move again we settled down and slept until we were almost at our destination. We had really been looking forward to visiting Siwa as we knew that it was going to be sparsely populated, and very peaceful, which was going to be a refreshing change from our time so far in Egypt. When we visited Siwa it was perfect, very few people, and although the accommodation was basic we wouldn't have changed a thing. Whilst we were there, there were signs of development though, and we were told that several five star hotels were going to be built. Tourists first came to the area in around the middle of the 1980's. I hope that it hasn't become too developed since we visited, I don't think it will have as the local people were very certain that although they welcomed the financial benefits of tourism they were very keen that things didn't change too much. I think this was why up until the time we visited there had been no major hotel resorts. They knew that if they kept the accommodation pretty basic then they would be popular with independent travellers who would come in smaller numbers, and not as popular with the large tour groups. Siwa is isolated by hundreds of kilometres of desert and yet this has not deterred people being drawn to the area since antiquity. Siwa has been visited by Kings and presidents, generals and anthropologists. The legendary Army of Cambyses were heading toward Siwa when it disappeared in a sandstorm. Most famously Alexander the Great travelled to Siwa to consult the famous Oracle of Amun. Siwa was everything we had hoped it would be, thick palm groves surrounding freshwater springs and salt lakes, and enormous dunes, the perfect desert beauty spot. We spent about a week in Siwa mostly relaxing but we also visited the impressive ruins of Shali and Aghurmi, these labyrinthine mud built towns once protected the Siwans from desert raiders. Shali was founded in approximately 1203 when seven families left Aghurmi. As at Aghurmi, Shali was walled, built of kharsif: a salt impregnated mud which when dry is as hard as cement. This mud does melt during heavy downpours, but as it only rains heavily every fifty years or so it's not a major problem. Around the oasis are ruined temples from Greco-Roman times when Siwa was at the height of prosperity. Along with Alexanderia claiming that his body is buried in Alexandria, it is also claimed that the tomb of Alexander the Great is in Siwa? The ruins of Shali tower over the town and once reached a height of sixty metres. Walking round the labyrinth we found many chambers, passages and granaries. The views down over the town were great, we could see the palm groves, the salt lakes, it was breathtaking. At night Shali was floodlit. We walked through the palm groves to Aghurmi, there was a sign post with 'Alexander Crowning Hall' written on it directing us toward the ruins. It was an amazing feeling to think that we were walking in the footsteps of Alexander the Great. After liberating Egypt from its hated Persian rulers and ordering the creation of a city on the Mediterranean, Alexander rushed to Siwa during the spring of 331 BC. Apparently he asked for confirmation that he was the son of Zeus (the Greeks identified him with Amun), but the oracle's reply, which would have been whispered by the priest through an aperture in the wall of the sanctuary, is unrecorded. Alexander kept the oracle's reply a secret until he died in Asia eight years later. Alexander had expressed his wish to be buried near to the oracle, which is probably why some believe that his body does rest there. I do not remember the name of the hotel we stayed at, but our room was a good size and clean, but very basic. There was a sink in the bedroom and a separate toilet which had a shower head above it, so that the water could run down the toilet! The owners were very friendly, and it was right in the centre of town. We tried to get a room at the Palm Trees but we may have ended up at Youssef Hotel, anyway the hotel we stayed at had a good sized roof terrace with seating, and fantastic views over the surrounding palm trees. Restaurant wise, things were pretty good whilst we were there, we mainly ate at Abdou's restaurant and Restaurant Alexander. We hired bicycles one day from a place near to our hotel, and loaded up with many bottles of water we cycled way out to see the salt lakes and enjoy the peace. It was so lovely, we could see for miles in every direction, there was not a soul to be seen. That evening relaxing in Abdou's restaurant resting our saddle sore bottoms, we got chatting to a couple of other travellers, who we ran in to again in Dahab. One of the guy's we got chatting to also had a sore behind ... but not from cycling ... he had obviously eaten something well past its best! Our time in beautiful Siwa was over all to quickly, and we headed back to Alexandria. From Alexandria we got a bus to Nuweiba where we stayed overnight, before getting a boat to Aqaba in Jordan. I do not remember the name of the place we stayed at in Nuweiba, our accommodation was a round white washed hut on the beach. There were no beds as such, but all around the walls were very thin mattresses on top of stone seats. Needless to say this did not make for the best nights sleep we had during this trip. The hardness of our 'beds' were not the worst thing about that night though, the worst thing were the huge, and very hungry mosquitoes! The following morning we were covered from head to toe in bites. I had even been bitten on my lips, which was the first and last time I ever had a 'pout' to rival Angelina Jolie! Like the outside of our hut the interior walls were painted white, at least they were white when we first tried to get some sleep, but by the morning they had a pretty addition of tiny red splashes ... our blood, and mosquito corpses! Thankfully we were only in Nuweiba overnight to get the high speed catamaran to Jordan, which was fine by us as we couldn't leave fast enough! After an absolutely amazing visit to Jordan, (see Jordan Travelogue), we returned to Egypt and headed to Dahab.

DAHAB and ASILAH

Briefly back in Nuweiba, after we disembarked the boat from Jordan, we were looking forward to getting to Dahab for some total rest and relaxation after a busy time in Jordan. As we neared the custom officials they separated us 'foreigners' from the local people and told us to wait. There were about twelve of us all together, travelling in about four different groups of friends. Richard and I were the only people from the U.K. The other people were mainly from Australia and a couple of Americans. Anyway, we waited and we waited. Nothing. We were locked in behind this huge padlocked gate, and it soon became clear that we were only being detained for the amusement of the custom official, each to his own! Eventually after what felt like days they finally let us leave, and we all made a run for the two solitary taxi's that were waiting nearby. The taxi drivers said that they could each take five people, we agreed a price and Richard and I sat together in the front of one of the cars, and three of the Australian girls sat behind us. We travelled quite a distance but it didn't take that long as our driver had his foot flat to the floor for the whole trip. This was great for getting us there quick, but as the passenger door didn't shut properly it left me clinging on for dear life! Suffice to say I was very happy when we were dropped off near to the Mohammed Aly Camp. This was at the bottom end of the Mazbat, which is the local name for the strip of beachfront cafes and shops that run north to the lighthouse. To the south is the area known as Mashrabat, which was were we headed. We didn't know where we were going to stay, it was simply a case of going in to each place along the way and having a look at the accommodation. Once again I can't remember the name of the place we stayed at, which is a shame because I would recommend it. It was practically the last one along the beach southwards before a 'posh' hotel. It could have been called the Blue Parrot? Anyway, our room was large, en-suite, with an electric fan, padlock on the door, and a large outside lounging area, like an open sided tent. We had heard before we got to Dahab that it is one of those places that you either love or hate. That you would initially intend to stay for just one night and end up staying much longer, or that you would plan to stay for a couple of weeks and leave after only one night. We thought we would probably fall into the the latter category, that we would not like it and probably leave the next day. Well, we were wrong, very wrong. We loved it. Which was just as well because I doubt we could have moved on even if we had wanted to. Richard was very unwell. We had decided to go to Dahab to chill out so it wasn't that we had anything big planned, which was good as most days Richard couldn't roam too far from the facilities of our room! When we did venture further down the beach we usually ended up in one of our favourite bars, surprise surprise! The building of one of the bars we frequented was shaped like a boat, with signs two signs above one said 'Dahab', the other said 'Dublin', which made us laugh. The atmosphere there was great, especially at night during 'happy hour'. The food was excellent too, lots of pasta dishes, and the best breakfasts in the area. It was whilst we were sitting along the beach in one of the restaurants that we saw a familiar face, it was a guy we had got chatting to in Siwa, seeing him again gave us an excuse for a beer or two! Everyone in Dahab was really friendly, although up our end of the beach we felt quite old compared to most of the other travellers ~ and we were a lot younger then that we are now! There were a few places where we could use the internet, one of which was always popular and busy because the keyboards didn't have too many sticky keys and the connection was quite fast. There was a also a good sized supermarket which sold all of the basics, and further along there were some jewellery shops and hippy tat shops. The main interest in Dahab was diving so obviously there were diving related purchasing opportunities everywhere. All along the front, right next to the water there were restaurants, most of which had lots of blankets, rugs, and cushions all over the floor which is where we sat to eat. There wasn't anything negative about Dahab for us, except as with a lot of the places we visited in Egypt, the flies. In Dahab they were particularly prevalent, which meant that meals had to be consumed at speed. No stopping to savour the mouthful, as the flies were more than happy to take up residence on your plate, and even on your fork as it travelled to your mouth ... nice! We hadn't decided how long we were going to stay in Dahab, we just took it day by day. Our hotel let us pay for our accommodation a couple of days at a time, which meant we just kept asking to stay a little longer. In the end we stayed for a couple of weeks, although it felt a lot less. I recently saw a television programme on a travel channel, and I thought I recognised the beach, I did, it was Dahab. The presenter said that although much of the place hadn't changed for years there were signs of major development. She said that if you wanted to experience Dahab at it's basic best then you would need to visit sooner rather than later, before the five star hotels changed the place forever. I would say that we loved Dahab, it was so chilled and had a cool hedonistic vibe, it will be a shame when the down market 'hotels' are pushed out by the more luxurious ones. Having said that there is nothing nicer than going into one of the five star hotel bars, as we often did whilst in Dahab, and enjoying a nice cold drink, and appreciating the air conditioning, especially when you are staying in more basic surroundings. We always make good use of the best hotels wherever we are staying ... it would be rude not to! After a wonderful couple of weeks being completely lazy in Dahab, Richard was feeling a little better, and we felt like going back to Cairo.

CAIRO

After an early start and a seven hour bus journey we arrived back home in Cairo. By this time we really had begun to think of Cairo as home, it all felt so familiar and comfortable. We had decided that we were going to go back to the U.K. We spent about a week in Cairo and then one day we went to the airport hoping to get a flight. As is quite usual for us we hadn't booked a flight, we just took a taxi from our hotel to the airport. We had already agreed a price with the taxi driver before getting in the car. About five minutes up the road from our hotel the taxi driver decided that he wanted to charge us more than we had agreed, he asked us if we had enough money on us. Cheek. So we told him to stop the car as we wanted to get out and get another taxi. So then the driver said he would take us for the original price. We got out anyway, and walked back to our hotel to call another taxi, the man on the reception was obviously very surprised to see us. He had said when we left that we were welcome back anytime, I don't think he expected to see us so soon! It wasn't long before we were in another taxi and on our way to the airport. Once we got to the airport we found that the only available flights were seriously expensive, and as we were not in any particular hurry to leave, we decided not to purchase any tickets. Instead we got a taxi back to central Cairo to a travel agents, where we bought two tickets to London, at about a third of the price they wanted at the airport Excellent. Except that the flight went via Budapest, and it didn't leave for hours ... and hours ... and hours! Oh well, we were happy, and we are very experienced at wasting time! So we got yet another taxi back to the airport, where we waited ... and waited ... and waited. It was quite interesting sitting outside the airport, on the floor, watching everyone coming and going. Well it was for the first few hours, after that it got kind of old! There was a bit of excitement at one point when we were approached by some heavily armed policemen. They wanted to move us on, apparently we were making the place look untidy! Once they had seen our passports and tickets they seemed to be bored with us, and went off to bother someone else. Many hours later it was finally time to check in for our Budapest bound flight. There was only a handful of passengers waiting for our flight, and yet we were still all left standing outside right until the last minute before we were checked in and given our boarding passes. Once we were through to air side there was just enough time to get a drink before we had to board the plane. As it turned out it was just as well as hardly anything was open so we would have been bored stiff if we had had to wait in the departure lounge for too long. The flight to Budapest passed without incident, all we had to do now was change planes and we were on our way to London. No excitement on the Budapest to London flight either, we were back in the U.K. We had been away for over three months, we both thoroughly enjoyed every single day of our Egyptian travels. Although we did managed to see so many amazing sights whilst in Egypt we only scraped the surface of what truly is a fantastic country. One day we would both love to go back to Egypt and see even more of the sights, you could spend a lifetime there and still have places to visit. We have wonderful happy memories of all of it, the people, the crowds, the smells, the long cramped public transport journeys, the heat, the food, and even the dysentery!