Egypt

Monday 15 August 2005

We caught our lift to the airport at 8am after a drama which involved opening a wooden door, which had been blocking the staircase and going down 9 flights of stairs because the lift had packed up. While waiting to go through security before check in we witnessed in quick succession a man chuck an epileptic fit and a young woman drop a baby with the ensuing hysterics. The flight was quick and local knowledge got us back to the Pan Hotel, in Athens, where we booked in for two nights. Good to be back in the West.

Sunday 14 August 2005

We spent the morning, after an Egyptian breakfast (kidney beans, boiled egg, buns, tomato,cucumber, butter, tea, juice and jam), seeing the Egyptian Museum full of mummies and stone and wood carvings and inscriptions from 2800BC to 250AD (by then Egypt was a Roman province). The antiquity of it all was amazing as was their level of civilisation. In the evening we had a dinner cruise down the Nile, quite special and complete with a band, a belly-dancer and a sort of whirling Egyptian.

Saturday 13 August 2005

Sandy got up early for a walk around central Cairo and along the Nile. We had arranged a tour of the pyramids to be picked up at 11am. Off we went, saw the pyramids, somehow got dragooned into a buggy ride around the site and picked up an enthusiastic guide who took charge of our camera and snapped merrily away at anything that moved. Trip wound up costing us three times as much as we had originally agreed to but it was still quite cheap and we had fun. Spent the rest of the day watching Nile TV, in our room, which had a lot of programs in English including the News. Cairo is a huge place with a population of 22 million most of whom are poverty stricken. Mismanagement and corruption in high places as well as a shortage of natural resources makes for a breeding ground for Islamic extremists amongst the youth. The whole of the Middle East is a time bomb waiting to go!

Pyramids
Sphinx
Buggy Ride

Friday 12 August 2005

Went to a travel agency as soon as it opened, 9am, and got return flights to Cairo at 2.35pm back on Monday 11.20am with Egypt Air. Sandy had a quick walk around earlier and saw some sights. Took the Metro to the airport, very civilised. The flight was delayed until 3.45pm. Good meal and service on board. Saw the pyramids from the air as we turned on final approach. Cairo is amazing, green on either side of the Nile for about 10 km, then harsh desert - no vegetation at all. Negotiated a cheap hotel with a travel agent at the airport and wound up at the Hotel Cleopatra Palace, worn out now but would have been great in its day, a couple of blocks from the Nile. Traffic very heavy and driving totally insane. Death more probable here than in any aeroplane. Settled down for a noisy night - cars hooting at pedestrians!

View of Cairo and Nile