Egypt 1989
I can only remember crying (tears actually running down my cheeks) twice in my life since I left hospital in 1976, at the age of 16. The first time this happened, I was sitting comfortably in the armchair in the bedroom of my flat in Stafford quietly reading a book. The book was called 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest' by Ken Kesey and as I reached the final chapter, I had become so involved in the story, that I just stopped reading and felt the tears squeeze out of my eyes and drip down onto the open book in my lap.
The next, and until now only, time that this biological coup d'état by the subconscious has occurred, I was sitting on a plane which had just taken off from Cairo International Airport. The year was 1989 and I was mid-way through a one-year contract as an English teacher in the State of Kuwait, and for some reason, the prospect of returning to work in Kuwait after a short holiday in Egypt brought on a brief but uncontrollable fit of depression, resulting in the aforementioned outburst of emotion.
I'd arrived in Cairo just one week before with a return flight ticket, a reservation at the Ramses Hilton and a rough itinerary in my mind of what I wanted to do during my stay. On entering the arrivals hall, I was immediately surrounded by a throng of young men offering their services as a guide. One guy, who I judged to be someone I could trust, asked me what my plans were while I was in Egypt. "See the pyramids, the valley of the kings, the Aswan Dam and a trip to Alexandria", I replied. The unwritten contract for services rendered seemed to have been signed and all the other would-be guides disappeared to look for other clients, while my 'minder', I'll call him 'Ahmed', led me away with the following advice "you can get to Alexandria by train from Cairo, but if your time is limited, it would be better to fly to Luxor, get the train from there to Aswan and then fly back to Cairo from there. If you like I can take you to where you can arrange the flight ticket". He showed me to the Egypt Air counter, where I bought the flight tickets he'd suggested, then he took me to the taxi rank and made sure I wouldn't be ripped off on the trip to my hotel. Before parting he arranged to pick me up the next morning for the trip to the Pyramids.
"Well", I thought to myself, "that seems to have sorted everything out for me nicely".
After checking in to the hotel, I took a photo of the city skyline and another looking down over Tahrir Square towards the Egyptian museum. It was only lunchtime, so after resting for a while, I left the hotel, crossed the square and went into the Egyptian Museum. Wow! It's by far my favourite museum in the world. There were thousands of exhibits from the time of the Pharaohs, including mummy cases and artefacts. On the second floor, I found the crowning glory* of the burial mask and other golden treasures of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen. After four hours wandering around the museum, I felt that I had only just scratched the surface of the catalogue of ancient history on display, but I'd seen enough and decided to return to the hotel. After a good night's sleep, I woke up at 8am, had breakfast via room service and went down to reception to meet my guide. He'd arrived in a car, and after crossing a bridge across the Nile, we drove to the Pyramids at Giza. There were two choices open to me: either explore this fantastic archaeological site on horseback, or riding around on a camel. As I'd never been on a camel before, this was my choice and I was introduced to my 'steed', who I was informed by his owner, was called 'Moses'. What a great way to travel! With huge loping strides, Moses took me in swaying motion up the sandy slope towards the furthest of the three larger pyramids. The view back towards the city was spectacular, with the more adventurous people who had selected a tour on horseback, shooting across the sand on what appeared to be radio controlled horses! After sitting quietly and admiring this amazing wonder of the world, Moses and his keeper took me down to the area where the Sphinx was located and I dismounted, gave Moses a pat on the nose and said goodbye. I spent a while contemplating this strange statue and the temple nearby, then made my way back to where Ahmed was waiting with the car. After a short stop in gift shop, we drove out of the city, with the road running beside the River Nile. At one point, I noticed something which highlighted the huge contrasts that exist in the country of the Pharaohs; on the other side of the river, a farmer was using a device which looked like it had been invented by Archimedes, to irrigate his crops. A horizontal waterwheel was being driven by a donkey walking around in circles, so I asked Ahmed to stop and take a photo. After lunch at a roadside cafe, our next destination was the historic site of Memphis. Firstly, we went to the museum housing a huge statue of Ramses the second lying on it's back, with the alabaster sphinx of Memphis (a smaller cousin of the one in Giza) outside. It was now about four o'clock in the afternoon and we still had one more stop to make - at one of the very first pyramids ever built, a precursor of the enormous constructions we'd seen that morning - the Stepped Pyramid at Saqqara.
After a photo-shoot in front of the pyramid, Ahmed mentioned that it might be possible to get into one of the underground tombs if I paid some 'Baksheesh' to the warden. "Good idea", I replied, and after the deal had been closed, I descended down some narrow steps and arrived inside an amazing room covered with Egyptian hieroglyphics.
It was beginning to get dark when Ahmed returned me to my hotel, but the day was far from over. After enough time to freshen up and have something to eat, my guide returned at 8pm and took me back to the pyramids at Giza for the sound and light show. This open-air history lesson with one of the seven wonders of the ancient world as a backdrop was a spectacular way to finish a magical day. However, after arriving back at the hotel after the show, I decided that I hadn't had enough yet, so I got the lift to the bar on the top floor of the hotel and proceeded to get very drunk watching a local singer and band playing there.
The next day I woke up with a horrendous hangover, but had to force myself out of bed, pack my stuff and get a taxi to the airport for the flight to Luxor. I arrived there in the early afternoon, booked into a cheap hotel and relaxed for a while, reading my Lonely Planet Guide to Egypt - focusing on my current location. I got an early night after a meal in a local restaurant.
I was up quite early the next day and headed down to the docks on the River Nile. I had two things to organise: hire a bike and arrange a Felucca trip across the river. Both tasks were completed in rapid succession, and I was soon sailing across the river on one of these graceful sailboats, with my bicycle sitting beside me. When we reached the far bank, it was great to escape from the other tourists on my bike. I was pedalling away happily along a largely deserted road, when I suddenly came to a screeching halt. Sitting in the plain to my right were two giant statues. I sat and contemplated them for a few minutes before setting off once again for the mountains in the distance, where I knew I would find the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. The highlights of this visit were being able to enter the tomb of Tutankhamen, whose treasures I'd seen in the Egyptian Museum, and the tomb of Nefertiti, in which I found some beautiful wall paintings and more hieroglyphics. The guide also explained how the paintings related to ancient Egyptian beliefs.
The ride back to the Nile was easier, going downhill most of the way, and when I arrived I got the ferry back to Luxor. After a late lunch, it was time to explore the biggest temple in the world - the Temple of Karnak. It was late afternoon when I arrived at this amazing monument with its giant columns and huge statues and obelisks. Like so many of the things I'd seen in this wonderful country, I could have spent days exploring this fantastic place, but the sun was going down and it was time to head back to the hotel.
After a leisurely breakfast the following morning, I went to Luxor railway station and caught the train to Aswan. The reason for going there was to see the Aswan Dam and the historical sites nearby. The dam itself was a bit disappointing, but I enjoyed the trip to see the Temple of Philae, which was interesting to explore. The guide said that the German government had paid for the whole temple to be moved stone by stone from its previous position and rebuilt when the area was flooded for the inauguration of the dam. Next stop was the airport for the flight back to Cairo, where I booked into the Sheraton again. On my last day in Cairo I got a taxi to the Mohammed Ali Mosque, and then bought some souvenirs from the souk in the old town nearby. After this, I got the train to Alexandria, arriving there at about 5pm. When I booked into an old, cheap hotel on the sea front, the ancient receptionist seemed a bit surprised to see me and I had the feeling that I was the only foreign tourist staying there. That night, I went out to explore the city on foot. If I remember rightly, I went to the cinema, but I can't remember now what film I saw, then I managed to find a lively bar where I spent a few hours. It was after midnight when I headed back to the hotel, and I realised that I was being followed by two young guys. My hotel was on the fourth floor of an old building, and I was feeling apprehensive as I opened the metal concertina lift door and saw that the two local guys had entered the building as well and were waiting for the same lift. My hand was on the flick knife in my pocket as the rickety old lift started its ascent, then suddenly, one of the guys started jumping up and down and the lift came to a shuddering halt, jammed between floors. "Oh dear!", I thought, "this is going to get nasty!". However, at that moment I heard the metal lift door to the hotel above being wrenched open, and the old receptionist shouted out a flood of very angry Arabic. One of the guys beside me in the close confines of the lift replied to him sheepishly, and a few seconds later the lift was on its way again and I got back safely to my room while the old receptionist was giving the two guys a good telling off.
The following day, it was time for the train back to Cairo, then straight to the airport for my return flight to Kuwait, and the strong feeling of emotion that hit me after having visited a very special place, populated by people who, on the whole, knew how to look after a guest to their country very well.
* The best thing of all
