++ MADNESS IN EGYPT ++
This is the 3 June 2005 edition of this page
Chapter Two
ANCIENT EGYPT versus 'MODERN'
I had long desired to see the antiquities of Egypt as they had always amazed and perplexed me. Thus the
Pyramids as well as the Sphinx were 'on my list' as were the magnificence of Karnak, Abu Simbel, various Temples,
the Colossi of Memnon, various obelisks and so on.
Therefore, I had much to see and experience 'first hand'. The journey to Cairo had been made by a jet
aircraft of Egypt Air. It was an American aircraft and well instrumented, both for crew and passengers.
In particular, what struck me was my first experience of a passenger inflight-map that plotted the current
position of the aircraft - together with flight info like speed, altitude, outside temperature, distance etc..
The motley collection of arabs, Brits, Christians, Humanists and general travellers were a mixed-bag of
people - starting with the smoking-seat-requiring Egyptian man (remember that this is 1996!) who realised his mistake
when seated next to me (friendly enough, he then went on a walkabout to find his requirements!) - to the even more
nice and friendly Egyptian guy who joined me for the flight.
This guy was a very jolly and sensible person with a great sense of humour - and far more proficient with
his 'English'! He had views, lifestyle and personality which made for a very refreshing and stimulating flight for both of
us. His name was Adel Samuel who lives on the fringes of Cairo at Heliopolis. We engaged in conversations about the
Internet, Egypt, Geography - and I learned a lot from him about the 'Egyptian Viewpoint'.
As time progressed on my visit, I realised the significance of what my son had warned me about, - i.e
the persistence of the street-salesman (worse than any other place on Earth!) - and the 'modern man' in this Country.
My Egyptian fellow-passenger had obviously been a character who'd experienced the outside world and was, in no
way, representative of the 'pests' he'd left behind in Africa.
Unfortunately, as we approached the CAIRO landing, this 'excellent company' left - and I got my original 'smoking
Egyptian' back. By now, fortunately, he was a jollier character!!
The moment the aircraft touched down and decelerated, there was an almost 100% participation in wild
applause for the pilot - mainly from the rear of the 'craft. I'd never experienced this before. My newly returned
companion described the pilot (giving his name) as a "very good man, good pilot and a very intelligent man".
All I could retort was "Yes, they all are, - aren't they!?"
"Egypt is more primitive than I've ever thought" , I pondered to myself.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
All places in Egypt were just what my son had warned me about,- i.e a preponderance of
street-salesmen/beggars. Whereever I went - or anyone else went - they were ALWAYS there!! This
is the modern face of Egypt.
If one was alone, in a group, getting into or out of a coach- you could BET that they'd
be there. If one was in on a carriage ride (horse & buggy!) with a lady friend - or even one's wife -
one could and did get pestered. The whole romance of it all (if ever there was one) would be ruined.
My horse & carriage ride was with our guide/courier whose Company had already paid
very handsomely over the odds for the rides of all persons in the group. He was very rightly annoyed
when the driver (an older guy) and his young lad 'sitting in' with him. Begged us for more tips. My
guide almost exploded at this cheek - at wanting more than the already over-generous amount they'd
already been given. He told them in no uncertain terms!!
But he did give an extra tip ONLY for the lad - making clear to both lad & oldie that that
was what he intended!!
I doubt whether the horse (who was doing ALL the work) ever sees any benefits at all.
It was whilst in the same area on foot that I saw a horse, completely dehydrated and gasping for
water slithering along on its throat and stomach - trying to reach a puddle (a very rare thing in
Egypt!) for a drink. No operator or horseman helped that horse - who inevitably died before reaching
that puddle.
No animals get sympathy from the Egyptians! Dogs, horses or whatever!!
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Even disembarking from the aircraft (a big one!) was unusual and PRIMITIVE, so we
went down the steps and caught a bus to the 'terminal building'!! After that we had a long wait
in various queues, and we always manaaged to get FORMS which weren't the right ones.
Each official said that the previous information and 'forms' were wrong. So we filled
in some MORE in the SWELTERING Cairo heat, the last ones being completed between 10.45pm
and 11.10pm (PLUS!) Then it was on to Baggage Retrieval - but, fortunately, all the SAGA people
(i.e. US!) had ours already retrieved automatically by the time that I got there!
There then followed an interminably long, hot & sweaty wait for ALL our people to
accumulate - and our SAGA rep (guide) to check that all were there. Two were not!! We then,
naturally, had to stand around whilst everyone recorded the recognition of their own case!
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Then a final Double-roll-call, and one guy loaded all the SAGA luggage onto a SAGA trolley,
then two guys pushed this out of position, out of the terminus, through the 'NOTHING TO
DECLARE' channel, followed by all us English people of varying accents - where we went to
a coach (seemingly several miles away on the outskirts of Cairo!). We entered this vehicle whilst
the guys transferred the trolley-load to a coach-hold
.
We now indulged in a nice air-conditionned ride, me sitting next to a nice lady, to the PYRAMISA
hotel, which is miles away - arriving there well-gone midnight through the heavily congested,
high activity roads with much horn-blowing through the early hours of the morning. The driver
had to hold up THREE lanes of traffic to back down a side-road (quite expertly, I thought!).
Once the coach came to a halt, we all scrambled out and, as instructed, went straight to the
restaurant for a meal. To be perfectly honest, nobody fancied any food this time of night. If
we were back in England, nearer midday, I might have enjoyed it. Sitting near another nice lady,
called Betty, we handed all our passports and a sheath of airline tickets to a 'guide' and received
the room keys during the meal. I then went to my room, 214, at 2 a.m tomorrow. This is a beautifully
cool, airconditionned, room in which I do minimal case-unpacking at this unearthly hour.
I retire for a good night's slumber.
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I awakened at 6.58a.m (which is late for me) so I got up and ate some of each of the fruit items
in my room, got partially dressed and got a number of my travel-notes up-to-date. At 8.01am,
I decided to finish dressing - bearing in mind that I have until 9.25 am to meet my guide. I also
decided to skip breakfast in the restaurant after last night's problems.
Later, I emerged from the cool air-conditionned hotel across the "frying" temperatures on the
pavement to my waiting COACH. It crossed Cairo through some semi-derelict areas to the
Salah Al-din Citadel where I did some photography (exterior only) and didn't go to the
'proper inside'
The we went on further to the "Khan el-Khalili"
for a stroll through the main street of this
giant BAZAAR. Did a bit of photography here too = before coaching back to the hotel for
a fabulous lunch. Wine and other drinks like pepsi-cola are free - but WATER costs a
fortune - as a colleague Maureen found out!! (Good job I chose Pepsi!!). Egypt has plenty
of wine - but water is either rare, dangerous or expensive.
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Then, in the afternoon, a trip in the coach took us to the famous EGYPTIAN MUSEUM where
I spent two hours, culminating in the TUTANKAMEN TREASURE ROOM. A Guide performed
an excellent explanation of the statues, immortality symbologies and so on. On exit from the
museum, I was then exposed to the hideous temperatures once again!! A short walk and talk
with some women, before the coach journey back to the Hotel, relieved the suicidal thoughts
engendered by those temperatures.
Back at the hotel, I made some more currency exchanges, mineral water purchases and getting
some more of my notes up-to-date.
So ended 4th September 1996.
Let's return to Egyptian index for reorientation.
.. or read the trip plan from the 1996 story in its
Egypt Notes.
Return to Roy's home page for full list of books and other writings either finished or under preparation.