A Skinny Git in Cairo

Cairo, Egypt                                                                                              7th June 1989

Egypt has always held a fascination for me ever since I was a child. I used to remember back in the 70s that the BBC would show a series of pictures as a filler between programmes, several being of Tutankhamun's death mask, which used to frighten the hell out of me and send me scampering behind the sofa until they had vanished from view. I also remember having a book on mummies which I had a morbid curiosity for too.

Cheops Pyramid

Several years later, there I am, booking a bus in Tel Aviv and organising my visa. The following day I was being whisked towards the border at Rafah and then across the vast Sinai Desert that lie beyond it. The border crossing was slow and disorganised. A scruffy looking Egyptian soldier took our passports and disappeared with them. An event less two hours later, we finally found ourselves on our way again, heading for the bustling metropolis of Cairo. I hooked up with another English guy and two Swedish girls who happened to be on the same bus as me, so thankfully, I wasn't going to have to leap into the unknown completely alone.

Giza Plateau

The traffic is typical of a developing country. Badly maintained vehicles, a complete lack of traffic rules and horns being used in the place of brakes. My first experience of travelling in an Egyptian taxi led to my first ever uncontrollable sphincter collapse as we flew through a busy junction at 50mph being missed literally by inches, by several other vehicles. We booked into a grotty hotel overlooking Ramses Square although our room just happened to look away from it and one change of kecks later we took to the streets.
Tourist shops and bazaars abound and while in Cairo shopping opportunities are many, their wasn't really much to do inside the city except maybe visit the Egyptian Museum. 
 

In the Desert...

Egypt has complained vociferously for many years. that relics taken from the country over the centuries should be returned, however, if the exhibits inside were anything to go by then I'm glad that these museums have steadfastly refused to hand anything over. The exhibits were dusty, with many of them showing signs of further decay and degradation. The exhibit signage looked as old as the exhibits themselves with many of them having curled up or been covered in a thick layer of grime. Hopefully, since my visit 22 years ago, things have now changed.

Sphinx

There is a rather large and impressive mosque which is open to tourists. I can't for the life of me remember its name so any suggestions would be gratefully received. The day after, we travelled out to the outskirts where the Imbaba Camel Market was being held. Some of these camels spend 30 days travelling up from Sudan to be sold to Egyptian traders. Tourists will often find themselves being offered camels for their spouses or partners. I just wish the ex-wife had been with me. With her blue eyes, blonde locks and superb Scandinavian features, I would have easily got four camels for her which after selling them for a hefty sum, would have no doubt got me half way round the world!
 

Giza Village

Travelling around Cairo is cheap and easy, even if it is fraught with danger. Negotiating hard with cab drivers is the order of the day, however, there is an even cheaper and easier way of getting around the city, the Cairo subway system. Back in 1989, it was modern, efficient, spotlessly clean and very cheap. I can only imagine that it has been vastly expanded over the years and that it makes getting around the city even easier than it was back then.
 

Scale...Evident from the taxi in the bottom centre of the pic...

The Giza Plateau was what we had really come here to see, so, before heading out we decided that we needed some form of transport, camels being our first choice. I instantly took an extreme dislike to them as on our approach they started making all kinds of unnerving noises that I didn't think that it was possible for an animal to make, accompanied of course by the drooling and spitting, that camels so seem to revere. 

Giza Larging Crew

I decide instead to get myself a horse.....bad mistake. The horse itself was an Arabian stallion although it looked quite skinny, I felt quite sorry for it, having to carry me, even though I did only weigh 66kg at the time! That pity rapidly turned to loathing and abhorrence as this horse took me for a ride...literally! The damn thing was uncontrollable! I instantly named my mount for the day 'Satan' although the horned one himself would have no doubt been more amicable and more likely to have shown a little more compassion towards my dangly bits, but after this experience, I was convinced that my vocal cords would forever more, produce a noise several octaves higher than before I'd got onto this damned creature and any future attempts I might make at fatherhood were sure to result in abject failure. 

'Satan' and I

I'd ridden before, so I was hardly what you would call an inexperienced rider, but somewhere along the line this beast, had forgotten the meaning of trot and canter and went straight from a gentle walk to the speed of sound in less that 0.1 of a second. How I stayed on I will never know. My English compatriot Adrian, also decided to take a horse and every time he galloped past me, being like the archetypal boy racer at a set of traffic lights, Satan was having none of it and flew off in hot pursuit after his stable mate with me hanging on for dear life somewhere behind him!
 

Ramses Square

The other jewels in Egypt's crown lie outside of the city in Memphis, Saqqara and Dashur. Giza is the most famous being home to the famous Giza pyramids and the Sphinx. The Pyramid of Khufu is usually open to the public. The inside, while hot and humid, gives you a wonderful insight into the architectural and engineering marvels carried out by these ancient builders. The Grand Gallery will leave you astounded, especially when you consider that no machinery was used during the construction of this vast and impressive structure. In 1989, it was possible to descend into the lower parts of the pyramid, however, this is now no longer permitted.
 

View over Cairo

The Sphinx while interesting is a bit of an anti-climax. In pictures it looks huge while in reality it is no more than 20m tall. Despite this, rumours abound of a 'Hall of Record' hidden away somewhere beneath this structure. Archaeologists using sonar ground penetrating radar have previously located an open space under the Sphinx although the Egyptian Department of Antiquities has remained curiously silent over any possible discovery. Memphis is maybe less well known, however, in antiquity, this was the capital of Lower Egypt.
 

Imbaba Camel Market

Here you will find remnants of the old city along with many temples that were dedicated to the Egyptian Gods. Saqqara is the home of Egypt oldest pyramids including the 'Step Pyramid' which is well over 4,500 years old. While small and simple in construction when compared to its larger and younger relatives, pyramid building was a huge step forward in tomb technology. Prior to this, pharaohs were buried in simple mastabas built from mud bricks or stone.
 

Huge Mosque

Moving further south you will come to Darshur that houses yet more ancient pyramids spread out over a wide area, including the 'Red' and 'Black' pyramids and the 'Bent Pyramid' which was an experimental pyramid which helped the ancient Egyptians to finally get their angles right! During my trip, access was restricted as these pyramids were inside a military zone, thankfully, this is now no longer the case. Yet more pyramids extend further into the desert for 100s of kilometers although getting to some of them can be quite difficult.
 

Inside the Mosque

Getting out of Cairo was a real rigmarole! Although our hotel was right next to the railway station I spent almost half a day trying desperately to buy a ticket to Luxor. At that time each ticket window sold tickets for its own designated platform only, so, you had to first find the train number you wanted, then you had to find out which platform number it was going to depart from before going to the relevant window. This was made even more difficult being as the numbers in Arabic are undecipherable to the Western eye and to top it all off, nobody spoke more than a few words of English. Lucky, I finally ran into an Egyptian student who spoke perfect English and within 15 minutes, I was the proud owner of a return ticket to Luxor.

View from the Minaret