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HIGHLIGHTS FROM EGYPT

Six weeks journey through Egypt in March and April 2000 - it is impossible to recall each moment or to record it all. Based on my personal diary, my +300 photo's and my failing memory I will try to share with you some of the highlights from this trip. I flew from Amsterdam on 19th March 2000 with my Egyptian husband and our son. Being of mixed Sephardic origine Egyptian history certainly attracts to me besides my marital background. Our first days in Cairo were not memorial, because of the hardships we experienced in our deranged hotel in Zamalek. Travelling with the first class(?) train from Cairo to Luxor I marvelled at the sight of the country life. The heat upon arrival in Luxor and the gazing men in their white galabiyas convinced me that I had come to another world. Then I encountered the black steam locomotive proudly being exhibited in front of the train station. A memorial plate explained that the first railroad between Cairo and Alexandria was built in the 1850s. The railroad company was owned by Ibrahim (Abraham) Abouaf.

We stayed in a hotel in the village Karnak, 6 km north of Luxor and walking distance to the Karnak temple. I woke up every day at sundawn and we visited the temple early in the morning; a wonderful experience because there were hardly any tourists there at that time. A polish archaeologist from the University of Memphis (in USA) was drawing the frizes of the great hypostyles. Hopefully they will be able to publish their researches in future.

The next day we visited the westbank and met a dear young donkey driver Omar Ali Kasar from the village Iltot. We rented his three donkeys Sisi, Ali Baba and Abu Ruz. Omar guided us on the ride across the mountains to the Valley of the Kings. I noticed a lot of mesolitic scrap along the trail. In the afternoon we visited Luxor museum, and I explained the art to our four-year old son. He was mesmerized when I told him that a great snake had broken all the dolls (statues) of the great king. In the evening we sailed down the Nile with Omar on a felucca. The next day we returned to the West bank and we visited the Valley of the Queens, the tomb of Nefertari, the Temple of Haptjesut, the Ramesseum and Medinat Habu. Resting outside a tomb near the Valley of the Queens, Omar was scared by a cobra, and so my husband had to go fetch the donkeys. Luckily nothing fatal happened. We drove back to the green fields and my husband gave Omar lots of advices how to approach tourists. Omar does not read nor speak English, but he promised that he would give it a try. In the afternoon we visited his parents who were wonderful people. Mama showed us their lifestock and Papa demonstrated his felaheen farming techniques. We reposed and watched the sunset.

We continued our journey and came to Aswan, where I met the artist and owner of Rosewan hotel mr. Farouk. He tried to sell me his art for $40 but in the end we agreed that he would give me some samples of his hand-painted postcards, which I would try to sell for him in Amsterdam. He is an autodidact painter of Nubian origine and consider himself a greater artist than Pablo Picasso. His life is about 1) money 2) women 3) his art. Rosewan hotel also provides travellers with Internet computer facilities. Kitchener Island is the ideal place for a young family to have a picknick. The exhibition in the Nubian Museum is very interesting with a professional layout, but visiting it with young children does not leave the parents much time to study the artefacts themselves.

We travelled to Abu Simpel with microbus. You should only try to do the same if you have an egyptian husband, because the police have prohibit European travellers on the desert road. The drive was spectacular. I saw fata morgana, pyramid shaped mountains and the road went straight into the heart of the desert. We had lots of time to visit the Abu Simpel temple comlex. I found myself copying the grafitti on the statues in my notebook. I speculated why one would destroy the appearance of this ancient art by carving his name into the stones. My conclusion was that these people wanted immortality. Here are the names of the 19th century vandalists: Giovanni Stuzizi 1807, TC VAN DER HORST, Wimitford Dec 1851, Drovetti 1816, Godfrey Wye 1819, EMS, H . C. Miwell 1844, H. Styleman & E. Littleton Feb 1839, Stangen 1882, Murray 1853, M. Sommerville 1879, Fotecci 1845.

In one of the storerooms I saw a nest of swallows. They were very cute. A french touriste said they were 'mignon', but they also contributed in their own way to the detoriation of the paintings under the nest. Walking around the temples we paid a visit to one of the luxury cruiseships which just arrived from Lake Nasser. Their crew welcomed us and served a delicously cold drink of 'carcadey' because we were Egyptians. The tourists at this boat were really pampered. We went on shore and had a sip of the Nile water. I was sure that we would all get bilharzia, and my husband laughed about me. We went back to Aswan; another three hours in the microbus through the baking hot desert. We spent the evening strolling through the markets. I bought casettes with nubian music. Then we went eating at our favourite: restaurant Derwish close to the station.

Next day we went to the Moses mountain with bus and we arrived in the evening. Camel drivers were fighting who would get to ride us up the mountain. During the struggle I lost sight of my husband and son. Sitting on a camel its driver led me away into the darkness. Luckily I was not kept hostage a long time but soon reunited with my spouse and child. However I was quite upset. We went to a resting place halfway the mountain and walked the rest of the way. It was cold and raining but thanks G'd we had brought warm clothes. We slept a few hours at the top of the mountain until sunrise. It was cloudy and the Christians were chanting in the capel, which was full of people. The stairway from which we descended led us to the monestary St. Katherine at the spot of the burning bush. Historical places like this always seem to dissapoint me when I see them but the mountain was awesome. I discovered that the beduin of the Sinai used a hexagram as a navigation instrument. This could have been the original function of the "Star of David" before it became an amulet.

The red rocks of the Sinai inspired me to imagine how the people of Israel spent 40 years there. I am sure that they were real beduins, rather than Egyptians. From the books I read I conclude that the manners of the old Biblical patriarchs resemble those of present-day beduin chiefs, and the position of the women and children would not have differed much.

Arriving in Dahab, I found that wonderful mixture of oriental hippy culture and traditional Egypt which was described in the Lonely Planet Travel Guide. We negelected the people who tried to bring us to 'the best hotel in town' and took a look at the various camps. We rented a nice clean room in Mermaid pension close to the sea. There was a courtyard where Yusef could play. Each morning he and I woke up at sundawn and went to the beach where we found pieces of reef and molluscs. We rented some gear and went snorkeling at the blue hole. I was caught with fire. For three days I did not do anything else than snorkeling: Blue Hole, Eel Garden and Blue Lagoon. The labyrinths at the blue hole were full of various fish. I saw a lion fish but knew that I should not touch it. You could also hear the fish under water. Eel Garden was full of black sea eels. The big rock at the Blue Lagoon also attracted lots of fish; the largest fish I saw there was a one meter huge Redmouth Grouper eating a Blackspine Sea Urchin. The jeep driver told us that last month two divers drowned in the Blue Hole. When their diving gear was not returned in the evening, the locals searched for the corpses in the dark undersea tunnels. Not all victims are found, so there must still be skeletons down there.

After Dahab we drove back to Cairo, where we stayed with the family of my husband in Giza. We visited the tourist places. My favourites were the Agricultural Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art. The dance of the derwishes at Al-Hurreyah in Khan Al-Khalili was also spectacular. We went to see the ballet performance of Sherezade at the Kallah of Salah-addin. The Sheraton Royal Gardens at Helmeiat Al-Haram street advertised with their Danish bakery. I wanted to buy some cake but the bakery was closed until July. The (Danish) manager gave me a bag of free Danish vanilla-cookies as compensation. The swimming pool there looked very refreshing. But the best place for me to stay in Cairo were the lush gardens of the agricultural museum in Doqqi. They are quiet and with beautiful trees and flowers. I need a place where I can rest, and this is probably the only place in the metropol where I would feel on my own. The rest of the city is a beehive and I feel I could not live there. Too much noise and never able to move around, I could not drive a car neither a bicycle through Cairo. I would have to learn Arabic to take a taxi or a (micro)bus, but I am not comfortable with gazes of the driver or the male passangers. The metro is OK, as there is a compartment only for women. But walking in the streets with my blue eyes, blond hair and european complexion is a strain. You feel like a celebrity when people approach you with questions of for taking a picture. My brother in law went with me most of the time and he was an responsible chaperonne. He liked to take photographs of me at the pyramids so something I must have done right. Of course we went most of the time in non-turist places, and I think that he was quite puzzled by my urge for visiting bookshops, health shops and collecting seeds from trees and flowers. I bought a lot of books at the AUC bookstore in Zamalek. We also went to the Zoo where all Cairo takes their children out, so it was a folkloristic experience but the animals are rather pathetic. There is a lion which roars on command and one gets to feed the animals against a bakshish for their guardian. I could not find a single crocodile but there is a spectacular large heard of hippotaumi.

I went to visit the Synagogue and met with the famous mrs. Weinstein (both mother and daughter). The Jewish ladies whom I met in the synagogue were very friendly, and one of them welcomed me to her home, where we tasted her home made basbusa. We talked about the situation of the Jewish community and I am sure that they could use some moral support, because the congregation is in a difficult position. Most of them are elderly Jewish women, and they hardly have any contact with other Sephardim. I think the best way to help would be to visit the community members privately and hear what they need. I also visited Alexandria with my husband and I liked much more to be there, because it was cooler by the sea and I could find my own way. I think I would like to live there. We never made it to Tanta, the city of origin of my husband's mother, but I hope to see the family house there one day.

Dona Deli

Amsterdam

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vibekeolsen@yahoo.com

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Page Updated Thu Aug 31, 2000 8:18am EDT