EGYPT: BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL

Egypt? Considering we ended our last blog post on the Turkish Black Sea Coast you might wonder how we jumped to Egypt. And I agree that we owe you a quick explanation. While travelling Turkey and Egypt we wrote two blog posts about Turkey with all the stories of our time in the far east, Cappadocia and the Mediterranean coast. Unfortunately, we wrote them offline in Google Docs – and as soon as we went online again, all changes were overridden. Slowly getting over this disappointment we just couldn´t yet cope writing them again and so we are jumping straight to Egypt.

From Cairo to Alexandria to Hurghada then Luxor, Aswan and a trip to Abu Simbel, on the Nile to Luxor and finally back to Cairo.

TRAVELLING IN TIMES OF COVID

Back when we entered Turkey, we still clinged to the small hope that we could advance to Georgia or Iran. But the borders stayed closed. So once we had circled Turkey the question arose about our next destination. It was the middle of November and Europe became cold. Heavy-hearted, we decided to park our Pantherli and fly out to warmer countries. Thinking back to our initial plan to travel across Africa, we quickly opted for Egypt. Admittedly, travelling Africa without our beloved Pantherli will be much different, probably much more hassle and more limited to destinations with public transport access. On the other side, we enjoy more flexibility and can “jump over” critical regions.

Getting from Turkey to Egypt needed some planning. First of all, we weren´t allowed to leave Turkey without our car so we needed to find another country to park Pantherli. Supposedly, the border to Greece was closed. This left Bulgaria. Second, we needed a PCR test to enter Egypt. Thierry got in contact with the association of foreign Turks (don´t ask why…) and they were really helpful in finding a place to get tested in Turkey. It was actually just at the border to Bulgaria, only took forty minutes and the results were uploaded online within a day. We only spent one night in Sofia and flew out the next day, therefore the test was still within the allowed 72 hours before departure. Yay!

CHAOS, NOISE AND SMOG IN CAIRO

Fast forward to our arrival in Cairo. We arrived at around 3:30 in the morning and slept through till noon the next day. Our first impression from Cairo: always only minutes ahead of a traffic meltdown, the air filled with thousands of car horns and the streets lined with exhausting touts. For lunch, we ended up in a shady restaurant/bar that was probably fancy among the ex-pats in the 50s and felt like travelling back in time. The feeling persisted when we entered the Egyptian Museum. The museum houses a magnificent number of ancient artifacts in a wild assembly of glass vitrines. Some items were further described, most not. Walking through the museum, we both felt like explorers. Sometimes the most intriguing items first had to be discovered.

Part of a long papyrus roll on display in the Egyptian Museum.

Overall, we spent three days in Cairo and one day in Giza before continuing to Alexandria. Other sights that we can recommend in Cairo are the Coptic quarter as well as the Islamic quarter with its buzzing bazaar. We´d also recommend staying the night in Giza. This way, we saw the pyramids by night when they were illuminated and we entered the compound early in the morning before day-tourists arrived from Cairo. During the first two hours, we were practically alone with the pyramids but that might also be a side-effect of Covid-19.

Well deserved break from wandering around the Pyramids.

When walking out to the desert you get rewarded with this beautiful panorama of all Pyramids.

So close to the city but once there it feels like an entirely different world.

Beautifully decorated halls inside the Coptic Museum.

The Mosque of Amr Ibn Al As, the first mosque built in Egypt in 642.

Our usual breakfast place in Cairo: La Poire Cafe.

Found this gem by chance and had to get a drink.

ARE WE BACK IN CUBA?

We took the train from Cairo to Alexandria. Our hotel was located nearby the “corniche” meaning the seashell-shaped oceanfront. Compared to Cairo the city felt much more relaxed and while strolling along the corniche we felt thrown back to the look-a-like oceanfront in La Habana. The colonial-style houses that were since neglected added to that feeling. The following days, we visited the museum (with similar artifacts as the Egyptian Museum but displayed with much more care and ambiance), stopped multiple times at the Library only to find it closed each time, browsed several clothing stores to upgrade our wardrobe for the pending stay at a fancy resort in Hurghada, and indulged in the coffee-and-dessert-culture.

Glad to have internet access – searching for our train on these timetables would have been a nightmare

Choo Choo, all aboard! The train to Alexandria is ready to leave.

The concert hall in Alexandria. Ready for some culture!

Luckily, there are great places such as “Le Delice” to recharge.

Zapping on the TV and quite surprised to find Heidi in Arabic on a Syrian program.

RELAXING, GOLFING AND SNORKELLING IN HURGHADA

After the busy and buzzing Cairo and Alexandria we allowed ourselves some treat and spent five nights at the Steigenberger Pure Lifestyle resort in Hurghada. A few days earlier when we were about to book the place next door a good friend texted us that he saw we´re in Egypt and wanted to let us know that he will go to Hurghada. They booked for the same dates! What are the chances… So we ended up spending five lovely days with friends in Hurghada. But to get there, we first had to endure a rough 9-hour bus drive. Even though it is supposed to be a luxury bus, there isn´t much leg space.

The Steigenberger Pure Lifestyle Resort – turned out to be a good choice!

To our surprise, playing on the 9-hole golf court of the resort was free!

And I joined for support and some putting.

Not much fun travelling in this bus. These are the times when we miss our Pantherli the most.

TEMPLES, TEMPLES AND MORE TEMPLES

After the much-needed break, we were ready to tackle the cultural program in Luxor and Aswan. The wonders of the temples are best told in pictures.

One of the ram-headed sphinx in front of the Karnak temple in Luxor.

One of the four Obelisks of Hatshepsut still in place at Karnak temple – many of them were transported / robbed by foreign countries during earlier excavations or brought to Italy during the Roman Era. This one has a crack and is too risky to transport.

Standing in front of the Great Hypostyle Hall in Karnak

Inside the Luxor Temple with the 14th-century Mosque hanging on the left side.

On our way back from Aswan we did a tour of the West Bank of Luxor. This is one of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Here we found the most colorful reliefs. The tombs are dating back to 1550-1069 BC.

The tombs consist of a corridor leading to the burial chamber.

In Aswan, we stayed on Elephantine Island – a Nubian village and a true haven of tranquilness compared to Luxor and to the main city of Aswan. To reach the island we took the local ferry that operated throughout the day every few minutes.

On the way from Aswan to Abu Simbel: not much more than dry desert.

The two temples in Abu Simbel. They have a very interesting, recent history. When creating the huge dam in Abu Simbel in the 60s it became apparent that the temples would be flooded. In a huge effort costing more than US$40 million an international team cut the temples into more than 2000 blocks (each weighing from 10 to 40 tons) and moved them to higher grounds.

Inside the Great Temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel. The large hall is supported with eight columns, each fronted with a statue like in the picture.

A typical relief showing the Pharaoh´s strength in battle

To get back from Aswan to Luxor we booked a two-night cruise on the Nile. It´s our first cruise and we weren´t sure what to expect. The day before we walked to the cruise ship because we wanted to see it properly before booking with a random guy. We ended up with a pretty good deal (compared to the prices we heard from other travellers) and we were pleasantly surprised with the room as well as the quality of food. Overall, a wonderful way of travelling but I guess after more than two days, Thierry would have revolted.

Just sitting in our room and looking out the balcony window leads to interesting sights: a group of boys playing soccer on an island.

During the cruise we stopped at two sights, one of them the Edfu temple.

The other stop was at Kom Ombo temple. Unique in Egypt it is dedicated to two gods: the crocodile god Sobek and to Horus.

COPING WITH TOUTS

Even doing simple things such as crossing the street is the perfect occasion for touts to approach you. Do you need help crossing the street? And once you arrived on the other side, why not visit my shop? It took a lot of patience to cope with them. No, thank you – no, thank you – no, we really need nothing – no! We kept walking but they would just follow you and get rude if you even dare to ignore them. Normally, the conversation with touts would include a bit of banter or at least some nice words and once you declined their offer they would part. In Egypt, their manner was aggressive and de-humanizing to a point where you would just feel like a walking ATM obliged to throw cash around you.

There is no place you can hide from touts: they hitched a ride on our cruise ship and tried to sell goods by throwing them up to the balconies. Bu we must admit, this selling technique was at least funny to watch.

A more creative approach by a shop owner confused us. He asked for our help to write a letter to a friend. Apparently, he just became grand-father and also wanted to celebrate this with us. So declining the cup of tea would be very rude (he said). So we sat down, wrote down what he dictated to us, had a cup of tea and then he kind of forgot to actually sell something to us. We just stood up and left the shop. This left us utterly confused. Other approaches included asking if they should take a picture with you, at some point almost forcing you, and then demanding a tip for that much-needed service.

CONCLUSION

One could say Egypt was interesting. One could also say that this was the most exhausting country we´ve ever been to (and we self-drove a Tuk Tuk across India…). But in the end, it´s well worth the trouble for the breathtaking pyramids and temples.