Egypt Day 15-16: farewell Egypt

Day 15: The pilot kneels on the tarmac as he prays to Allah under the shade of the wing, whilst we shuffle onto the Egypt air flight bound for Cairo. This flight signals the nearing end of our Egypt journey and it’s now that we begin to reflect. We have had a few frustrations along the way and it’s by no means an easy country to travel, but my boyhood dreams of visiting this place have been realised. Michelle and I are always mindful of the fact that wherever we travel there is a high likelihood we will never return as there are so many adventures to take in a single lifetime, so we have made the difficult decision to skip Alexandria and to spend our last day revisiting the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum. We were so rushed on our first visit here that we both want to return. As we will travel through Greece later the theory is we will get a good dose of ancient Roman cities on the beaches of the Mediterranean and we may never see the pyramids again, at least as they stand today.

Day 16: On our last day in Cairo we are greeted by Mary, our last and easily best guide for the whole trip. She is in her early twenties, wears an Ed Harry T-shirt and her English is perfect. We start at the pyramids and get the chance to walk around all three this time and view them all together.

In the afternoon, following the ubiquitous buffet lunch (overlooking the pyramids!) we headed back to the Egyptian museum where Mary showed us several things we missed on our first visit and with more time we were able to stare again in amazement at the artifacts of king tut . We headed back to the hotel which we have grown to loath and it finally rendered some use to us with some much needed cleaned clothes. The washing was expensive but what price do you put on two weeks of clean underwear?

Speaking of underwear - Mary told us an interesting anecdote - An Egyptian woman’s respectability can be somewhat measured by the cleanliness of the washing hung from her window. Traditionally her husband’s undergarments first then shirts and longer colours. If they are clean and bright she is a good intelligent woman!

My Summary: Egypt is a third world country with a first class history. As an obvious tourist you are persistently challenged and pressured for money. They have many ways to skin a tourist it would seem and we are certain we have paid our tourist tax in this country. As you gaze on yet another breathtaking monument to the glorious history of the Egyptian Pharaohs there is always someone demanding you ride their camel or buy a statue etc etc. In this regard I am glad to leave, and I am not sure there is much genuine humour and frendliness here towards western tourists. Only the shallow platitudes of someone who needs your business. This sounds quite harsh as I read it back so I should point out that there are always the exceptions. My thanks and honest praise would go to the keeper at the desert rose in Barayeha and all the crew in the white desert. Its been a great experience none the less.