Backsheesh and the British Empire

In between getting visas and the like we were trying to cram in some sight seeing, when you travel with James a lot of the 'sights' are not what you expect. After we had dropped of our stuff for our Sudanese visas we had tried to go to old Cairo and look at some of the ancient Coptic Christian architecture, we failed big time because the Egyptian taxi driver didn't know where he was going (bit like the one the first day we arrived) and we also hit some intense traffic jams. Instead of oohing and ahhing at some old bit of plasterwork we ended up moaning and groaning for 2 hours in the back of a very hot taxi, we saw an old tyre dump, a stable/slaughterhouse, a welders yard and squalid tenements as we moved slowly but surely towards a very dodgy area of Cairo. After a few attempts at getting the taxi driver to admit he was lost we decided we had had enough of the twit driving us about and told him to stop the car and in true British style I said we had had enough and were going to get another taxi. We walked for about half a mile through the tuk tuks and crowds of locals who seemed rather surprised to see us and managed to get another cab. I thought it a good idea to take on the persona of my alter ego Bachoule (great lady of the British Empire) and with my nose right in the air I strode forth trying to look as I knew exactly what  I was doing, occasionally nodding at the surprised gawpers. I tried to get a photo of where we were but had switched the camera to video, in my effort to conceal my camera I managed only to film my hand...
The next day we had some free time so......off we went to Coptic Christian Cairo, this time we walked the 4k in the heat and ended up in what James has described as 'the medieval part' of the Coptic area.I might have not used the term 'medieval' but the locals were pretty friendly and eventually we found our way in. The architecture is beautiful, we saw St. Barbara's Church, St. Mary's Church, St. George's Church, my favorite was the 'Hanging Church' built on the hanging gardens of Babylon.

 There were some odd moments, in one church a well dressed young woman sidled up to me in one of the pews and asked me to give her a dollar, we were scammed by someone 'helping' us to find our way in to the churches who showed us photos of his children then asked for baksheesh but the oddest bit was looking at the reliquaries in the churches...aka body parts of dead saints. We were triumphant though when we managed to get the underground train back to Tahrir Sqaure, on the underground women travel in the first two carriages. We didn't manage this so I got in one with all the men, that was odd too.
On Wednesday we actually managed to get our Sudanese visas, James made contact with the agent here in Alexandria and we finally had confirmation that the car is actually on the ferry so went off on a jolly to the Pyramids....
For those of you who know me will know that I was hoping to be pretty gobsmacked by these, and they are of course magnificent but the experience was marred by the amount of hassle that you get as tourist. We had taken a taxi to the pyramids driven by a chap called Amir who was honest and knew enough English to crack a few jokes with us. I took to him cos he reminded me of our friend Mikey. As you arrive on the outskirts of the area you are met by a barrage of beggars who demand money and try to stop you from driving through. Amir was having none of this, he said 'have nothing to do with these they will shit on you'....well yes I thought and kick you in the shins too. As soon as we entered the compound for the Pyramids we were met with someone who 'needed to check our ticket' yeah right, then we were asked if we wanted camel rides or carriage rides or horse rides or did we want to meditate, or want hash, or a plastic pyramid or a stuffed camel.......this went of for about 2 hours.

One man and his son followed us for a bit, he offered us horse riding out into the desert and back only 20 Egyptian pounds, but we didn't want to ride a horse, his price was very low but he dropped it further. Eventually James explained we liked his horses, it was a very good price but we just didn't want to go on his horses....he looked so sad.

He said that normally he had lots of business but after the revolution there had been no tourists and he was worried, he said 'please tell them to come to Egypt it is safe'. I think he was a good man, not a scammer, he was just trying to earn a living. Then we walked into a young man who was employed as a tourist policeman, he offered to show us the way in to the third Pyramid and also offered to take our photo's.....see below...

ah how nice I thought and how friendly....then the inevitable request for baksheesh came....mmmm getting a bit fed up of this now. When we couldn't actually get into the pyramid as the electricity had blown James went to get a refund on our tickets and I went off to find Amir to take us back to Tahrir, I was a little hot and er tired so it was not the best time for anyone else to come up and try it on so when a couple of guys offered some tour or tat or whatever it was I just held up my hand and shouted 'NO! GO AWAY!'  and stomped past them like the Queen. They stopped dead in their tracks and mumbled something about Cleopatra....result.

On Thursday 27th we left the Royal Hotel in Cairo (top place) and traveled to Alexandria on the Superjet bus, this is super posh. We arrived hassle free at the bus station and ended up sharing a taxi with an American guy on hols who was headed in our direction. We were dropped of 2 mins walk to our current residence the Transit hotel. We have a corner room with air con. The hotel is on the 4th floor of an old colonial building, again looks a bit like a derelict but ok once inside, with a fantastic view of Alexandra bay and square.
Check this place out.

We were given some orange squash on our arrival and after a bit of unpacking popped out for tea. The square is a busy place, on the first night there was a big rally that went on a fair bit, it is a main traffic thoroughfare with trams about every hour or so. The noise level is high and sometimes the furniture vibrates in the room (from the traffic!) but we kind of like it.
Friday in Egypt is like Sunday back home, so we decided we could have a day off from trying to get the trip sorted and just faff about. This morning we went to see the Roman amphitheater, which was splendid for a number of reasons. Firstly there was no hassle to buy anything or go anywhere...bliss... secondly the ruins were beautiful

and we could sit in the shade and just be there and even take a bath.....

We went for coffee and pastries at the Cafe Delicious where we got talking to a couple from San Francisco (Judy and Gerry) who gave us the contact of a women's group we might do some work with in Kenya. Then we went for walk along the corniche to see the ancient Fort, we sat by the sea (Mediterranean) and watched guys trying to catch fish,

ladies gossiping while young men broke their backs trying to row tourists out past some pretty tricky rocks and big waves for pleasure rides....
We like Alexandria, it is more chilled than Cairo, it is freindly and apart from the odd stare and occassional request to go for a horse ride we are just allowed to get on with being here.
We have met our agent and our 'fixer' and both are ok. Dina our agent is a 'modern' Alexandrian, she dresses in the western style wears her hair loose. Mr. Ahmed is a bit of a dude, he rides a scooter and about age 65 he is an old hand at sorting out officialdom.

We had to visit the Egyptian AA to get a letter of acceptance from them for the car to allow it through customs tomorrow, when we got into the office the man dealing with the letter was not in a good mood and Mr. Ahmed looked at me and made the sign of cutting your throat. Blimey. Then for no apparent reason the AA man changed his mind and Mr. Ahmed stopped mopping his now sweaty brow, kissed his hand at all smiled. The letter was duly produced and stamped and the baksheesh was paid. Progress. I am glad we have Mr. Ahmed, I have read stories of people not doing too well with the administration processes out here because they don't have a fixer.
As the boat is now delayed to an afternoon docking we had another day off, we wandered to the big public/uni library and got talking to two young students of politics. They were really nice men, interesting and interested in what we thought of the revolution, of Islam, of materialism, of the British Royal family and laughed when James told them of his prowess in cooking falafel. We spent about an hour or so with them. Here they are.

  Tomorrow is a big day as we get the car from customs, Mr Ahmed will earn his money then for sure, we plan on spending another 2 nights here then head off into the Western desert and spend a few nights at the oasis along the way to Luxor.

Thanks to all of you who have put some comments for us on the blog, I thought we could reply back to you, I don't think I can so.....Yes Giles the first few weeks have been tiring, lots to do and figuring out where places are was at times a little frustrating, No Janet I haven't thought about going knickerless I could do though as I am having to wear trousers that Simon Cowell would be proud of so I could probably go without a bra too and well Soo I bet you had some exploits in Prague that are just as eye popping as ours. Thanks to everyone for looking after things back home. Saving the best message till last this is for darling Kate who has her birthday on 4th November...HAPPY BIRTHDAY FISH....LOVE YOU ALL THE STARS IN THE SKY....xxxxxxxxxxx
Take care everyone....
Dee and James
xxxxxxxxxx

Ants in your pants

Well we arrived in Sharm el Sheikh airport a little late due to the Greek airport strike but our Bedoin driver Ibrahim was patiently waiting. The drive to Dahab took us through desert and high hills, it was late and already getting dark but we could make out the land easy enough. It took a little getting used to but after a while I could make out where the rains had been, could pick out some Bedoin villages and even the odd  camel. 

 The hotel we stayed at is Bedoin owned but run by an English lady called Tracey. We had a budget room, the ensuite didn’t allow for any modesty which would have been handy for such a lady as myself when I picked up a spot of food poisoning a few days later. We were here at the start of the season so breakfast although included in the price wasn’t going to happen, just tea.  This was how Dahab was run, sort of hit and miss. Our hotel was at one end of town, to go snorkeling to the local reef  (which was fantastic) we had to walk through the market and café’s. This was amusing as we disentangled ourselves from men (no women allowed) who tried to sell us stuff we didn’t want. James as ever was polite and shook everyone’s hand, the men responded with smiles and equal amusement.  On one occasion when one man tried to get us to take a taxi we didn’t need James told him he had a nice shirt on. Ha  ha, you should have seen his face, it still makes me laugh.  We had a few trips out though, one to the blue hole, an amazing reef north of Dahab, the reef is circular and has a ‘saddle’ of coral that is truly beautiful. 

 While here I was treated to a show of male temper in the form of arguing café owners,  I was at the time the only other non Egyptian/bedoin in the café, sitting in the corner drinking anise tea.  I heard the argument outside which then spilled into the café like a scene out of the OK coral, from 5  or so men shouting there was soon 15 and with them came police with guns. Oh dear, I sat there in my tankini, watching this play out, I knew that if they saw me it would calm down  after all I was a tourist and the economy desperately needs tourism.  Eventually they spotted me, and after a bit the men were separated and after a while things went back to the way they had been.  About 10 mins later James came back from his snorkeling session, he had seen a barracuda!  Yes I said but listen to what I have just seen…..

We also went up to St. Katherine’s protectorate, this is a view of the desert on the way up....check me out..

We visited the monastery that is built on the site of where Moses is reputed to have seen the burning bush.

 James particularly liked this picture because the burning bush now has a fire extinguisher next to it. 

 We had a ‘guide’ for this visit, we came away from his interesting and informative guided tour not having a clue about St. Katherine.  Later in the bedoin camp (camp Musa) I found leaflet that explained she was born in Alexandria, was   a pagan was martyred for wanting to be a Christian, her body disappeared after her martyrdom but after a vision to some monk types was discovered 300 years later on mount Sinai.  So now you know.   St. Katherine’s is a very nice place. The temperatures are cooler,  it is 1600 metres high, and it is just beautiful. To be honest I didn’t think I would rate the desert but I am stunned by it, it is just so so amazingly beautiful. While there we hooked up with a new friend, Ali, who is the entrepreneur behind the Bedoin Bus. From his garden I saw two ladies looking at me over a wall, one of them, Hodra, invited me over for tea. This is where Ali and Hodra and her sisters live..

So off I went. I met her and her sisters and some of their children, they were lovely. Hodra made me tea and fed me almonds. Then I had a wonderful opportunity to be nurse and I was able to talk about health issues and diet and all sorts of stuff with these gentle women.

The time in Dahab helped us to unwind, and get accustomed to a different pace, a different culture….I have to admit that James is much better at it than me.  The super saltiness of the red sea has been a real beautifier as our skin has been rubbed off to reveal well …more skin actually. My hair is looking great and interesting…..not as interesting as the toilet stop on the bus route from Dahab  to Cairo though which for me has to rate as an all time stand up stinker.

We took the bus from Dahab to Cairo, only 8 or so hours. Then had a really funny experience with a Cairo taxi driver who accosted James at the bus station, he convinced James that he knew where our hotel was….he didn’t have a clue.  When he had us in the back of the cab he went off to ask his friends,  James jumped out the cab and followed him around, eventually there was five of them and James all shouting in the street. We set off sort of in the general direction through Cairo traffic which believe me I can’t find words to describe. It is like swimming with piranhas and sharks and er other things like that which I never have but I know that is what it would be like. We got to the hotel, or kind of near to it, the taxi driver eventually giving up because the street was blocked off both ends by a construction site and by café society.  He was however apologetic and asked for no more money than the negotiated amount.

The hotel is set on the second floor of a building in down town, about 5 mins walk from Tahrir sq. At first sight I thought it was a derelict but when we continued up the stairs this opened out into some nice rooms, our room is nice it has two balconies. During the day it is very noisy with the street life of Cairo, during the night it is like being in a nightclub….but we sleep like the just. 

Here are some Cairo city pics..

We have managed to get to the Ethopian embassy and will pick up our visa for there today. Check out the security.

We have a lot more  faffing with the letter we need from the British embassy and the Sudanese embassy well….we went there yesterday and all I can say is that it was chaos.  We waited at the wrong place then pushed our way into a room (because everyone else was doing this) then we got pushed out again only to end up talking to the man who operates the photocopier.

Made us laugh.

We also managed to go to the Egyptian museum, here is James outside, you can see the damage the revolution did to some of the surrounding buildings.

The museum is fantastic. Wonderful. You get to walk around and sometimes through ancient treasures.

Right now I have to finish, we have to make our way back to the Ethopian embassy and then we are going over to the Coptic Christian area to look at the hanging church. ….built on the site of the hanging gardens.

Oh the ants in your pants…always wash your knickers when you take them off if you don’t the next time you pick them up they will be full of ants.

Hope you are all well. Much love. Dee and James xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well now, today is the penultimate day of the adventure. It seems to have taken ages to come around but we have and are still busy right up until leaving.
We have been lucky enough to catch up with friends like Dod and Sarah who kindly detoured from going home from Tenby to Scotland to come and say ta ta

And sharing 40^th birthdays and ta ta’s with Nick and Fliss and family.

Some things we have had to do has just been ‘stuff’, faffing around with the house and garden, arrangements being made for our tenants etc. Things finally felt like they were becoming more fun when James bought me a windmill one sunny afternoon in Bangor which inspired the purchase and subsequent scoffing of butterscotch flavour angel delight. During the last few days we have enjoyed yet more treats with family and friends eating and drinking like royalty,  and being 'fixed' by the fantastic sue who sorted out the trapped nerve in my back. xxxxxx

we came down to earth with a bump today however as we are now having random meals of what is left in the fridge. Mmm cold pizza, humus, celery, half a cabbage and two tomatoes…..lovely. Cramming seems to be a recurrent theme as not only have we crammed lots of goodies (9 packets of baby wipes for instance and first aid kit that covers western and the more hippy type of treatments) into the vehicle of vehicles, but today have defied all the laws of science by cramming, shorts, shirt, two cozzies, a skirt, 3 t-shirts, 6 pairs of knickers, 3 bras, two long sleeved tops, one cardigan, pair of pj’s, two long scarves, toiletry bag, handbag with contents, diary,  ipod and camera into a bag that I swear is no bigger than two cornflake boxes…..ooh just thought James will have to take the towels in his bag….ha ha ha he already has to carry my mask and snorkel and my book.

The last few days we have been really lucky, I had some girlies over for food and fizz. I was pretty drunk too.

And some friends have just called in and shared a couple of hours with us before the off.

Thank you thank you thank you for all the time, effort and fun you have shared with us.

Tonight will be the time for a few phone calls, one to my lovely Kate who I did try to speak to earlier but she was kind of still recovering from a night out on Sunday. Bless.

                                                    Here she is with little chops.

Then I will call the scousers and say my ttfn’s to them.

Right then it is wagon's roll, the vehicle....still don't have a name for her so be glad of suggestions. Was put into the container last week and will arrive in Alexandria in the next week or so.

Till it gets there we will be snorkelling in the red sea off the coast of Dahab and then getting visas in Cairo..take care..much love Dee and Jamesxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx