Through the eyes of 20 something year old me

Preface – When I was 20 something the only means of communication while you travelled was writing a letter or a very expensive phone call that most could only afford to have for less than 2 or 3 minutes.  The following is a letter a wrote back home to family and friends to describe my time in Egypt when I was there in the early 90’s.   

Hi Everyone, 

Overall Egypt was a fascinating place to visit, the history dated before Christ and often left you standing in awe. The Egyptian people were very friendly to friendly sometimes particularly the males.  It wasn’t a case of what is your name or where you are from, but rather are you married.  One guy came up to me telling me how beautiful I was and asked me to marry him.  In response I asked, “what ever happened to good old fashion love,” he just looked at me stupidly.  A blonde haired blue eyed young girl was quite the novelty in Egypt and found myself at the center of a lot of unwanted attention.  

Poverty is something that immediately struck me particularly in Cairo, and aside from the begging they were looking for a way to make a quick dollar.  When we were visiting the Pyramids a guy on a camel came passed and prompted me to take a photo of him, so I did.  He then proceeded to hassle me for miles demanding money for giving me the privilege of taking his photo.  In the end I slipped him some money to get rid of him, they would go to all different extremes to rip you off but that generally occurred around the common tourist attractions.  I heard of stories from other travelers who were approached and asked if they wanted to smile at their camel, naturally you smile, but then they would follow them for miles until they paid up.  You couldn’t help but laugh, it was entertaining to watch and much less confronting than the use of children to catch the sympathetic eye of the tourists. 

We arrived at Cairo late in the evening and directed to a taxi, all the horror stories I’d heard about the drivers in Egypt were nothing short of true.  They were crazy, for me it was a simple case of pray and hope I survived the experience.  My first impressions of Cairo were the constant sound of car horns, their hands were constantly pressed on the horn for no apparent reason than the fact everyone else did.  One local described it to me “as the beautiful music of Cairo.”  Overall Cairo was just a big, dirty overcrowded city, but not far out of the city is Giza and what all tourists come to see – the pyramids. 

Upon approaching the Pyramids, they didn’t seem as big as I had imagined, but as we got closer and when I stood next to one, I was overwhelmed by their size.  My immediate thought went to the labor and manpower to build these enormous structures.  What amazed me the most was the size of just one stone and how they were erected by hand and no modern-day machinery.  Our guide explained a mountain of dirt continued to grow alongside the pyramid to transport the stone bricks and was removed upon completion.  We had the opportunity to explore inside one of the pyramids and were warned how small and narrow the corridors were.  I never expected to be walking hunched over for 3 or 4 minutes and there was only half an arm’s length either side.  The ventilation was poor but the experience of standing inside one of these famous pyramids was not going to be missed.

With one adventure over a new one was waiting, our next stop was a few hundred meters up the road where a group of camels were ready to take us for a journey through the desert to the Sphinx.  Thankfully we didn’t have to go too far because camels are not the most comfortable mode of transport, but it was all part of the adventure. The Sphinx amazed me for similar reasons, firstly the size and the workmanship that went into creating these beautiful structures.  Later that evening we boarded a sleeper train to Aswan.  

Aswan was more how I had pictured Egypt, it was small and a lot more primitive than Cairo.  The bazars of Aswan were fantastic, we were out shopping until midnight soaking up the atmosphere.  Whilst here we had the opportunity to have a drink in the bar of the hotel where Death on the Nile was filmed.  The motel was gorgeous and very posh so you can imagine the looks a group of young travelers in shorts and runners got.  Watching one of the beautiful Egyptians sunsets over the Nile River was amazing.  

The next morning was a 3am start to the temples of Abu Simbel, and you all know I’m not a morning person, but this was worth getting up for.  Words cannot describe this temple but when I get home, and you see the photos you will see what I mean. 

The next day we started our 3-day Felucca Cruise down the Nile, this was the part of the trip I was most looking forward to.  Not sure I was prepared for just how basic we would be living for the next 3 days.  We didn’t have a shower for those 3 days and going to the toilet meant finding a bush on the banks of the Nile that were sometimes far and few between.  Despite lacking the luxury of modern life, it was by far the best three days of the trip.  Each Felucca had eight people on board and there were four boats sailing together with our entire group.   All food was cooked on board the boat and picking small stones from the rice before it was boiled was our job each day.  At the end of the day, we would stop on the banks of the Nile and build a bonfire.  The Egyptian locals who crewed the feluccas would sing in their native tongue and play traditional instruments, it was just the perfect way to end the day. 

The whole day wasn’t just spent working on the tan and reading the occasional page of my book, we made numerous stops to visit temples, and a highlight was a traditional village in the middle of nowhere.  We wandered through the village and one of the first things that occurred to me was there appeared to be more children than adults.  We were invited into one of the homes for tea and for the first time in my life I realized how much I take for granted.  This home didn’t even possess the basics, it was more of a shelter from the weather.  There was no running water or electricity and all the food they ate was grown from the surrounding fields.  There was no formal education, only what was expected of them according to gender.  I could talk for hours about what I had seen and experienced that afternoon, it certainly had a powerful impact on me.  I have found myself several times since that day casting my mind back to the people and their primitive lifestyle.   

It was a sad farewell on the final day, our crew members were fantastic, it was like saying goodbye to lifelong friends.  They had taught us a lot about Egypt and ancient traditions.  Our Arabic vocabulary was increasing and equally their Aussie slang was improving.  We disembarked the Felucca at Luxor where we visited more temples and did more late-night shopping at the bazars.   

Another early start the following morning to ride a donkey to the Valley of the Kings as the sun rose.  The most vivid memory I have of this little adventure was not being able to sit on my backside for the next two days.  Just my luck, I chose a donkey which I wouldn’t describe as placid.  At one stage of the trek, you ride on a narrow track in single file and advised to look straight ahead and not to your left because it is a sheer drop down into the valley.  My donkey didn’t like being at the back and wanted to overtake everyone else.  I was extremely panicked by my lack of control so one of owners of the donkeys walked with me until it was safe.  In the end I didn’t know what was worse, risking falling down the cliff or putting up with him trying to convince me to marry him.  Anyway, I lived to tell the story but can confidently say I am in no hurry to ride another donkey. 

The next leg of the trip was spent on the coast of the Red Sea in a tiny town called Hurghada where there appeared to be a lot of new hotels being built.  We spent the next two days snorkeling and the coral reefs and fish we saw were amazing, this was the second biggest highlight of my trip.  This was my first time snorkeling and what struck me was the absence of noise yet an abundance of life in various shapes, sizes and vibrant colors.   

The tour was coming to an end as we made our way back to Cairo.  I did some last-minute shopping and prepared for the trip back to London.  On the way to the airport our taxi broke down, we were worried about missing our flight but after 20 minutes the driver fixed the problem.  I saw some amazing sites and loved the experience of visiting a culture very different to what I know.  I loved every minute of it but there is also no place like home! 

This trip is one of the early ones I did when I first started travelling and without a doubt left me hungry to do more trips like this that appealed to my Sense of Adventure! 

This trip provided an opportunity to tick a couple of things off the bucket list. The first was marvelling at the Pyramids of Giza, read about there here. The second was Sailing the Nile on a traditional Felucca. Read about that bucket list experience here.