I just know this is going to make you laugh.
I drive to the airport on the first leg of my journey to Cairo via Athens.... In a snow storm following the tracks of the car in front through slushy snow and water...
Yes a snow storm on Crete. You see we do have a winter.
There are no flights going from Heraklion because the incoming flights coming from Athens have been delayed by snow in Athens. Eventually two aircraft arrive, the 8am flight leaves 4 hours late, mine doesn't go anywhere because there is a problem with the aircraft as well as the snow. No problem as I had a four hour wait in Athens, three hours later it is clear that I will not be in Athens in time to get my onward flight. No problem they say, we will put you on the night flight from Athens to Istanbul, a good one hour flying time in the wrong direction, and from there you can pick a flight to Cairo and you will only be 12 hours late. No thanks.
So I am spending the first night of my hols in Athens, and then onward to Istanbul and then Cairo the following afternoon, except that at 7.30am they decide that the flight from Athens to Istanbul has been cancelled due to snow at Istanbul airport. Finally I am put on the direct flight from Athens to Cairo to get me there a day late.
Which is well and good, but I have a hotel booked, and I have an airport transfer booked, fortunately the transfer company got the message in time to re-arrange the transfer, but I have lost the hotel booking because it is not refundable.
(Notice there that I said I had booked an airport transfer? I almost always do that unless it is somewhere that I know. It just saves all the hassle of getting taxis, airport buses etc. after a day travelling, and in this case the transfer rep even meets you before you go through immigration and carries your bags. The Egyptians are wonderful).
And at the airport is where your Egyptian Experience begins...
The first job is to get an Entry Visa and you can buy this from any of the banks/exchange booths when you change some money into Egyptian Pounds (EL for short), and whatever you read on web sites to the contrary you are going to need cash to buy bottles of water, cups of coffee, and above all to pay tips to everyone that does something for you, and that includes the toilet attendant who gives you a bit of toilet roll to dry your hands on.
And you might well need it for ''baksheesh'' which in a way is a bribe, for instance I managed to get photos of the inside of Abu Simbel for the small ''consideration'' of 5 EL (about 25 pence in English money).
You might also read of beggars and children approaching you for money as well, although this is not as common as some web sites would have you believe, if you are approached then do remember that giving alms is one one of the tenets of Islam. More often the asker will actually be offering you something, a pack of tissues is not uncommon with children for instance. It is up to you whether you actually take them or not! This type of baksheesh is quite rare in my experience.
The biggest problem you will have here is having any coins to give! You just don't see them that much although they do exist, even 1 EL coins and notes are a rarity and you have to be really insistence with shop keepers (who want the odd 5 EL from you so that they can give you large notes for your change), that you do not have any small notes!
Tour guides always seem to have quite a stock of coins which is a very good reason to take guided tours and you will often see them give odd coins to security guards at archaeological sites for no apparent reason.
Having got your visa sticker and stuck it in your passport, you will then pass through immigration where they stamp it and take the boarding card you filled out on the aircraft and then it's time to get your baggage.
After that you get your passport inspected once again as you leave baggage reclaim and you are out in the big wide world where you will be mobbed by taxi drivers and their helpers (who will want a tip for carrying your bags).
Welcome to Egypt!
On the way from Cairo airport into the city you will realise why you do not want to rent a car, if there are supposed to be two lanes on the highway, the Egyptians will make three, if there are three lanes they will make four. Indeed in many places there are no road markings at all and you need a pretty strong stomach to sit in the front passenger seat of a car!
Surprisingly there seems to be very few accidents although a lot of cars seem to have rounded corners!
On your way you will get your first sight of security measures as there are frequently check points manned by army and police, both armed, and that ''sentry box'' that looks empty probably isn't because there is the barrel of a machine gun sticking out of the window. Sometimes the inspection is cursory, sometimes the boot is opened and they will check who is in the car.
And when you arrive in your hotel you get the second sight... Every hotel has an X Ray machine and the good old metal detector arch just like in the airport.
My hotel receptionist is delighted to see me and finds it very amusing that
I am a day late due to bad weather..... I ask about a refund for the first night as it was not my fault. ''No'' is the answer, ''but I have upgraded your room to a Nile view suite''! And quite right too, after all it is a Novotel, and they are part of Accor and they own Raffles in Singapore where I have stayed twice and paid a fortune for the pleasure!
Early night called for after something to eat, and my tour guide for tomorrow has sent me an SMS to say he will be picking me up at 6.30am. Well actually he won't because I am on holiday and I tell him that it is going to be 8.30am and no earlier, but when I get downstairs for breakfast he is already there so I take him for breakfast.... And the Egyptians certainly know about breakfast, a buffet with virtually everything you could want (except bacon of course, but then they do do that wonderful smoked beef), and while we are at it we discuss the day's plan.....
And we are not doing that either because there is not time for coffee anywhere in the schedule.
Adjustments will need to be made!
I have been told that the British left two things in Egypt, the railways and the Aswan Dam, (they omit the English language for some reason), my hope is that the Aswan Dam is better maintained than the railways.
I am travelling first class and am looking forward to leaning back in my seat and enjoying the scenery, except I cannot lean back because the seat back is broken and if I lean back it collapses and I end up with my head in the lap of the person behind me. To say that the rolling stock has seen better days would be an understatement, but later talking to my fellow passenger opposite side of the table to me, they are gradually refurbishing the rolling stock.
The train rocks, alarmingly at times, because the track is so uneven, and en route we have a delay because the train in front of us has derailed. Nevertheless the trip gives a good view of the passing countryside...
The trip from Luxor to Aswan takes just over 3 hours to cover 240kms, so an average speed of 80km/h (50mph), plenty of time to take some photos, there is a refreshment trolley on the train so you can get a glass of
Egyptian tea, and enjoy the scenery..
The derailment causes a lot of interest... And it appears as we pass through small towns and villages that a satellite dish is obligatory, (as are mobile phone masts), indeed satellite would probably be the only way to provide TV coverage.
Arriving in Aswan the railway station is chaos and seems to be in a state of a very rapid refurbishment.
Jumping in a cab to my hotel, The Old Cataract, (back on the Agatha Christie trail again!), I find that the hotel also seems to be under siege with lots of uniforms, with lots of scrambled egg on them, walking around. I am told my room has been upgraded so I am in the new annex, which is disappointing because I wanted to be in the old part!
It turns out all the uniforms belong to the army because the President is make an official visit to Aswan and they have commandeered the old part of the hotel. Beggars can't be choosers I suppose.
An afternoon to have a wander around Aswan which seems a little more sedate than Luxor, fewer feluccas and carriages for hire.
Tomorrow is a BIG day for me as it is, hopefully, going to be the highlight of my holiday....
The day trip to Abu Simbel, everything that has come before is merely an appetiser!
But in the meantime something else has happened.... Remember I had some doubts about the guide on the trip to Fayoum? I didn't actually make a complaint just commented to the tour company about it, but they have taken it to heart and offered me a free day trip to anywhere I like..... I was going to book the tour to the High Dam anyway, so I have elected to take that.... For FREE!
Now most people take the trip to Abu Simbel as part of the Nile cruise, but as getting up at 3am is not my idea of fun, I have booked independently to go there, with a pick up time of 10.30 am. Much more civilised! Once again I find I am the only person in the vehicle with a guide and driver all to myself. The drive to Abu Simbel is over quite good roads so does not take to long.
And we do not have an armed guard with us although we do go through a couple of checkpoints where IDs are checked and the boot inspected. Relations with Sudan are much improved, and bear in mind that by the time we reach Abu Simbel we are about the same distance as from Khartoum as from Cairo, and almost on the border with Sudan.
We make one comfort stop on the way. The tour company provide bottles of water for the journey, and they even have some junk food on board!
Arriving at Abu Simbel a little over three hours later, the guide explains that he is not allowed into the ''grounds'' so wants to give me the run down before I go in, in particular how to avoid the souvenir sellers by going past them and in through the gate at the bottom!
Tim's Tip of the Day: For nearly all of the sites where you cannot have the guide, you can find ebooks to download to your phone.
After a coffee over looking Lake Nasser, and making a fuss of one of the local dogs
I make my own way down....
At the age of 7 I read about the project to save the ruins of Nubia from the Nile as the waters would rise when the High Dam was complete.
I even remember that one of the ideas mooted was to enclose the whole in a concrete box and ''jack it'' up the hill to safe ground. I cannot help but feel that the final decision, to cut it into pieces and re-assemble higher up was perhaps the easiest solution.
Today you approach the temple from behind which kind of adds to the element of surprise, and I have been waiting over 50 years for this moment.
I am not sure how I feel..... And the answer is choked.... And I suddenly realise I have a huge smile on my face.
Because this is not just a picture, this is the real thing.
And it is massive.... Pictures just do not give you the scale of things, look at the tiny people! While the Great Pyramid is massive it is after all just a pyramid and cannot compare to the majesty of those huge figures of Ramasses II who clearly thought quite a lot of himself.
Surprisingly the inside is rather smaller than one might expect of such a grand exterior, but then you are not allowed to take photographs, and they are quite strict about the use of phones as well. This is one of those occasions too, when you have to help people out with photographs. Like the couple trying to take a selfies outside, it just doesn't work because of the size of the figures, and in exchange they take your photo for you as well! (Usually your guide will take your photo for you but they are not allowed inside the compound).
I am quite pleased at my decision to come here later in the day as well because the inside would quickly get crowded. But I appreciate too why anybody would like to get here at dawn with the rising sun shining directly on the massive figures and into the interior.
The nearby Temple of Nefetari is smaller but still impressive in its own way and worth some of your time as well. Eschewing the offer of a ride on the golf cart, I walk back to the entrance running the gamut of the souvenir sellers on the way!
It was in a rather pensive mood that I returned to Aswan.
Tomorrow is my ''free'' trip to the High Dam.... Hopefully I will manage to avoid the ''Unfinished obelisk''.
Waking the following morning the sun is shining, as is usual in Egypt, and the view from my hotel room is not one you see everyday of the week.
And a couple of photos of the rather lavish interior of The Old Cataract Hotel which serves, as most other hotels, a great breakfast buffet when you finally manage to negotiate the corridors that lead you eventually to the right place.
Not surprisingly a lot of travel in Egypt involves driving through desert, and we are re-tracing our steps from yesterday to the High Dam. Both the US and UK dithered about assisting with the construction of the High Dam so Russia stepped in to fill the gap. The Dam is a military installation so security is tight and no ''big'' cameras are allowed! Which seems a bit pointless in these days of camera phones and satellites passing overhead.
Yes, that is my finger on the left of the photo.... It is easy to see why the dam is so heavily guarded because not only does it provide water for irrigation and generate power but a breach of the dam would cause a ''tidal wave'' down the Nile valley and Cairo would be washed from its current location several kilometres into the Mediterranean, according to my guide.
Some distance away from the dam there is a ''memorial''.
There's that man in the hat again....
And if you think that nobody is looking when you are taking pictures, then think again, because I got asked to delete a picture of the ''switch yard'' that controls the output from the power station.
My interest in it? Well I used to design them many years ago...
