Egypt (December 1999)

Our first trip overseas was way back in 1999. Egypt was our first destination. I remember hubby telling me that we should go to Egypt. As always, ones first trip is filled with a lot of anxiety and excitement. Part of the excitement is planning for the trip, and then the day finally arrives when you have to set off on your journey.  We went with Rennies travel agency.

Our flights were delayed at O.R. Tambo. Smoking was allowed on Egypt Air and their airports. I am so glad that this is prohibited now. We arrived in the early hours of the morning. The outside the airport was teeming with people waiting to meet or say goodbye to their loved ones. The taxi driver helped us with our luggage, and it was quite a mission following him and dodging the crowds at the same time. 

Everybody drives fast in Cairo, including our taxi driver, who was hurtling through rush hour traffic. I remember telling hubby to move to a more "safer" seat. It is quite a mission to cross the streets in Egypt. On first impressions, Cairo seemed like a bombed-out city - dark and grey. Our first tour was going to start on the very first day we arrived in Egypt, and it was going to be a full day tour. Ahh ... the beauty of youth, having so much of energy back then. There were monuments, temples and tombs to be seen. It seemed like a never-ending open air museum. How could all these structures survived these years! In the Temple of Karnak, one could still see the original paintings on the ceilings!

Temple of Karnak

Our luggage was taken away from us before our first tour could start, but we got it back when we reached our boat. We sailed from Luxor to Aswan on the MS Nile Beauty. The room on the boat was spotlessly clean, and we were served with the most scrumptious of meals. The pastries served during breakfast were to die for. There was a themed costume party one night and dancing by whirling dervishes on another. You could sit on deck and enjoy the beautiful scenery as you passed down the Nile. At the end of the journey we were called to have a meeting with the tour guide (we were part of a group tour) who explained to us how much we needed to tip. We were told that there were much more people working behind the scenes, and this needed to be taken into consideration when tipping.

We stayed at the Sheraton Cairo Hotel. This is a twin tower hotel, each with its own lift. It was easy to take the wrong lift and end up in the wrong wing, and this happened to us so many times. We were in Egypt during Ramadan. Celebrations were taking place which included live concerts well into the night. we could not sleep, and being novice travellers, did not realise that we could request for another room. It was also quite a task dodging the hotel room cleaner, who was trying his best to get baksheesh from us.

View from hotel in Cairo

Khan-el-Khalili bazaar is a maze of interleading  passageways and streets, and with a myriad of shops.  It was a miracle that we found our taxi driver where we said we were going to meet him – back in the days when there were no cell or smart phones. I was cajoled into buying perfume. Only when I got home, did I realise that it was fake. 

We shared a cab to the Egyptian Museum, and spent a better part of the day here. As Egypt is steeped in history, the museum is a treasure trove of ancient artefacts, from mummies to ancient underwear!

Outside the Egyptian Museum

We thought the Pyramids were going to be our highlight, but it was not. The roads led directly to these colossal structures, and it somehow took away the mysticism (imo). We got a chance to enter one of the Pyramids in a crouched position and you had to stay in this position for a while. I don't think I will be able to do that now. There was also aggressive touting to take camel rides (at a price off course). 

Places like Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan had more of an appeal to us, as they were more relaxed. Travelling through these towns was like stepping back in time. Some of these places reminded us of ancient towns. We did our best to bargain for souvenirs – but sometimes it did not turn out the way we expected it to. In Edfu we had bargained for a tablecloth, and walked away when the offer was too high. As we were about to get into our horse and carriage with our fellow Vietnamese-Canadian travelling couple, the persistent shopkeeper came running after us pleading for us to take the tablecloth, much to the amusement of our fellow travellers.



We took a ride on a felucca around Kitchener's and Elephantine Islands. At one stage we thought the felucca was going to topple over. Luckily it did not as we cannot swim.

Thereafter it was homeward bound. I remember Cairo International Airport being so stuffy, and being sick on the plane back home ...