EGYPT ( Written by Kathryn Harrison )

A MEMORABLE TRIP TO EGYPT

Once upon a time – well on the 30^th January 2002 to be exact! – Alvin, Bev, Pat and I met at New Cross Gate Station and caught the Tube to Heathrow Airport.

When we got as far as Hounslow it was snowing really thickly and snow drifted in the doors at stations. By the time we reached Heathrow it was a blizzard!

Many flights were delayed and others cancelled.

Three hours later we were allowed on the plane where we stayed for 3a further 2 hours waiting on a machine to come and de-ice the plane before it could take off.

In the meantime we watched other flights leave occasionally and enjoyed banter with others in the same predicament as ourselves. We wandered around looking out the window at times and at one stage Alvin decided it was nothing to do with the weather saying he had seen the Pilot sitting in the cockpit of our plane and that he appeared to be having trouble with his contact lenses!

We should have left at 4:30 pm and finally flew out at 9:30 pm.

We flew over Dunkirk, Brussels, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bregenze, Fredrickshafen, Munich, Milan, Lake Garda, Bolzano, The Dolomite Mountains, Vicenza, Padua, down the inside of the Italian Coast, Venice, Adriatic Sea, Ancona, Brindisi, and then at the heel shape of Italy we crossed over the sea towards Greece and arrived in Athens at 02:30am on 31^st January.

Because we had missed our connecting flight to Cairo "Olympic Airways" had booked us into the Armonia Hotel just outside Athens.

They also provided a bus to take us there but then our luggage couldn't be found and at around 4am it was discovered ready to be put on the next flight to Cairo which was going to be at 01:00 the following morning.

The hotel was very close to the sea and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach was so nice after the constant sound of sirens that we are all used to living in London.

The hotel was also very grand but the beds were the hardest any of us had ever slept in, in our lives. We were so tired though that we all managed to sleep until our alarms woke us up at 11:am except for Pat who had only put her clock forward by an hour instead of two and when she didn't arrive for lunch at 12 noon Alvin went and called her.

I had looked through the hotel brochures and found a trip down the coast and out to the peninsula of Sounion and the ruins of the huge white marble Temple of Poseidon, which would take around 4 hours.

Pat decided to come with me, Bev decided to join a young Muslim 33woman she had befriended at Heathrow, on a day trip into Athens and Alvin decided on going back to bed for the afternoon.

Pat and I enjoyed our trip with the beautiful blue Aegean Sea on one side of the road and the rugged hilly landscape scenery, mainly barren and stony after wild fires from the previous summer, on the other side.

There were little towns every few miles or so.

The Mediterranean style houses were all painted white and this was a real treat to be looking at after living in London.

Between the towns there were groves of Olive Trees and orchards of Pistachio Nuts.

There were Goats and sheep wandering around the foothills.

There were a lot of partly constructed houses and apartment blocks which is how they do it here apparently.

You buy the concrete shell and do what you like to make it your own design.

There were also the ruins of other smaller temples along the way.

Finally got to our destination and we were amazed at the size of this white marble Temple framework, looking so dramatic towering on the cliff above the beautiful blue Aegean Sea.

The Airport at Athens is the cleanest and most beautiful I have ever been in. All marble and chrome and the floors so shiney.

We flew out at 1am and it was a bit bumpy at times but we were too tired to care.

The flight took 3 hours and as we flew in over Cairo and could see the lights spread out below us our tiredness turned to excitement about the adventure that we were sure lay ahead.

We came into the airport and now faced the challenge of getting Visa's so lined up with everyone else only to find when we got to the front of the line that we should have brought what looked like a postage stamp from guys at booths who had been trying to persuade us to buy them when we first joined the queue.

Alvin tried to barter with them but they stuck to the £10

(£40 Egyptian) which was correct.

Bev had spotted a Toilet area and had made what should have been a quick trip but got stopped coming out of it by a large lady demanding money for the loo paper. This was to become a custom we were to get used to before long and fortunately Bev knew the ropes having been to Morocco previously where you are also expected to pay for it. She managed to rejoin us eventually.

Our next hurdle was to get to our hotel which Alvin had booked on the Internet.

Out on the forecourt of the Airport Terminal and within minutes we had a Taxi Driver or as Pat rightly put it, he had us!

Bev negotiated a price of £4 UK to take us to our hotel ½ an hour away.

As we walked into the darkness of the car park some creepy looking guy came up and tried to take my bag from me. I held on with all my might and shouted an earful of abuse at him which brought Bev rushing back to help. He apparently would have carried it to the cab and then made me pay for the privilege.

Our trip to the hotel was absolutely hair raising!

The Black and White Taxis in Egypt are rightly referred to as "Flying Coffins" and our ride left us in no doubt that they are aptly named.

On leaving the Airport we had to pass through toll gates. The driver wanted us to pay the toll, we said "No!" and much gesturing of hands went on then suddenly when he realised we weren't going to relent he began to reverse the Taxi and the cars behind us had to hurriedly get out of the way. He didn't have his lights on so they weren't to know he was going to suddenly reverse out.

We weren't sure if he was going to turf us out of the car or what but lo and behold he drove into the next lane, turned and smiled at us and said the collectors on this gate were his friends, drove straight through without paying anything or being asked for any money.

From the time we got on the main road he drove like a maniac!

Very few of the drivers put the lights on, apparently to save the battery and instead use the car horn to warn of their presence on the road. This turkey was no exception!

While driving like a bat out of hell, tooting his horn frantically every 10 seconds, he also decided to converse with us and would turn around asking what our names were and where we were from.

He gave us a commentary at times and all I wished was that he would keep quiet and keep his eyes on the bloody road.

Then he asked us exactly where we wanted to go to as he actually didn't know where the hotel was! Alvin had studied the map so had a fair idea and was able to direct him.

He didn't listen to Alvin at one point though and got lost and went down a dark alleyway. By now it was about 4am.

I really got concerned at this point and was imagining what the headlines in the NZ papers were going to be proclaiming in a week or so when our bodies had eventually been found!

The alleyway turned out to be a dead end though and thankfully he backed out of it. He stopped another Taxi Driver and got directions from him which helped him find the hotel.

It was on an island in the middle of the Nile River in the Giza area of Cairo.

There were Tourist Police everywhere with what looked like AK 47's slung over their shoulders, lurking in alleyways and on street corners.

Alvin had been sitting in the front seat and by the time we got to the hotel his leg muscles were tense and aching from applying the "imaginary brakes" on this "Flying Coffin" we were in.

As we got out of the Taxi a large Rat scurried across the driveway in front of us and ran up a dark alleyway beside the hotel.

The Concorde Hotel sounded posh and the reception area was nice but had 2 armed policemen at the door. Once we left the reception area it was grotty and would have been a death trap if the place happened to go on fire. Pat discovered the only escape from our 6^th floor room was an ancient spiral staircase outside. We looked out over rooftops and the air was very polluted with dust and dirt everywhere and the sounds of Car horns tooting constantly was something we would soon become accustomed too.

The sheets were clean and the beds comfortable so we gratefully sank into our beds with my thoughts by now being, "What will be, will be!"

I slept so soundly I didn't even hear the loud speakers calling everyone to prayer at 5am.

We slept for about 4 hours and then decided to make our first priority to find another hotel in the ancient part of Cairo.

Pat and I decided against breakfast and by 10am we were back in a black and white taxi trying to get off the island and back into the main part of Cairo.

This driver also got us lost a couple of times and the traffic was diabolical. There were 4 lanes going all in the one direction but the cars were four or five abreast at times. Eventually he got us where we wanted to be.

Many of the street names in Cairo are named after the dates of significant events and "The Grand Hotel" on 29^th July Street, was our choice of Hotel and it turned out to be old and gracious and half the price of the one we had slept in the previous night.

Most of the interior was light grey marble, highly polished brass and dark stained wood.

The drapes were heavy brocade and the windows had wooden shutters on them.

Outside our bedrooms we had our own private lounge area and a private balcony outside our windows. The lights were crystal chandeliers.

It was real "Orient Express" grandeur and we felt like we had stepped back in time.

The helpfulness of the staff took a bit of getting used to and in fact we thought they could read our minds!! Every move had to be "tipped" (Baksheesh) so we had to make sure we had plenty of £1 = 10 British pence as that was what was expected.

Our rooms were on the 4^th floor and cost us the equivalent of £15 (British) a night so was amazing value.

From our balcony Pat and I looked down onto one of the major street markets selling fruit and vegetables and breads.

In another direction there was a main street full of cars jam packed, almost stopped and the drivers all tooting their horns every few seconds. Our bathrooms were all marble and just beautiful. Alvin and Bev's room next to ours looked down onto the main street and from their balcony you could watch young boys on bicycles riding between the cars while balancing wooden slats on their heads which were piled high with flat Pita type bread delivering them to all the local shops and the markets.

It was fascinating as they just weaved in and out all the while being tooted at by car drivers.

Their skill at balancing the racks and avoiding pedestrians and cars was simply amazing.

Out above the market area there were views of rooftops as far as the eye could see. Many had shacks built on top of them with people wandering around and chickens and goats on them as well.

We could still see the damage that has never been repaired from the earthquake in 1992.

We were all so excited we danced around the room for a few moments like kids!

Having a day earlier left - 9 degrees in London we were now enjoying a warm 27 degrees.

Bev had done a bit of reading up on Cairo and knew about a 200 year old restaurant where she decided it would be a good place to go for lunch so we set off. Alvin is great at map reading and then also at remembering how to find our way back again which proved to be invaluable on many occasions throughout this trip.

We found the restaurant and were made very welcome and were soon sitting down to a mixed meal of Lamb cooked in 4 different ways, Hummus, soup and all served with unleavened bread which is scrumptious. We couldn't read the menu and no one spoke much English so we all ordered something different and shared it like a Pot Luck dinner. Great fun for us and amusement for our waiters.

Bev had read about a Market called The Khan el Khalilli Bazaar so we set off to find it. It is in the Islamic Cairo district and has been going since the 14^th Century. Now that is old!

Our first mission though was to work out how to cross the busy, car choked roads without getting killed.

We made a few attempts but had to step back onto the footpath and observe the locals doing it for a few minutes.

Well it was easy once you got the confidence to do it.

Just say a quick prayer then step out and bully the drivers into letting you cross in front of them by putting your hand on the bonnet of the vehicle nearest to you and then the next one until you had crossed over the five lanes of cars on a four lane road!

Everyone tooted like hell as you did this which added to the excitement and rush of adrenalin as well as providing a musical background to the atmosphere. I am almost having a panic attack thinking of it, as I write this now!

You could find yourself several yards up or down from where you set off originally, by the time you got across. Alvin had to drag me across the first couple of times but I got the hang of it then and my confidence had grown by the end of the day when I realised I hadn't witnessed anyone being run over!

After crossing for the first time, with Alvin doing a head count on the pavement to make sure we had all survived, it was time to consult the map again.

The traffic pollution is really bad and already we could feel the grit on our faces and blowing your nose was leaving soot and diesel on your hanky.

As we were standing there studying the map, a man of about 36 came up and introduced himself as Mohammed. One of many, many, many Mohammed's we would meet in our week or so there!

He said he was a school teacher and taught English to primary school kids. He said he was not working that day and would be pleased to show us around Cairo if we wanted him to and that he would show us the old Cairo. He said he didn't want any payment and that he just enjoyed meeting tourists and helping them get to know his city.

He asked us where we were from and when we said New Zealand he was delighted and told us he didn't like Americans as they are not friendly and not interested in seeing the real Cairo and how ordinary Egyptians lived.

Mohammed gave us a wonderful day of almost 13 hours in the old town area and introduced us to all the people he took us to see in the craft galleries and market stalls. He took us through a maze of little back streets and I wondered if we would ever find our way back. I needn't have worried because he saw us safely back to our Hotel at the end of the day.

The place was throbbing with activity and little shop alcoves spilled out onto the streets with every type of produce like furniture, fabrics, scarves, jewellery, poultry, rabbits, clothes, tobacco and food including fresh meat hanging on hooks outside.

We wandered up a street where everyone was making furniture and the stench of chemicals and solvents was dreadful. There were people smoking cigarettes and I was sure the place was going to explode at any moment into a huge fireball and as the buildings were so high and the streets so narrow there would have been no way of escape that we could see.

There were men and boys sawing logs of wood with cross blade saws and the rounds were being turned into bowls by hand.

As we walked on we had to battle for room on the street with donkeys and carts, people on bikes, small trucks, scooters, and small flocks of flat tailed sheep with long woolly coats as well as goats. We also had children running up to us to try and sell us tissues, postcards or hairclips. We had many stops where we pressed ourselves against the wall of a building just to catch our breath and let the traffic and local people through.

Mohammed told us the animals had been brought into the city to be slaughtered to give meat to the poor in a traditional religious ceremony that coming weekend. The young shepherds were happy to let us look at the animals in their pens.

There were fruit and vegetable stalls, bread stalls and little workshops with men carving sculptures and ornaments out of alabaster. Beautiful workmanship but as they worked the fine white dust was going everywhere and they were not wearing any face masks or other type of protection and their faces were white with just their eyes showing through.

The place is thick with dust and dirt and rubbish littered everywhere and because the buildings are so tall it made it look even darker and dirtier in some areas.

Donkeys pulling small carts of goods meandered through the crowds and the dirt streets were covered in wet patches of urine and animal manure.

Mohammed had said he didn't want payment for showing us around but he was like the Tour bus Drivers who take the tourists to certain shops to spend their money and the shops obviously give them money for doing so. We didn't mind though as he took us to places and introduced us to people we would otherwise have not met or seen doing their craft work.

He took us along an alleyway we wouldn't have dared go through on our own and upstairs to an Art Gallery where all the paintings were on Papyrus. The owner was delighted to see us and even more delighted to see Pat and I didn't have wedding Rings on!

He had relatives who were looking for wives and very soon Alvin was in discussion as to how many camels he would get for the pair of us.

Eventually Alvin convinced him that we weren't for sale telling him we were part of his Harem!

Alvin then got him to dance for us while he filmed him on the digital camera's video and he was delighted when Alvin played it back to him so he could see himself.

He then told us the history of the Papyrus painting and how the plant is turned into papyrus paper.

We spent ages looking at all the paintings and had a peep in the room where painters were at work painting their pictures. They are just beautiful and Bev and Alvin and Pat all brought some before we left. The Owner then made us a glass of tea and we were soon on our way to explore the area further.

After that Mohammed took us to an ancient Mosque where he negotiated a price for us to have a tour through it. We had to take our shoes off and then the tour began.

It was fascinating and Mohammed knew all the history and workings of the mosque so we were really privileged and I am sure we would not be allowed in now if we were to go back again.

It was nice and cool inside and had lovely stained glass windows in the domes.

Mohammed explained about the stairs which are a symbol of the stairway to heaven.

There were groups of women sitting on the carpet and small children playing nearby while men were praying.

In the middle there was a huge water fountain and a couple of men were washing their feet in it.

All the activities were taking place in different areas of the inside and the courtyard and it was divided by small concrete walls or wooden lattice work walls.

We went up the minaret where we had views all over the city. I was terrified that the loud speakers were going to go while we were up there and that we would be deafened as they can be heard for miles in every direction.

We could see rooftops with children playing in what must be their backyard (5 or 6 stories up ) and Mosque steeples in the distance and more of the areas hit by the earthquake. We could also see a huge new area being developed where they plan to move people to reduce the crowding in the area where we were.

Mohammed said a lot of people don't want to move out of the area because that is where the markets are and has always been their home.

After we left the Mosque we walked through long narrow streets with buildings up to 200 years old then came to more stalls of clothing, scarves, carpets, pipes for smoking through and food including spices.

Mohammed took us into a Tea House which was an open front alcove with sawdust on the floor. There were men sitting around either playing cards or dominoes, smoking tobacco pipes and talking. No women in this place so we were watched with interest and obviously a novelty in the area. Pat had a go at smoking one of the pipes while we soaked up the atmosphere and drank yellow tea from a glass then watched in shock horror as one of the guys who had just served us our tea proceeded to wash his face and hands and then his feet in the kitchen sink! He must have been preparing for prayers as the call came out over the loud speaker moments after.

We walked through some more alleyways and were taken upstairs to see an elderly man who was making beautiful pictures from cloth and you could hardly see the needlework because it was so fine. I had a small packet of "strawberry and cream" sweets and I gave one to him and he was delighted.

We came to an area where a shepherd was resting with a flock of sheep in pens and some young girls came up to us to show us their baby. They asked us our names and where we were from then made sure we could pronounce their names as well as the baby's before we moved on.

We went into another cavern and watched a man making trinket / jewellery boxes from wood and decorating them with small pieces of "Abalone Shell" (Paua Shell in NZ). It was all put on in intricate patterns and all done by hand. Really labour intensive work and we brought some later and the boxes turned out to cost about £4 British each. They would sell in London for £35 probably if not more.

We moved on and had to take care how we went because people just threw tea and water out the doorway as they needed too.

We spent time watching a man carve Alabaster. He was working in a tiny area and there was fine white dust everywhere including covering his face.

He looked like a ghost! No health and safety rules here concerning caring for your lungs obviously. While we were there he was working on a large piece of Alabaster carving a Sphinx and it was wonderful. We were told it would take about 2 weeks to complete.

Our day tour ended with a visit to a spice shop. This was great fun as they had us trying to guess what all the different spices were.

They showed us all the different spices and then gave us small samples and we had to guess what they were. We didn't do too badly with most of them between us.

Before we left Alvin photographed the two young men working there and showed them the photos and they were delighted.

As we said farewell to Mohammed we gave him

£50 Egyptian which was equal to £5 English as Baksheesh (a Tip) and thanked him for the great day he had given us and then made our way back to the Hotel, stopping for a meal on the way. We had a shower and then washed our clothes which were now filthy with dust and hung them on our coat rack which we put out on the Balcony to dry in amongst the grimy pollution of the Cairo Air!

The next morning we had breakfast which consisted of boiled eggs and (Madeira) Cake then decided to go and book a flight to Luxor which was 300 miles away in Upper Egypt. We found the "Egypt Air" office about 3 blocks away from our hotel but were directed to a Travel Agent and left Alvin there to negotiate tickets while we went and looked for somewhere to draw out some money.

Tourist Police armed with AK47's were everywhere around the Bank area.

As well as the ones standing in pairs there were pairs of them up on balconies and other elevated positions with bullet proof shields in front of them and a van load of them on the street. The ones in the Van had a tray of glasses of tea on it and were enjoying their tea break as they observed us. We didn't know whether to feel secure or afraid by this so we settled with merely being anxious but after a while realised it was normal everyday life in Cairo.

I had some English Pounds so exchanged it for Egyptian. My £140 gave me £1280. My purse was bulging and I couldn't fit it all in let alone shut it.

In the meantime Alvin was in the office trying to extract Air Tickets from Mohammed who was very inexperienced with computer ticketing and into the bargain didn't speak or understand much English. I guess Kiwi accents didn't help a lot either!

Alvin assisted him by typing in all our names on the computer which Mohammed was delighted with but then lost the lot when he pressed the next key!

Twice he went to the Egypt Air office for assistance leaving Alvin or myself looking after his Office!

All the time he was saying Insha'allah (God willing or if it is God's will). It took over two hours before we finally got our tickets.

Eventually a young woman from Air Egypt came and sorted out our tickets.

While all of this was going on I had become intrigued with the drama going on in the street outside the office. Cairo is so traffic logged that finding a park anywhere must be a nightmare. It also presents a money making opportunity for some of the locals though as well.

On the opposite side of the road tourist police spent their time directing traffic into parking spaces. They seemed to be very selective and there was obviously exchanges of money going on between drivers and themselves.

Also on the opposite side of the road there was an elderly man who had obviously nominated himself as a roving parking meter. He had a small seat which he sat on in a parking space and waited for someone looking for a park and then negotiated with the driver for a price to park there.

Not only did he sting them for parking in the first place but also sat behind them when they were ready to leave and stung them again before he would let them out!

I got Pat and Bev to stand looking at a map so I could take a photo of him without it being obvious what I was doing as you have to be really careful when and where you take photo's.

Pat and Bev went and had a look through the market for a while then once we had our tickets we all went to a coffee shop which was set up like a huge Bedouin Tent. The waiters were all dressed in pink suits and wore bow ties and in the corner was a woman sitting on a carpet on the floor making and baking unleavened bread with a gas fire burning away to bake it in. We had some straight out of the oven with our tea and it was delicious.

We finally got our tickets and made our way back to our hotel and went to the fruit and vegetable market in behind it and brought some oranges, bananas and freshly baked rings of bread which were full of dates and were light, warm and very tasty. I remember thinking at the time, Dad would love this bread. After our lunch we decided to head for the "Cairo Egyptian Museum" as the air was still thick with pollution.

On the way we passed a man sitting on the sidewalk stripping the contents of some animal intestines into a bucket and beside him was another bucket of animal hooves soaking in something.

A man came up to us and offered us directions then told us that it didn't open until 2:30pm.

He directed us to a shop where we could see Papyrus Paper being made so Pat and I went and had a look at that and I found a painting of the old market we had been in the day before which I brought and am delighted with.

Bev and Alvin stopped and watched some workmen digging holes for the foundation for a new high rise building. They had a large pipe in the ground and a handle attached to it and they chanted a song to which they added for our benefit "and we want money" as they pushed the handle to jerk the auger deeper into the ground.

Bev warned Alvin to be careful about taking photo's but he soon gained their confidence by showing them what his digital camera could do and they let him take photo's of themselves and were delighted to see themselves on it in an instant. They roared laughing at a photo he took of one of their calloused hard working hands besides his own, soft nurse's hands.

The Museum is old style in its presentation and security is high. Pat's bag revealed her Swiss army knife during the x-ray of our bags so that was confiscated and held until we came out again.

We spent 2 hours at the Museum which is stuffed full of ancient treasures but not really well organised and we could have done with spending a few hours there every day for week just to take it all in.

It was overwhelming really just knowing how old everything was that we were looking at and what a privilege it was to be seeing it all within touching distance.

The first floor was chocker block with Mummies and caskets.

The second floor had displays from several Pharaohs and Kings tombs and these are sights to remember for a lifetime.

The treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb are spectacular with the gold and gemstones in the various dress items and the detail to aspects of ornaments for different parts of the body incredible.

There was a presence surrounding Tutankhamun's display that will stay in our memories for years.

They are trying to build a new museum out at the pyramids at Giza so they can display everything better.

When we left there we decided to walk to Gezira Island in the middle of the Nile and go to the top of the massive tower there for another view of Cairo.

As soon as we started walking Taxi Drivers started coming up alongside us trying to get us into their "Flying Coffins" but we had decided we wanted to live a bit longer yet so kept saying "no thanks" trying not to show our irritation which was building up with every approach made!

When we got sick of this Alvin decided to hire a Horse and Carriage and haled one down. Pat and Alvin sat up front while Bev and I sat in the back like Ladies of leisure.

We didn't look like ladies of leisure for long though as this horse could move and we were soon worried as it cantered through the traffic, in particular among the tooting flying coffins which were whizzing by!

The Horse does have right of way though but Alvin was also concerned about the speed especially as we were zooming across the busiest bridge in Cairo and persuaded the driver to take us at a more leisurely pace.

We arrived safely and went up in the lift to the top which is

187 meters high.

The view would be quite stunning if you could see it through the air pollution which was made worse this day because of the sandstorm and smog, but we couldn't see more than a few miles.

The Giza Pyramids are on the edge of the city but we couldn't even see them!

The city lights were beginning to come on while we were still up there so we decided we would walk back to our hotel once we came down.

Of course the staff tried to persuade us to stay for a meal in the restaurant up there. You have to bata about everything in Egypt but as soon as you agree on a price they want to sell you more. If you don't want anything they insist that you must have a cup of tea as it is important to them to show you their hospitality. Once you have had the cup of tea you then feel obliged to buy something. Very clever marketing!

Our walk back took us through a huge transit area. The Buses are something to be seen to be believed. Rusty as hell and jammed packed with everyday people just trying to get home.

We decided to continue walking.

At one stage we had to walk under a major motorway feeding into the city. The noise was amazing and you could hardly hear yourself think. The area was crammed with people and as we came out of it we were faced with the prospect of a major intersection that we had to cross over.

As we were about to cross, Pat became aware of a little girl pulling at her clothes. She said hello to her and went to walk out on to the road only to realise this child was coming with her.

We all had to step back again and I had seen a woman pushing the child forwards towards Pat a few moments earlier. Pat was now becoming alarmed about what to do when suddenly a man in a suit came up and took the child and found the mother and admonished her for her behaviour and Pat thanked him and we carried on.

The mother must have been expecting the child to be given some money.

We stepped out onto the road and started our adrenalin rushing journey to the other side weaving in and out of the black and white flying coffins, the drivers of which were still tooting like mad.

Alvin said we were like rocks in a stream with the cars being the water flowing around us!!

We came across a Swiss Restaurant so went in for tea then went back to the hotel for an early night.

We had to be up at 2am to catch our flight to Luxor as we wanted to allow ourselves at least an hour for the unreliable, unpredictable, "flying coffin" ride to the airport.

We asked Reception to phone us at 2:30am but as it happened I dreamt that they didn't and that we missed our flight. It was so vivid that I woke up and it was 2am.

I got up and got dressed and at 20 past 2 I went and called Bev and Alvin and sure enough they hadn't been called either.

We got down to Reception and then the staff insisted that Bev and Alvin hadn't paid for their room.

They had paid the day we checked in but hadn't got a receipt but the staff eventually found it noted in a book so we were free to leave.

This day's objective was to get to Luxor in Upper Egypt.

Simple enough eh!

You go to the Airport, hop on a plane, land after a simple 50 minute flight over the desert and "Bob's your uncle" you're there !

Yeah, right!!!

We went outside and as we stepped onto the footpath to hail a Taxi, a dozen or so Taxis appeared from nowhere at once all shouting and tooting and carrying on worse than Millwall Fans when they have just seen the team lose, all wanting to be the ones to take us wherever we wanted to go. What a bloody commotion.

We were rescued by a staff member from the hotel who had come out with us hoping for baksheesh and he found the driver of what we thought was a fairly good condition Datsun 180B Car for us. He went yelling in the alleyway behind the hotel and immediately the driver came sprinting out of the dark alleyway where he had obviously been sleeping. He agreed to 30 Egyptian Pounds for the fare out to the airport.

He didn't speak English but Alvin's impersonation of a bird flying and by repeating the word Luxor he eventually got the message.

The roads were fairly quiet and the young driver (I think his name may have been Mohammed funnily enough!) was going to make the most of this opportunity and he took off like a cut cat.

He used all the lanes at once and overtook and undertook at will, all the while tooting his horn and flicking his lights on if he saw another car coming towards him.

The car had a dodgy engine and it kept cutting out all the time but he would quickly restart it and accelerate so we couldn't jump out, which was what we wanted to do believe me!

And of course as usual he didn't know where he was going or how to get to the Airport. Alvin was following the directions on a map thank goodness or I think we would still be there trying to find the airport.

At one stage he went the wrong way on a "one way flyover" so just did a U turn and drove back up in the wrong direction until he found the junction he needed to get off.

You could see the startled looks on the faces in the cars coming towards us and I guess they could see the alarm in Alvin's face since he was the one sitting in the front.

Luckily the other drivers took account of this lunatics antics and swerved across the road to prevent a certain collision.

A common expression in Egypt is "En sha Allah" which means,

"If it is God's will" or "God willing. This was very apt we all decided and were to believe this was how it worked on many occasions.

Another saying of our own was to become, "When in Egypt, start each day, with a delay!"

When we finally arrived he tried to apologise for his mistakes and didn't want to take any payment and Bev ended up throwing some money through his window as he drove off for him to have it.

We had managed to arrive in plenty of time to check in so started looking for where we should go.

We showed our tickets and were told to go to the next office. They wouldn't let us in!

Went back to the first place and tried with a different person, same response.

This time Alvin insisted that that the guy came with us. We got inside and were told to wait. Half an hour later we were sent back to the original lounge and were told there was a "sandstorm" in Luxor and we wouldn't be going until 8am.

We hung around just observing the goings on in the terminal.

We saw two guys pushing a cartload of about 50 suitcases hurriedly towards the terminal through the exit doors.

A cocky Egyptian ordered the two men to carry on through these doors instead of going through the security and scanning process.

An argument ensued between this Rooster (as Alvin refers to anyone who was a con artist or a bit dodgy in this lovely country) and an armed security officer standing guard. The rooster abruptly verbally dismissed the security guard, who happened to have an AK47 rifle slung over his shoulder, and also gave him a good shove at the same time just to prove the point.

By now Alvin's attention was fully focused as he murmured his favourite saying which is, "I wonder what will happen next!"

The trolley was pushed into an area beyond the scanners and instantly a group of 5 senior security officers appeared. A verbal exchange erupted in Egyptian and the body language was all aggression.

The organiser of the trolley load of suitcases seemed to retain the upper hand.

A man in a slick suit arrived on the scene and was soon in on the act and up against the rage of the Rooster.

The verbal rage soon escalated into physical pushing around and the Rooster struck the suit in the throat with an open hand in an upward motion all the time insisting that he was going through without the baggage being checked.

Alvin was gobsmacked to see the little mongrel charge on into the terminal with his trolley and now we were all hoping this pile of suitcases was not going on the same plane to Luxor, as us!

We were now concerned about what was in them.

Bev was reading out of her trusty little guidebook of tourist tips and read that though air travel should be the fastest way to travel, the national carrier "Air Egypt" is in some disarray so delays are standard.

We reminded ourselves of the philosophy Insha'allah "God willing" and "Ma'alesh" never mind!"

By the time we had a cup of coffee it was going to be 10am when would leave. Decided to get a taxi to the Sheraton Hotel 10 minutes away and go and have some breakfast.

What luxury. More than Madiera cake and scrambled eggs on the menu here!

We had a wonderful breakfast for the equivalent of £3.

After breakfast we caught the free shuttle bus to the airport again only to discover the plane had been delayed again this time until 3pm.

We decided to go to the Pyramids to fill in the time so set out to find another taxi.

The touts saw us coming! Before he knew it, Alvin had about 10 of them competing for his business. He was trying to explain what we wanted to do and negotiate a price with Bev and Pat trying to help as well and it was pandemonium.

After a fair amount of haggling which ended up involving the Tourist Police armed with their AK45's who thought we needed assistance and Alvin telling them we would handle it ourselves thank you very much, he managed to single out a nice guy named, (Yes you guessed it), Mohammed.

On the map it looked like the trip could be done in the 3 hours we had till our plane was to take off and off we went at breakneck speed again through the traffic in yet another black and white flying coffin.

It was such a relief to be away from the airport and the frustrations we had encountered since 0200hrs that morning.

We were soon speeding through the traffic, all the while I am thinking that my travel insurance agent would not be a "Happy Chappy" if he could see me now!

Mohammed had to pull into a garage for petrol and Alvin saw him only put a splash in it and reckoned it would have just been enough to prevent us running out.

Because of the congestion it appeared we may have been a bit too optimistic about the reality of getting down to the Pyramids and back in time to catch our plane and this was a real worry.

Mohammed told us not to go inside the compound when we got there just to have a look from outside it, have a ride on a camel and then he would bring us straight back.

We liked this man and he told us he had seen us earlier the day before. I hope the only reason he noticed us was that there weren't a lot of tourists around and not because we stood out as a bunch of idiot tourists just waiting to be fleeced!

He agreed to do the round trip for £80 which is £8 British so a real bargain.

To avoid the city centre he took the ring road which was further but should be quicker.

We amused ourselves learning the numbers on the plates of the cars in front of us with Mohammed's help. When we got them right he praised us like you would a 3 year old child. It was so good to be away from the stress of the airport and we were having some fun. Some of the cars that managed to get in front of us had English numbers on their plates as well as the Egyptian so we started getting some of the numbers off easily and because Mohammed didn't read English he was most impressed about how quick we were learning!

We were shrieking with laughter and he must have thought we were weird to get such a thrill out of it.

We did let him into our secret about how we learned so quickly though and he thought that was funny.

We went past the Presidential Palace which was where President Saddat was assassinated and then past the Necropolis which was a sobering sight.

It is a massive cemetery where a million poor people live without sanitation, plumbing or electricity. The motorway runs right through the middle of it.

They camp on and in the Tombs some of which are as big as small houses and are not fully enclosed.

There are established markets inside it and people and donkeys with carts loaded with fruit and vegetables wander out onto the motorway to get from one side to the other. It is an absolute nightmare of a road in that area.

There are also schools and we saw children with donkeys that had 44 gallon drums on their carts carrying water. Alvin spotted some guys trying to tap into the national grid for electricity.

The area stretches for miles between Cairo and Giza and the government is providing new housing on the outskirts of it.

These new buildings looked really dodgy to me as the mortar only seemed to be in the centre of the bricks.

I could imagine the washing on the clotheslines on the balconies flapping in the wind causing the brickwork to loosen and the building to collapse, let alone a small earthquake doing it.

We could see the Pyramids in the distance and they were an amazing sight.

About a mile from Giza we realised we had a flat tyre!

Alvin spotted the cause. The tyre had fifty or more patches and the areas not covered by patches were bald.

While Mohammed went and got it fixed we wandered around the small town and took photos. There was a canal trying to flow past nearby but it was so polluted it was just a filthy smelly cess pond really.

Mohammed dropped us off at the entrance to the Pyramids and when I got out I checked the new tyre and was worried to see stuffing poking out of it so I brought this to Alvin's attention. He mentioned it to Mohammed who then said he would go and get it fixed and told us he would be back in 20 minutes to pick us up.

We certainly hoped he would as he had our suitcases in the boot of the coffin!

We were soon surrounded by "Camel Touts" who tried to persuade us to go for a camel ride or at least get up on one for a photo opportunity.

Pat took a photo of one as he walked his camel towards us but unfortunately the Sheik spotted her doing it so she was then harassed to get up on the beast of burden to have her photo taken.

Alvin was standing close to make sure it never ran off with her on board. Next Alvin got on one.

In their enthusiasm they made the mistake of not negotiating a price before Pat got up on the camel.

The Sheik wanted an exorbitant price but they refused and gave him what they thought was a fair deal. With that all the other touts wanted money as well and the situation was getting heated when thankfully Mohammed arrived back and was panicking saying we had to leave immediately or we would miss our plane!

Alvin managed to get Pat over to where we were and we piled into the black coffin and we were soon speeding back up the fairly quiet motorway. This didn't last for long though and soon we were in congested conditions again.

Then the repaired tyre blew out again.

Mohammed pulled over on the side of the motorway again and threw a tyre out from the car a bit so the speeding traffic had to move out a little away from his car while he and Alvin changed the tyre. This was really dangerous and Bev and Pat and I walked away up the side of the road a bit and discussed flagging down another Taxi.

Oncoming traffic was pouring around Alvin and Mohammed and tooting like crazy at them as they jacked up the Lada and changed the tyre.

Alvin was concerned to see this tyre also had something protruding from it. The tube! Now we were really panicking but decided we had to risk it once more and were soon off along the motorway once again.

Every now and then there were little shelters by the side of the road with Tourist Police in pairs, armed with AK 47's.

We asked Mohammed what their role was and he said they were just waiting on accidents to happen like they frequently do so they can direct the traffic to keep it moving.

"Great I thought. That is really reassuring!"

As we passed through the Necropolis again, 2 donkeys pulling a cart suddenly pulled out into the traffic in front of us and we narrowly missed hitting them on the nose as they quickly pulled back their heads and Mohammed made a swift manoeuvre to miss them. I felt sick as it had been so close and if they had been struck, Alvin wouldn't have got off unscathed either because he was sitting in the front seat.

The traffic became really congested and we now had "Judder Bars" to contend with as well.

Mohammed was trying his best but was sweating and obviously worried that we weren't going to make it in time for our plane.

In his efforts he cut off another car giving a gesture of annoyance as he did so. This was returned with a long toot. Alvin then became aware that the other driver was now keeping pace with us and seemed really annoyed. Mohammed gestured to him to get out of his way and this was definitely the wrong thing to do. The other bloke waited for the next traffic intersection and deliberately blocked our passage. He then got out of his car and came across to Mohammed's window and a heated exchange of Arabic angry dialogue took place for about 3 minutes until it concluded and he got back in his own car. We could only sit and watch in amazement as the events unfolded not comprehending one bit of it.

We had watched as Traffic Police became aware of the disagreement and were keeping an eye on the proceedings from about 30 meters away. Alvin reckons they timed the traffic flow to coincide with the conclusion of the disagreement!

Everyone was silent as Mohammed drove off. Alvin eventually broke the ice by saying "Did we win?"

Mohammed only shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands in the air.

We made it to the airport in time to check in and rushed through into the departure lounge with no time to spare.

There was a man collapsed on the floor in there and people were hovering around him so we assumed he was being packed off to the hospital.

We got on the bus that took us out onto the tarmac to where the plane was and climbed on board.

We found 2 of our seats had been double booked so Pat and Alvin found seats by the window and Bev and I were just across from them.

As I leaned back in mine in relief at having made it, the back went down almost flat and there was no way it would click in the upright position. I had visions of the plane taking off and me flying out the back, as it did so!

The Stewardess told us to sit somewhere else so Bev joined Alvin by his window and I sat with Pat by hers.

By now we were in hysterics!

Alvin scrutinised the interior of the plane. His conclusions were it was basically a cattle crate compared to Air New Zealand's fleet.

Once again we were delayed and were shocked to see the emergency door next to us being opened.

The cool desert air came rushing through at hurricane force, the full length of the plane.

Next we saw the cause of the delay. The bloke who we had seen collapsed on the floor in the terminal was now being loaded onto the plane via the food delivery elevator, in a wheelchair!

Looking at him, it was hard to determine if he was actually still alive or dead.

No time to be worrying about it now though as we were now taking off. It was 4pm and we were running about 11 hours late!

The plane shuddered and squirmed its way over the desert and at times it felt like it was going to twist so far it would break in half.

We had nice views of the Nile with its lush vegetation along its banks, an occasional Oasis, the sand then the sandy hills just before we came into Luxor. Alvin described the scene more like a moonscape with the added extras.

We all looked at each other briefly before bracing ourselves for the landing.

The landing was terrible with the wings tipping from side to side and when it eventually stabilised the whole plane erupted to the sound of everyone on board clapping at the success of having survived the trip.

We all just looked at each other and laughed with relief.

The Taxi's were blue and white here and there were no signs of corrosion or structural damage so we hailed one (The driver's name was Mohammed by the way!) and headed into Luxor.

This Mohammed was an older man, very nice and he drove sedately.

The scenery was lush with crops and orchards and people working in the fields. The road was shared by Donkeys pulling cart loads of vegetables but no one was in a mad rush here and we had time to take in the scenery.

On the outskirts of Luxor we passed over what appeared to be a dry river bed that had huge statues of animals down each side of it.

We arrived at our hotel which was old but ok and we were all now exhausted having been up since 2am.

I went to bed at 5:30pm after a shower and never woke up until 5am the next morning when the loud speakers on the building next door boomed out the message for everyone to "face Mecca and bow down and pray." Well I fair flew out of bed, I got such a fright and then realised where I was so got back into bed and pulled a pillow over my head until the racket stopped.

There was a school next door and it had 4 speakers on it facing in each direction. These loud speakers really are loud and frighteningly so if you happen to be right next door to them!

Bev and Alvin had only slept for a couple of hours after we first arrived and had then gone out for a look around and a meal.

They had eaten at the Sofitel hotel which is part of the "Winter Palace" where "King Farouk" used to stay a couple of hundred or so years ago. They said it was really good so the three of us went there for breakfast and it was very nice.

Pat was still sleeping so Alvin went looking for her later but she had gone.

Bev and I decided to visit the Luxor Temple feeling sure we would meet the others there eventually.

In the meantime Alvin met Pat walking down a street with a man and asked her what she was doing. She told him she was going to write a letter for this man. She said she was fine so he left her to it and wandered into the market. After all his lectures to us about not getting sucked into buying stuff we didn't need, he later emerged with about £17 (British) worth of different spices! Now this included Frankincense, which Bev reckons it isn't and even if it is, what the hell do you do with it!!!

The only time I heard about its use was when it was used to embalm the body of Jesus! I think.

Alvin said the salesman's technique over a 30 minute period, culminating in him buying spices he had never heard of and would probably never use, was spectacular and it was a real hoot for him describing the events as they had happened, to us later.

Pat really appreciated it as she also had fallen for the charming ways of some Arab and ended up with 3 dresses which she didn't need, didn't want and you wouldn't be seen wearing in London unless you had them covered with a Burka!

The guy getting her to write the letter for him was a con artist and that was his way of getting her defences down, luring her to his brother's shop to buy things and becoming amorous towards her at the same time. Having done martial arts in the past she dealt with him swiftly and made her way back to see Alvin.

Meanwhile Bev and I made our way through the amazing site of temple ruins and statues and soaked up the warmth and sunshine and fresh air on the banks of the Nile.

It was all so refreshing after the freezing cold of London and the thick pollution and noise of Cairo.

After a while we decided to walk the 3kms along the Nile Riverbank to "Karnak" which is an even bigger ruins covering 28 acres.

The columns are massive and very high and a lot of the engravings are still "as new" with many still having colour on them.

They depict beautiful engravings of animals and birds and fish as well as Pharaohs and Queens.

Bev had a book about Luxor and it was great being able to refer to it to explain things.

We came across an old man who insisted on taking us into a small enclosed area to show us the petrified remains of a snake in a massive block of stone. He wanted us to touch it and then touch our forehead for good luck. I wasn't having any of it but Bev did as he wanted and then of course he held out his hand for Baksheesh!

We went off in another direction to look for something of interest Bev had read about in her book and a tourist policeman indicated that we were going in the wrong direction and guided us to some other area.

We were greeted by an Egyptian in white robes and taken to an area with another small dark enclosure. He told us to step inside and I said "No".

He tried to insist but I let him know firmly that I was staying right where I was.

Bev stepped in and another man appeared with a sheet of timber with aluminium foil covering it and reflected the sunlight on to the wall to reveal some engravings. Then out came the hands for "Baksheesh". We gave them some money because we were feeling a bit vulnerable as there were no other tourists around and the slimeball of a cop had his AK47 slung around his shoulder in a gungho fashion that was making us uneasy as well.

The slimeball then led us out and back up towards where he had lured us from in the first place and then he held out his hand for Baksheesh. Well, by now I was livid!

I looked him straight in the eye with a look that had more power than his AK47 and said "No way!" and we stormed off.

Bev kept saying "he's got a gun Kath", and I said "Bugger his gun, just keep walking fast" which we did.

We went round the first corner we came to and found ourselves in the area Bev had been looking for in the first place.

By now we had nervous giggles as we were so relieved we had got out of the situation.

After finishing our tour we went back to our hotel by horse and buggy and it was just lovely. The sun was shining and it was warm and the sounds of the horse's hooves clip-clopping along the road and the views of the beautiful blue Nile flowing beside us with the palm trees on the banks and all the boats tied up was something I will always remember. We had soon forgotten our anxious moments of the previous ½ hour we had spent at Karnak.

It had definitely shown us that it is important to have a male companion with you when you are amongst these Arabs including the tourist police who are supposed to be there to protect you.

Pat and Alvin were back at the hotel when we arrived so we swapped the mornings stories and Alvin said he had spent an hour with a young man called Mohammed who owned a Felucca (sail boat) and had a friend on the other side of the river with a taxi and had arranged for us to be taken to "The valley of the Kings" and then in the late afternoon to sail up the River on the Felucca to watch the sunset on the Nile.

We went across the river by motorboat and our taxi was waiting for us. It was a good car by Egyptian standards but probably wouldn't get a warrant of fitness in New Zealand!

The driver was nice and the roads quiet.

In behind the hills we could see from Luxor, the terrain became dryer and harsher than anything I had ever seen in my life before. The sides of the hillsides had all been sculptured by the weather and looked really spectacular. The taxi dropped us off at a place where there were market stalls and from where we were to catch the little tourist train for a 15 minute drive to the main area.

There were tourist police dotted everywhere with their guns visible, high up in the hills and they were sitting in pairs at the entrances to all the tombs. Walking up the valley later we could see little birds the size of sparrows which were grey with orange beaks and they lived in holes in the side of the hills. It made me wonder what they ate as there was no vegetation around whatsoever.

One small Valley at the foot of a natural pyramid contains about 2 dozen Kings Tombs.

The Queens and nobles are buried in valleys nearby.

There were notice boards outside each entrance telling the life history of the Tombs owner.

They used to prepare their tomb throughout their life by having their life depicted in colourful drawings on the rock walls all the way in to where they would finally be buried. They were buried either in a hollowed out rock or encased in several hollowed out rocks inside each other.

I had a look at the first one and Alvin, Bev and Pat went into another one as well. There were no bodies in them, thank goodness. They are probably in the British Museum in London. We had gone there the week before to learn a bit about Egypt before our trip and I was shocked to see peoples bodies (the skin looks like brown leather) in glass cases on display.

No flash photography is allowed in the tombs in an effort to preserve the marvellous paintings for the future. However we are talking about poor Arabs who are the protectors of these ancient monuments and they ask for Baksheesh and in return allow cart blanc photography. Alvin reckons they would have let him chip a small sample off the wall if he had been so inclined!

After spending the afternoon there we started back towards the Nile again in our Taxi.

We stopped for a moment to look at the outside of a huge Temple rising out of the sand at the bottom of a cliff in the Valley of the Queens.

We then passed through a small village where the shops sold either fruit and vegetables or Alabaster ornaments and figurines. The outside walls were all painted in pictures similar to the paintings in the tombs.

One shop was even called the "Princess Diana Alabaster Factory".

I wish we had had time to go in and look around though Alabaster is very heavy and would have been difficult to take or send home.

We came to two massive statues at an area that is still being excavated and stopped to take photos.

I just stayed in the car with Mohammed while the driver got out with the others.

Within moments 3 men wearing pale green suits and carrying AK47's came up to the car and greeted Mohammed in a friendly manner, smiling and shaking his hand.

They spoke to him and he handed them what looked like a Passport without a cover on it. They examined it and looked at his photo and then walked away.

With that the driver quickly returned to the car and stuffed a wad of money into Mohammed's hand and indicated to him to go and give it to these "men in suits".

By now Alvin realised something was up and he got Bev and Pat to return with him quickly to the car.

I was feeling like we were on the set of a Movie like "Casablanca" or something it was so surreal but then again we were getting used to nothing being ordinary in this country by now!

We never found out what it was all about but think Mohammed wasn't supposed to go to the west bank of the river or at least wasn't supposed to escort Tourists there.

As in all Egypt, if you pay cash you can do whatever you want.

We got to the Nile again and as we were making our way down the bank a small boy was harassing Pat for £1 so in the finish Alvin picked him up and stood him on a stone wall beside Bev and took their photo. Bev gave him £1 but then he tried to get one off Alvin as well. They learn about making money early! We were in fits of laughter by then.

We had to climb over one boat to get out onto Mohammed's Felucca

which his two brothers had brought across the River to pick us up.

His brothers appeared to be about 15 and 16 years of age and were both good looking and quiet but friendly.

The Felucca is a primitive yacht and requires a crew of two to sail it.

We were blown up the west bank of the Nile by a gentle breeze past grazing fields with water buffalo, fields of Sugar cane and crops for the animals to feed on.

Kingfishers were diving for fish on the river and were fascinating to watch.

As we sailed up the River we passed men sitting on the grass by the rivers edge with a camel or a donkey or some sheep or goats feeding nearby them. Some had a small child with them as well. It all looked so relaxed and beautiful.

At one point we passed a "Soccer field" where two school teams were playing a game.

We sailed a mile or so up the River then quietly drifted back to near Luxor and anchored in the middle to have a cup of tea and watch the sun set. One of the lads had made us the cup of tea. He had scooped the water out of the river in a billy and put it on a kerosene burner to boil. From where I was sitting I could see it boiling well and watched him make the tea.

They say if you drink the water from the Nile it will cure you of all ills!

Bev wasn't convinced and managed to turf hers back into the river without the crew noticing.

After checking there were no baby crocodiles in mine, I drank it and enjoyed it.

It was really peaceful and the sun setting over the Palm trees and the beautiful blue of the river was just lovely.

We chatted with Mohammed and he said the threat of war in Iraq had nothing to do with them but it had almost ruined their livelihood as the tourism had dropped off dramatically. He said this should have been the height of the season for them but there were only tourists from countries like ours who were still prepared to take the risk and come to Egypt.

He said he hated touting for business but that if he didn't he wouldn't get any business.

He said as it was, he and his brothers would never be able to afford to marry as they would never be able to earn enough money for a dowry to get a bride.

After an enjoyable few hours on the river we went back to Luxor and Alvin agreed to meet Mohammed in the morning again to arrange our final day.

As we got near to where Mohammed would tie up the Felucca the wind suddenly dropped and because the current was so strong in the river we were soon banging into other feluccas which were tied up.

Men appeared from nowhere and helped to push Mohammed's felucca out from the others and into where he could tie it up.

We walked up to the "Sofitel" Hotel for our evening meal and to plan our final day.

Alvin had now tired of the continual pressure to part from his cash and found it was detracting from the purpose of our trip which was to have a holiday!

It was bloody hard work, forever negotiating we all decided but unbeknown to us we had even more difficult encounters of it to come the next day.

The waiter at the Sofitel gave Alvin a hard time because each time he had gone there he had yet another female with him.

Alvin just introduced Pat and I as two more women from his "Harem".

After tea I walked back along the river and had an early night. It was beautiful as all the palm trees were lit up and the floating hotels were a mass of lights as well.

Alvin and Bev and Pat headed off to the market but it was closing and a woman "hissed" at Bev when she tried to go in.

Wednesday 5^th February saw us wake up to another fabulously hot day with the view from our balcony over the Nile as lovely as ever.

Breakfast in our old hotel looked like it had been cooked a week previously and we were wishing we had walked along to the Sofitel instead. However we bravely ate a couple of eggs and some toast.

Bev and Alvin and Pat went back to the Thebes Necropolis to visit Tutankhamun's Tomb while I had a relaxing morning writing postcards. These postcards arrived in NZ quicker than the ones I sent from Greece!

When we all met up again we decided to get a horse and buggy and all go back out to Karnak Temple for another look around as Alvin and Pat hadn't been there.

There were about 20 men lined up with their horses and buggy's not far from our Hotel so Alvin said he was going to look at the Horses and see which one was the best cared for and that he would negotiate a price with the driver.

He checked them all out which had all the owners then touting for business. When he picked the one he liked and started to negotiate, all hell broke loose.

One guy struck his horse with his whip and tried to come up beside us. Alvin ignored him and soon another came alongside and they were both trying to undercut the price Alvin had negotiated with Ahab.

There was a hell of a commotion going on in Arabic and this horrible buggar was still whipping his horse every few minutes and we could see it almost cowering waiting on it's next crack of the whip.

Alvin told Ahab to go along the river bank a wee way and we would walk and meet up with him there.

While he was negotiating this, the swine nearby me whipped his horse again and I just let him have it. I told him he was a very angry man who treated his horse badly and we wouldn't ride with him if he was the last man with a horse, on earth!

Well this brought a moment of silence from everyone and sent Alvin scooting back to where I was standing.

These Men are used to women being quiet and doing what they're told!

Alvin took advantage of the situation now and called this creep down off his horse to speak to him. All the while the creep was aggressively insisting that he would be taking us. Alvin took him by the hand all the while aware that he still had the whip in his other hand.

Alvin told him to look him in the eyes which he did, then Alvin said "Do you understand my English?" He indicated that he did by nodding his head.

Alvin carried on, "I don't want to do business with you. You mistreat your horse and we would sooner walk than go anywhere with you!"

The creep then tried to negotiate a return trip for the price of the single trip we had negotiated with Ahab.

He was also saying he had been waiting in the line the longest and it was his turn and those were the rules.

Again Alvin told him to look him in the eye and then said to him,

"I don't want to do business with you. I don't give a stuff about your rules. Take your horse and piss off!"

We walked off then wondering what would happen next but thankfully no one followed us or shot at us!

We met up with Ahab and he let Alvin take the reins and Alvin let "Sabrina" take us at a leisurely trot along the riverbank road to the Temple.

Bev and I enjoyed our second visit to the Temple much more than the first because we had Alvin with us so weren't so vulnerable to the creepy old men who loiter in amongst the ruins waiting on lone female tourists who they hope to fleece of their cash.

At 3pm we all met up again and went to the Sofitel for lunch then got a taxi to the Airport to fly back to Cairo.

Thankfully this time we were in a smaller and newer plane and the flight back was smooth.

We arrived back in Cairo at 7:30pm and were happy to be returning to our Grand Hotel again.

Of course we had to do the usual taxi ride from the airport to get there.

Negotiating the price we all piled into this taxi and set off.

Within seconds it was obvious it had been hit behind at some stage of its career as there was a strange sound coming from the back end and the muffler was dragging on the ground. The driver pulled over and Alvin and Pat who were the lightest sat in the back where the noise was coming from. Bev sat on the opposite side and I sat in the front.

The driver was a proper young "smart alec" and gung- ho with his driving. I soon let him know he would be driving carefully while we were in the car as we intended to get to the Hotel intact in body and mind. I said if he didn't drive carefully then we would not pay him when we got there.

He went to light up a cigarette on 3 occasions and I said "No, or you won't be paid".

He gradually sped up a few times and I made him slow down. He was flying through a tunnel at one stage and it was terrifying so I laid into him big time.

All the while Pat and Bev were giggling in the back and Alvin was egging me on.

About 3 times he asked if he could phone the Hotel on his mobile phone and we guessed that he wanted to arrange a commission for taking us there. I said "No, just keep driving"

Then he started rummaging in the glovebox to find a tape to play and I said "No, just concentrate on the road or you won't get paid".

By now he had been muttering in an agitated way for at least 20 minutes and it was all abuse of me.

He was driving with his lights off and I repeatedly told him to put them on and leave them on until eventually he did.

A few streets away from our hotel, he went into a wrong street and backed out through the traffic following him. By now we were nearly pooing our pants!

Thankfully the Police caught him in the act and gave him a fine for dangerous driving. Hell they didn't know the half of it or they would have fined him more!!

Alvin had had enough so made him pull over before we got to the hotel. He didn't even know where the hotel was, but we did.

We got out and Alvin handed him the £30 (Egyptian) £3 British, he had negotiated at the start but he wanted Alvin to give him £20 more to pay for his fine! Instead he got a good telling off from Alvin and we moved off into the crowd and waited until he had gone before walking in the direction of the hotel.

The staff welcomed us back like old friends and this time our rooms were up on the 6^th floor and were bigger and better than previously.

Again we had to give them our passports which they put in pigeon holes on the wall.

The room Pat and I had looked along the length of the back street which was the fruit and vege market.

It was great looking down on everything going on below us.

At one point the police swooped in and the guys selling stuff other than fruit, vegetables and bread whipped up their sheets off the tables and scattered in all directions into the crowd only to reappear again as soon as the police had gone. About 20minutes later the police came back and the act was repeated only this time the illegal stall holders weren't quick enough and the police sent stuff flying off their tables before they could gather it up and run.

We decided to go down to the market and buy some date bread which is scrumptious and was always freshly made and some fruit.

As we wandered around 2 grubby little boys came up and tugged at our clothes and indicated that they were hungry and pointed to the bananas so we gave them some. I later saw them sharing them with a young girl who looked like their sister.

We went back to the hotel and had date bread and fruit for tea then got dressed up in scarves we had brought and Alvin took photo's which he then emailed back to friends and family in NZ.

The next morning Thursday 6^th February we were up bright and early and headed off to try the underground.

No such thing as "a one day pass to all zones" in Cairo so we got tickets to Giza to go and spend some time at the Pyramids.

In the station a man offered to help us then a young woman who said her name was "Enas" said she was going in that direction and that she would come with us. She spoke very good English and when we arrived at the station she said she would take us to the pyramids.

We said we would be Ok as she was on her way to work but she insisted saying we were visitors to her country and she must help us because many of her people would try and take advantage of us.

(Please, tell us something we don't already know!)

She negotiated a ride in a beat up old Combi Van for us and then insisted on paying for us.

Two young men got on at one point (I think they were opportunist touts who saw us in the Van and saw a few quid to made if they played their cards right) and they began arguing with Enas about money. We never found out if she had to pay extra for us because we were foreigners or not.

There was no door on the Van so people just hopped on and off it at will.

When we arrived at Giza the driver drove up on a sandy street at the back of the village where a group of young men were sitting.

One of the guys in the Van began talking about how they would escort us around the pyramids and that part of their fee would go towards student education.

Alvin told them we weren't interested and that we were with Enas and we would do our own tour. They were very insistent so Enas tried to put them off as well. That didn't make a bit of difference so Alvin asked her if she would be offended if he had a real go at the leading tout and she said she wouldn't be bothered at all.

Alvin got really close to this buggar and locked eyes with him and let him know we had all had enough of their touting and exploitation and that we were not going to do any business with any of them. With that we walked off and the locals helped us find our way through the sandy streets of the village to the Pyramids.

There was Camel and donkey manure in all the streets and cute but grubby little kids everywhere.

We had a group photo with Enas in it then thanked her for helping us and said goodbye.

She refused to take any money and wouldn't even let us pay for the Taxi for her to go back to work.

The first thing to greet us was the enormous Sphinx.

It is really impressive and looks like it is protecting the Pyramids.

After looking around it for a while we started making our way up the hill to the largest Pyramid. Already we were being approached by men on camels or horses wanting us to have a ride on their animal or at least get up on it for a photograph.

We just wanted to walk and enjoy the sun and heat and the awesome atmosphere of walking among these huge ancient monuments.

We wandered around the 3 main Pyramids taking photos and looking out over the cities beyond.

After some frustrating haggling over the price of a Pony ride over the sand, Alvin said bugger them and decided to walk across the sand like "Lawrence of Arabia" until he came to a hill where he could take photos from a different angle. When he got back he was forced to concede that walking in soft sand on a stinking hot day in Egypt is really for Camels!!!

There weren't a lot of other tourists around which meant we were forever getting offered rides at "very good deals" and Pat eventually got onto a camel but Bev and I didn't. I was put off by their dirty bums. This time she remembered to agree on a price before getting up on it!

One of the Pyramids was open so we went in for a look. It had a very steep incline with pieces of wood to grip your feet on and you had to crouch really low which put a lot of strain on our backs.

I only went down to the first level and that was enough for me. The others carried on but said I hadn't missed anything really. It was very hot inside as well.

After that we went to the Museum that has the re-assembled Solar Boat which is made of Syrian Cedar Wood and is 43 metres long and is 4,600 years old.

Because it has been lying in a stone pit (Carved out of solid rock) the wood is still in near perfect condition. It had been taken apart bit by bit and reassembled in the new museum built specially for it near the Pyramids.

It was buried beside the owner's Pyramid and was meant to transport him to the next life.

We had to wear slipon covers over our shoes. It was really remarkable though and amazing to be looking at something so ancient.

From there we walked through the town to avoid all the Taxi Touts and then hailed a taxi without all the fuss.

Alvin and Bev went out for a walk then Pat and I walked around several blocks of streets looking in shops at the clothes and shoes.

We eventually found a Chinese Restaurant called "The Peking" and there is a chain of them apparently and it was very good. Again hardly any other tourists so we had the place to ourselves and our waiters were very attentive and full of fun.

We eventually got back to our Hotel at midnight.

Friday 7^th was our last day in Egypt and we had to be at the Airport at 01:00 ready to fly out at 03:00 am. (Alvin booked these tickets!!!)

After breakfast we packed our bags and put them in storage for the day and Bev and Pat decided to go to the markets and Alvin and I decided to try for a train journey to the Red Sea and back. This proved to be an impossible task (we certainly weren't going to hire a coffin, although I'm sure they would all have said they could do it at a very good price!) so instead we opted for "Alexandria" on the Mediterranean.

It was a 2 hour trip and cost the equivalent of £10 British each, travelling first class.

We had missed the 11am train so spent our time people watching and got onto a couple of other trains just for a look.

The poorest carriages had brown painted wooden seats and fist class had navy blue vinyl seats. All were filthy and smelt of stale body odour and you could hardly see out the filthy windows.

People were packed in by the time the train was ready to leave.

We were told our platform was 3 so went and found our seats.

The filthy windows were too much for me so I got my only packet of wet wipes and we went outside and cleaned our window. Then I decided to do the opposite side as well so we could see out both sides.

Were all set and pleased with our effort when a man came through asked for our tickets and then told us we were on the wrong train.

Now we were leaving from platform 4!

We climbed aboard our train which was a nice one which was comfortable, clean and had very clean windows.

The train ride was very smooth and we were travelling through the delta region of the Lower Nile. The countryside was lush and green but the towns we passed through were rough with rubbish everywhere and the people looked very poor.

There were fields of crops such as cotton, rice and maize, also fields of watermelons, oranges and bananas and orchards of all kinds of citrus trees all loaded with fruit and colourful to look at.

There were Donkeys pulling carts loaded with vegetables and small stationary Ute's parked on the side of the road with their backs l piled high with water melons, oranges and bananas.

We could see groups of people working in the fields and children playing amongst them.

The motorway was not congested and the vehicles were modern and there was not a black and white coffin to be seen.

We passed over the Nile at one stage and the lush countryside continued for miles. Other trains all painted in battleship grey went past in the opposite direction and were crowded with people hanging out the windows and young boys sitting in the doorways.

After our two hour trip we arrived at Alexandria and were met by Taxi Touts this time the cars were all in very good condition and were painted black and yellow.

We set off to have a walk around and got approached by a young man with a Horse and Carriage.

Alvin Decided to hire him for an hour so we could see as much as possible in the few hours that we would have there.

He was so nice and willing to discuss the history of Alexandria that we ended up having 3 ½ hours with him and saw the whole city, went through all the markets and spent time at the Port and the Aquarium as well.

The Markets were very busy and sold everything from clothes, shoes, household goods, beautiful fabrics, fruits and dates, vegetables, nuts and breads.

There were also areas where they sold sheep, cattle, chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, pigeons and quail.

These areas were very noisy and smelly and at one point we passed a cattle beast that had just been slaughtered on the pavement outside a butchers shop. Decided not to take a photo of that!

Further on some young boys were tying up the feet of a sheep ready to be slaughtered.

There were Trams going in both directions jam packed with people, as well as cars, trucks, donkeys and carts and us all competing for the road space.

People were all smiling and waving and greeting us with "Hello, Welcome to Egypt". The atmosphere was wonderful and everyone so friendly. We did not notice any other tourists the whole time we were there.

At one stage the driver stopped and went into a shop and brought himself some cigarettes and also brought me a paper tube of salted peanuts.

He dropped us off at the Harbour and we walked around there for ½ an hour and watched fishermen mending their nets.

The sea is a beautiful blue colour but was very rough and sea spray was crashing over the sea wall.

We went through the Aquarium which had about 15 small tanks in it and they all looked like they badly needed cleaned out.

The only really interesting things in it were a turtle and 3 (6-8 inch long) Nile Crocodiles. It only took 10 minutes to go through and the Hokitika Aquarium is far superior in its presentation.

After that we had a cup of black tea at a coffee shop then went back to the Railway station. As we arrived, hundreds of soldiers came running into the station and packed into a train waiting for them. Alvin handed a packet of biscuits through the window to one of them. We tried to find out where they were going but they couldn't or weren't allowed to tell us. They were delighted when we wished them well and waved them goodbye though. Our train left at 6pm and we were back in Cairo at 8pm.

Bev and Pat were at the hotel and they had just watched a marriage being arranged in the foyer/lounge area which they said had been an interesting experience.

We had a quick catch up with how each other's day had been before collecting our bags and Passports (which had been held in pigeon holes on the wall the whole time we had been at the hotel and was a relief to have them back) then got a taxi out to the Airport.

Our bags wouldn't fit in the first one and the driver put mine on the roof rack. He didn't bother to tie it down so I wasn't having that and we all piled out and Alvin hailed another one.

We got into it and it Kangaroo jumped along the road until Alvin made the driver pull over and we all got out of that one as well.

The driver insisted we pay him and Alvin offered him £1 but had to give him £3 to get rid of him and we got into another one.

The driver in this one had his three year old son with him who fell asleep beside Alvin 10 minutes after we set off.

We got the driver to take us to the "Sheraton Hotel" and when we pulled up, the black and white coffin really stood out amongst all the silver Mercedes, BMW's etc parked in the entrance.

As our driver was helping us with our luggage Bev took the small Teddy Bear off her suitcase and gave it to the driver for his little boy and he was delighted.

Our bags all beeped as we went through the front door and the security staff thought about searching us then decided not to bother.

This hotel was very plush and we were delighted to go and freshen up in the bathrooms. We had our evening meal there then rested and listened to a band playing before catching the shuttle to the Airport.

We had a nice smooth flight back to Athens then London. The Italian, French and Swiss Alps were covered with snow and looked fabulous. London seemed very quiet when we arrived home and "Oh the luxury of travelling in a London Black cab"!!!

Kathryn