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So, we (me and mom) stopped at the comfortably located Garden City House again, and to my surprise found it was much more crowded than in October (or even in summer, they said). Seems that many academic researchers, lecturers etc. persons on tight budget but spacey minds , love to stay at that non-pretentious but cosy establishment in the very heart of Cairo. Just now a big portion of rooms were occupied by the archeologists working at Sakkara, they said at the desk. And there was international book fair at the exhibition fields next to Cairo Stadium (but we never had time to go there), one helpful guest, a young French historician with Algerian roots attending a conference on Arab bigraphy, told us. So – a useful place to stay for anyone with any intellectual aspirations, me personally have none because I have concluded long ago that happiest is who knows nothing, so I try escape all troublesome new knowledge now, but I have a warm feeling in my heart left towards all who continue to walk the thorny paths of knowing too much (remember what happened to Galileo??). Our first room was strictly speaking awful because it was the coldest and had thin and hard cotton mattresses, producing a feeling not dissimilar to Princess on Pea, but the next morning a guest left so we asked to be transferred, and got a corner room with balcony and sunshine, and comfortable thick bubble mattresses. My loyalty to this establishment returned immediately. After the necessary business at the Mugamma, which went smoothly as always, I had to pay a 153-something LE fine for overstaying my visa but no extra paperwork or trouble so it exceeded even my good expectations, and even photocopy service worked downstairs, because I love to be prepared and had thus brought 64 photos of myself (I needed only one) and 32 photocopies of all imaginable pages in my passport (but they did find one that they also needed and I had not), and I already asked what stamps i need each time, so all was completed probably in an hour, we decided to take a taxi and go find an art museum somewhere in Zamalek and spend the afternoon there and have dinner in one of the dinner boats there, the Nile City, esp. the French restaurant there, called Provance, which I had liked last time or maybe because they are so good at preparing une vraie creme brulee (for all puritans and born aristocrats from Alexandria - I am not even trying to spell it correctly!) which is my favourite, in theory if you need me do anything or come anywhere you just need wave a good plateful of fresh hot creme brulee at me and tap the spoon against its crust, and i will be running like a kitten at the smell of fresh milk. The search of the museum – the Mahmoud Khalil Museum or more correctly the Museum of Mrs and Mr. Mahmoud Khalil – took more time than planned because at least on one map of Cairo (the one I had) it was located in Zamalek, right behind the Marriott hotel there, at the place of the Museum of Modern Art (which on that map was located in Dokki) which is of course also worth visiting because it displays more of Egyptian art. But our minds were set on Mahmoud Khalil and his collection of Renoirs, Monet’s, Gauguins etc etc... when you come from a smallest small country like mine where the closest one gets to the world-level art is the pieces of paper which, let’s say, an assistant or maybe pupil of some Manet or Kandinsky had used to wipe his pencils on (exhibitions or auctions of these), then you maybe understand. Because mummies and pyramids look the same whether in book or in nature, but one simply cannot convey the aura of a painting in print.
The security at the Modern Museum were not jealous and helped to stop a taxi for us with a driver with good visual memory who remembered he had seen the sign for the Khalili museum in Dokki, i.e. on other side of Zamalek, and took us there. Once there, we wanted to have coffee first, because art is difficult to enjoy with a hungry belly and thirsty throat and because the guards (again very helpful!) told us there was no coffee available inside but that we can bring a takeaway if want, we walked back towards the Sheraton towers at ca 200 m from the museum, passsing a lot of nice terracces on the Nile but unfortunately they did not let us have coffee there because all where closed-membership clubs (so-called rowing-clubs) for e.g. Egyptian policemen, Cairo University etc. Also in Sheraton the coffee shops were all in the uncomfortable ground floor hall without any view anywhere, but we were advised to go to the 1st floor where an italian restaurant, Mamma Mia or similar, has big windows towards the Nile, and at this relatively small height, gorgeous views across the river towards the Hyatt, Four Seasons, Nile Tower etc. The funny thing was that when we asked (once more) for a coffee place with a view, in lobby, then an impressive looking woman of some kind of administrative and assistive position sitting there told us “but it is for food, not coffee”. I have encountered it more often in Egypt that when you try enter a kind-of more expensive restaurant, then they try to dictate for you what you are supposed to eat (or do) there, or how much you are supposed to spend (of type “oh, but the minimum charge there is...”) which is not really very welcoming. All this of course does not stop a spoiled European consumer like me, who is used to using 5-star establishments for drinking (free) water, if she likes, and marching out again without paying a penny, and having her right to do so protected with any kind of ennumerable laws and regulations.... In short, we sat down at the table with the best view and ordered tea and cakes, which was of course a heresy in an Italian restaurant but I have to say they did not mind (noticeably). Wine in middle of day makes one unneccessarily drowsy. The tea was Lipton, and it is very difficult to try tell the people here that their 1LE per package Kenyan El Arosa tea is actually much, much finer than any of these beautifully labelled mostly tasteless powders that seem to be the new trend here, like it is still a trend in a lot of places in Europe probably, although there are numbered advanced places where the managers know better than to offer you a box of dark, paper-wrapped, indistinguishable by any qualities powder, for prolonged soaking in a cup of hot water, in a five-star establishment. Anyway, they brought the water in nice, generously sized pot of beautiful design, so I should not be too harsh. Also, my apple puff with icecream was juicy and fresh and mom’s beef carpaccio on rocket salad with parmesan was good, too, although not strictly of the taste the real italian carpaccio is. It all cost around 100LE. The establishment also had one of the longest wine lists I have seen in Egypt and the wines I dare think were quite chosen, some better Italians and French and even an interesting Austalian, but also prices started from 350 and 550 LE upwards, per bottle. Anyway, maybe I need to rethink my opinion of Sheratons, I always thought they are one of these standard business chains with at best boring and at worst psychedelic colours in rooms, but (because we tried to get to the restaurant at the uppermost floor at first but it was the wrong tower and wrong time, it only opens for the night) also the rooms looked cozy with the spoiled petty-bourgeois way of rich tapestries, carpets and intricate furniture.
We walked back to the museum along the El Nile, and because I tried to explain the museum people that they are misplaced on the map, we got to talk to the manager who was quite a young chap and also called Mahmoud (but I never quite understood whether he is of the same dynasty or not) and, NB! girls – unmarried (I think) and who most generously decided to show us around himself (the house was quite empty so i imagine he was maybe quite bored, too). Anyway so, it appeared this Mahmoud Khalil had been an important and well-known Egyptian politician in the 1st half of 20th century, the head of the Egyptian Parliament and the Minister of Agriculture, and also from a wealthy family, who met his wife, a French pianiste, when studying in Sorbonne, and bought the beautiful building by the Nile and filled it with exquisite pieces of art, for her. (Just my kind of man! but I do not know where the species have disappeared these days, uh?) He had a friend, we were told, who was was an art dealer and specialist, so this must have helped.
The house later served as President Sadat’s official headquarters (there is even a helicopter landing spot right in front of it, by the Nile) and is said to be connected to the next house, where the Sadat family lived (and still lives), by an underground tunnel. So exciting all this. Which also explained why the relatively plain-looking house next to the museum was heavily guarded by security, and I was not allowed take any pictures of the museum (but no one minded when I took pictures on the other side which was more beautiful anyway). And they got really angry, you know!
I think we spent a total of 3 hours inside there, or maybe 4. I do not normally like to get INFORMATION about art, I like to get impressions and these come best when no one speaks. But I have to say this Mr. Mahmoud told us very interesting things about persons and details and techniques so the whole was actually very enlightening. I try go another time just for viewing maybe anyway, because the quantity of masterpieces in this small house on 3 floors was just overwhelming. The manager just kept pointing out a Monet here and a Degas there and whole room of (whom?) and Gauguins and Sisleys, and a lot were atypical or less known works or styles so the whole was very interesting but also confusing, and this one cost 40 million and that one 70 million (USD) and it is maybe not considerate for security reasons but I must say it is probably the nearest you can get to any art of that level, in millimetres, because you can literally stick your nose into a Monet, I mean if you are sufficiently inconsiderate to do that. Some Rodins were in glass boxes, though. And lighting was mostly very bad, especially one of Monet’s Japanese bridges suffered and showed almost no colours, but his waterlilies was missing because was on way back from some exhibition in Europe and was kept in acclimatisation yet, i.e. unpacked. There was almost no Egyptian art beside a funny mini-scultpure of the Mr. Khalil with 2 other known politicians of his time, and an essentially French painter from the brief times of Napoleon in Egypt, but who had painted a beautiful Nubian girl into 5 different females on one painting, set by the Nile somewhere in Upper Egypt.
There was an art shop for buying posters etc for remembrance, i always do (I buy postcards which are cheaper, of works i wish to remember, if available, and place them into the album among the photos of the trip). The shop is open until 15.00 but the museum itself until 18.00, which is handy, because the Egyptian Museum and most others close around 4 in the afternoon (for anyone who can take more on the same day --anyone?).
We took taxi back to our dinner boat in Zamalek and had a nice meal of various French meat dishes and paid not over 140LE, with soup for both and creme brulee & coffee for me, mother sweared she had no room for even a crumb more. And then we tried to walk back to hotel but, as it mostly happens, could not resist taking a horse carriage, because Zamalek simply is a place where riding around in a horse carriage seems a very suitable thing to do, although I promise every time it will be my last because the horses with their iron shoes on slippery bridges and fighting for place among cars is actually not very pleasing emotionally. We paid 20LE for a small tour and ca 1 km ride over the river (&I had agreed to pay 50 LE last time but finally paid 75 for full tour of Zamalek, maybe rich tourists are more scarce in January). Though he tried convince us we had agreed to pay 20LE each, which we did not, so do not expect too much altruism from these drivers there, altruism simply is not part of their accepted business code. It was around 20.30 when we reached our room but going to bed and falling asleep immediately was not a problem at all.
The next day was dedicated to The Pyramids. I had called to a taxi driver whom I had befriended during my last visit, who was not a 100% philantropist either, but still fundamentally kind at heart, and he agreed to take us.
After the initial trip along the road to Giza (and the beautiful botanical gardens and Cairo zoo are somewhere in the same region half-way) we ended up at a small square among shabby houses and with pyramides nowhere in sight. Of course, it was one of these pyramid camel-and-horse trip “maffias” of the driver’s family or otherwise connected to him. At first we were asked to sit down in front of a small naivistic map of the pyramids and the Sphinx and the knowledgeable tour leader kindly explained to us, which ones were the pyramides, and which one was the sphinx, so that we would recognise when we see. Which was thoughtful, of course. Then they tried to sell us a 2 hour camel trip for 10EUR per person, then for 10EUR for two, then (I really had no budget for anything but the taxi tour) offered to take us to the Pyramids and back in around an hour, for 80 EGP, then for 60. It is easy to be stubborn when you simply have no money, I must say, and this is when the best bargains find you! The last price was somewhat irresistible, so we agreed. And I must say the man was honourable, as they are as often as they are not, so when we did not remember in the end, and tried to pay 80EGP, he gave the excess back to us.
To use the “maffia” was actually a good idea, though maybe not so good in the eyes of those who fight against all kinds of bribing and corruption, and for equal treatment, but I have a period of resting from all fighting for a better world right now, so I only care when someone else would enjoying the privileges from bribing, on my account. We were sent off with a horse carriage led by an unexperienced looking young boy but we were in very good hands indeed, because, after passing the breathtakingly placed (and furnished, check their webpage) Mena House Oberoi on our way up, our tickets at the gates to the pyramids materialised in less than 5 minutes (despite some disorganised queuing in front of us), and we never had to leave the carriage or show our bags or cameras or anything, like all others, even other “carriage people” had to do, but simply rode through. The pyramides themselves, now if you’ve been you know, are mostly a disappointment maybe because one never has any quiet time for private contemplation or choosing the right angle for viewing them, and probably early morning light would be best (as with most things) for viewing and photos, and maybe also camel trip would have been better, because they use a different path, they said, nearing through the desert, while horse carriage took us mostly through the busy village streets and trafficky roads, so the feeling of being simply in the middle of Cairo never left. We did the compulsory “sitting on the camel and holding your palm over the top of the pyramid” photos and some friendly haggling with the camel man over how many camels he would give for my mother or me. The camel made funny faces and of course the movement of him raising on his feet was so terryfying for mom that we had great fun (on her account) despite doing the “boring&obvious” thing. And the boy never took us any further than the corner of the second pyramid, but were so overwhelmed with all buzz around that did not even realize it before than a couple of days later. Anyway, we gave him a secret privat tip because he was good at what he was doing and actually very caring, warning us against any various beggars of money, showing us the price on the tickets so we would not thing they charge a “commission” on them (the government-printed tickets cost extra 40LE per person, but less for students), and carefully taking us downhill to the Sphinx where it was a bit slippery for the horse. The square where we had begun the trip was no more than 100 m from the Sphinx, it appeared. After some efforts to get us into a perfume shop and then to an “antiques” shop where I had already been the last time 3 months ago but they did not remember of course, and I think then also the owner had “just” got a baby, which is a bit extraordinary maybe, except if it were with different wives. But he declined to take any money “for the baby” or sightseeing in the shop because, I think, this kind of room stuffed full of Egyptian artefacts is not so fundamentally different from any other room stuffed full of artifacts and called a “museum”, right? so a viewing fee to my mind is very justified.
After having a most enjoyable stop for falafels and some water just on the corner of road, a simple establishment with a few tables which may not look so very germless outwardly but the glasses, plates and jugs were of cleanest clean steel and when the men behind the desk took fillings for falafels they covered their hands with disposable plastic bags. And the plates with various fillings, in this must-be-cheap establishment were beautifully decorated with artfully cut carrots and tomatoes. The driver paid for all, as well as for water and pepsi to have with us in the car, so he really acted like a tour leader more than a driver.
Next, we wanted to ride through the islamic area of Cairo and take some nice photos before sunset because it was around 3 by then, as we had started from Cairo around 11, and spent at least an hour driving around in the beduin village near the pyramids, trying to find a shop for “antique” furniture, because I was curious to find out if it is possible to buy second-hand furniture in Cairo cheaply and to get more interesting designs and more autentic materials. We found one man at last who is a restorer of (very) cheap and simple furniture, and who would have restored and sold us a painted cupboard, the kind with veneer shelves and decorated with cut flowers that one can encounter in cheap 50LE/night hotels or schools etc, for ca 150LE, and 6 chairs for a dinner table, with new cotton upholster, for 750LE (asking price). Which is not bad, I think, for a small “my first home” kind of apartment, or when one needs to furnish a rental apartment and does not need to spend too much, or simply kind-of bohemian mindset. He has sofas also, from 360LE, if remember correctly.
On way to mosques we passed the oldest in Cairo mosque of Amr Ibn-el-A’As first, and our driver decided we wanted to go see it from the inside. Which I normally don’t because most buildings which are impressive and distinctive from the outside are simply labyrinths of largely similar rooms from the inside, or anyway, I love to get the bird’s eye view of places but normally no more, in one day. But Egypt really is a good training place for character development. And I really did not know what the mosques look like inside, so why not, except i was a bit worried how it suits for two women with uncovered heads to go into a place where women are not normally allowed ( i remembered vaguely from tales heard from travellers before). Plus, essentially, I try avoid visiting places which are monuments of serious worshipping for some people but mean nothing to me, because I feel like an impostor or something. Anyway so, I grabbed a jumper for covering my head if needed, and we marched in, of course in our shoes... except just after making the first 2 steps the shouting of men around reminded us to take them off, and the guards then offered to take and keep them for us like for everyone else, obviously, but also immediately started asking for money for keeping them. I must say this only visit to a mosque in my life (i plan not go more) is somewhat shadowed by the memory that the first and last communication was about money, and the guards even became angry and haggling when we did not have the expected 5 LE in pockets but only had about 8.50 on us two. It is a good practice to give some money in Christian churches too, but I have never noticed anyone count it, or even check if you leave anything at all, or otherwise make problem of it. So I left with a sour feeling but anyway i do not plan to practice islam or go anywhere near an establishment again so it is entirely between them and their god to solve, I guess. There was a third woman, a friendly and uninhibited Korean girl (or maybe woman but in any case very petite) travelling alone with whom we talked a bit but because we had mostly practical plans for the evening and a very tight budget, we did not offer to spend the evening together, which would otherwise have been a nice solution and more fun for everyone.
We were given jade-green hooded robes for covering ourselves, and after sitting down for a second (of contemplation, or cleaning soul or whatever purpose it may be) we were then ushered to the women’s side of the mosque that was walled off from the rest though quite spacious but otherwise there was nothing much to see. I made a secret photo with my phone of us and a group of giggling small girls who followed us do not know if out of curiosity or hoping for a sweet or even bakseesh, but I had not even a pen in my bag nor small money and I never know when it would be appreciated or when it would be considered offensive by people here, sometimes one, sometimes the other. Anyway, one good thing I noticed about the mosque was that there was plenty of space inside to go and spend quiet time by yourself, which must be a welcome opportunity in a noisy crowded place like Cairo, and some women seemed to be doing exactly that.
After that we passed the Citadel and Sultan Hassan Mosque for some photos, and concluded our trip back at the hotel. We had tea in the lobby of Semiramis later that evening, with a girl I know who is married and lives in Cairo, and the Semiramis has a comfortable “tearoom” (they call it) in their lobby, with indeed a view to the Nile, and nice soft armchairs, much more comfortable than the straight-chair coffee-shop in the lobby of Nile Hilton, if anyone needs a comfy place near Tahrir for girly or business meeting and chatting. A cake and hot chocolate cost 25-30LE together incl the taxes that were added to the menu prices, and for 120LE one can enjoy an open tea buffet for 2 persons, i.e. eat as many cakes and snacks as can (I assume no one counts). Their strawberry cake was very good, too. The next morning, I returned for their bookshop, because had no desire to venture back into city, and bought a book on history of Cairo. They had quite a choice of books, for a hotel bookshop, incl. even a whole separate section with paperbacks I imagine for night reading when one is alone and really bored, or similar, and fashion magazines which here in Egypt cost a hefty 80-100LE, of course, but so indulgence is indulgence, and at least magazines are low in calories. On the second floor they have an internet shop where they charge a loud 22LE per 30 min from outsiders (a one in beginning of Talaat Harb charges 5LE per hour and is usually 80% emtpy) but also a shop for men’s clothes where e.g. 100% woollen trousers cost 550LE, and a pair of 100% cotton socks of best Egyptian cotton (hard to find anywhere else) just 18.80 a pair. That good things on a shopping floor of a 5-star hotel cost so little here, still amazes me somewhat, and I think even prices for a room at these hotels are much lower than one would think but I’ve never really checked yet because at the present situation me and my bf would have to take two separate rooms, and no number of stars can make this kind of arrangement enjoyable, except maybe later in life, after having already spent the first 35 years together and really hating the shadow of each other, right? but still kind of sticking together, out of habit, and out of lack of better object for bickering.
After the semiramisian chocolate (a whole pot of it for that price, too, and it was no kind of instant affair but real milk with real chocolate powder) we felt invigorated enough to venture into the depths of the city. We started from Talaat Harb, looking for a nice not-so-expensive local eating place, and took a number of mostly left turns that led us on and on to god-knows-where, into even more illuminated streets filled with even more shops, but not a restaurant in sight, until we reached an area around a cinema where they had parallel streets filled with coffee and sheesha shops, simple establishments with plastic furniture but filled with people and welcoming waiters who tried to persuade us to remain with them, but we were looking for fooood, a western style salad (my mom is also an optimist by soul) and no more sandwich type of meals that day, please. When we had taken a number of more turns and discovered being back at the first coffee-shop with the persuasive waiters (who were of course very glad to see us), we dropped the idea of salad and walked along the line of kushari places until still bought one of these big juicy lamb sandwiches that are sold on streets, and some fruit from a souk street that also materialised on our way. A kilo of bananas, apples and tangerines cost 13LE all together and when we asked if tangerines were sweet the boy simply took one and halved it for us, no charge, no bickering. It was very sweet (the tangerine).
Then we took taxi to Almaza to reserve tickets for Superjet for next day, and there were no tickets left, so we booked to East Delta instead, which cost 110LE for two and thus saved us around 60LE, because Superjet costs 88 one way Sharm-to-Cairo now, though drinks (or at least one) are free for that. I offered 30LE for the return trip and our taxi broke down at Almaza so the driver asked 20 from us and negotiated with someone else to take us back for 10LE. The same trip the next day, one-way, during afternoon rush hour, cost us 50LE. There is really big difference between traffic in the evening and during the day and I did not know but so we learned it the hard way the day after.
The last morning was left for shopping but because I hate to rush and we also wanted to sleep in the morning, we did not go anywhere to the guts of Cairo for “real things” (I had wanted to learn the prices and variety available for vacuum cleaners, bedclothes etc. everyday things), but instead, after buying my Cairo history book and magazines from Semiramis, headed for Zamalek, again, for some lazy strolling, window-shopping and coffee or lunch before taking our bus in the afternoon. Because I had spotted some nice artistic glassware etc from a taxi window, and a shop just around the corner from the Marriott, selling antique carpets, my new passion (OK, so I am getting old but you will, too!).
The antique shop was for real antique and quite interesting and I asked for the range of prices and it started from 5000LE for a rather smallish 0.7x1.2 silk rug, up to a 150 000LE (yes!) for a ca 1.2x1.7m woollen rug from a specially named region of Iran (which I do not remember nor differentiate between, but all real carpet affecionados of course would) which, the man claimed, was 200 years old. It certainly looked worn, but the colours at that were still bright, the texture was fine and the pattern was behavingly naivistic and definitely special enough to make the carpet stand out among thousands of others, with romantic pictures of peasants and wraths of flowers. I asked to see it for 10LE and the man smiled and had the boys roll it out (in front of the boutique, of course) but declined to take the money after. I guess he does not get buyers too often so it was a good opportunity for him, too, to have a look at his cherished carpet. So, there is real stuff available in Cairo, but I guess at these prices maybe still the impoverished 7th-or-something generation aristocratic leftovers in Europe are a better source for a well-worn but still charming one-of-a-kind Persian carpet??
Zamalek thus was quite nice for window-shopping, everything was more refined, incl. the fish shop, where arrays of silvery fish were beautifully arranged on a mount of ice, and butchery, with all the hanging skeletons harmoniously arranged to point to the same side, and the numerous boutiques for clothes and antiquites, of course. The last was a one selling French crystal and cutlery from a supposedly high-end name, one glass for water or wine at around 550LE, and cutlery for 12 (72 pieces) for 18000LE... I took their card, just in case because glasses were essentially nice (but cutlery I am sure quite OK quality-wise, but quite boring for that price) and it read “Table Royale” but so what, I am only afraid of high places but not of high aspirations!
We had before already asked for directions for a more quiet street with, possibly, coffee-shops and a stylish non-Egyptian looking woman wearing good-quality brownish khaki colours over an immaculate white blouse (I always envy people who find these things from somewhere) after shaking her head and saying “it is dfficult here” said there are some terraces at the northern end of Zamalek which should be quite nice for that purpose. And they were too, we found one called Sequoia, which was one of these establishments aspiring for the modern sleek look (and has a minimum charge for the evening which was a modest 35LE though), i.e. minimalistic tables and rattan chairs and couches covered with off-white cushioning. The menu was crossover from European (Caesar salad) to Egyptian (beef liver in Alexandrian way), and they served also wines and beers. We chose the Caesarian (real salad, at last!) and the chicken liver in lemon sauce and the salad was huge and the liver was probably the best I’ve ever had, have never thought lemon fits it so well. With 2 bottles of Stella which we had not time to finish, because all distances had been at least double to what we’d been told and we had really little time left for enjoying the place when we arrived there, but cold beer tasted really good after the long walk in sunshine, and heaps of warm lebanese bread, all together it cost us less than 90LE. There were only a couple of other people there beside us (but more were arriving) and the service was most attentive though not very knowledgeable of English so they could not explain the more exotic foods.
Then we were in real hurry because we had optimistically planned to get to Almaza in 30-40 minutes from Tahrir. Instead, it took us at least 15 min to get out of Zamalek from behind the Opera and over the Tahrir bridge. We then changed the taxi for a more young driver because we reasoned the younger ones drive more fast : -). Uhh?? Even my mother agreed to this plan, or maybe she had somehow got used to the driving in Cairo during these days.
It took us another 30 minutes to cover the first 2 km counting from the Tahrir, and the bus was scheduled to leave at that point of time, so we started planning for a new reservation (and one more night at hotel). At one point the guy actually drove around half a kilometre backwards, on a busy boulevard, to escape an even longer drive to make a U-turn. I knew the trick from before but I had not expected they have the guts to do it in middle of Cairo. It all worked very well, though, and no one tried to crash with us. Anyway, we reached the bus station in 1 hour and 25 minutes, counting from Zamalek, and including a stop at gas station for a refill, and the bus by that time was 30 minutes late, but IT WAS STANDING THERE as if waiting for us. Secretly, I had hoped it would be caught in the same rush hour as us, too, but anyway, it felt like miracle. There were some more lucky people still or just arriving and after ca 5 minutes we were on way to Sharm.
The East Delta buses, I have to note again, may look a bit more scrappy than Superjets, and there is no coffee service on board, but the seats felt even softer, films were even better, and we made a gorgeous 15 minute stop midway at a resthouse with an artificial lagoon with a huge make-believe sailing ship, where Egyptian tea cost only 1.50 per cup and toilets for 0.50 were roomy and clean. Warm sandwitches were sold and there was also a bakery where a piece of cake cost 1LE or a whole cake 10LE. Beats the Superjet’s packaged biscuites any time, I am sorry to say. Half of the bus was filled with young and intelligent looking boys who may have been schoolboys on an early vacation trip (because taxi driver had told us a 10-day break for schools was to be expected in a few days) and the whole bus was filled with their optimistic feelings and sounds of driving towards days of fun and sunshine. Also, because they mostly walked around to chat to each other, the seats behind us were mostly empty and we could let down our seatbacks, a rare luxury otherwise because with the touristic spacing of seats in these buses it is usually a serious crime against your fellow traveller’s blood circulation.
Back in Sharm the cold spell had passed and we enjoyed a most amiably mild and quiet day the next morning, with fresh magazines and books and coffee out in the garden. Ehhh....
Posts: 1051 | From: Menoufeya | Registered: Feb 2005
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, love to stay at that non-pretentious but cosy establishment in the very heart of Cairo. Just now a big portion of rooms were occupied by the archeologists working at Sakkara, they said at the desk. And there was international book fair at the exhibition fields next to Cairo Stadium (but we never had time to go there), one helpful guest, a young French historician with Algerian roots attending a conference on Arab bigraphy, told us. So – a useful place to stay for anyone with any intellectual aspirations, me personally have none because I have concluded long ago that happiest is who knows nothing, so I try escape all troublesome new knowledge now, but I have a warm feeling in my heart left towards all who continue to walk the thorny paths of knowing too much (remember what happened to Galileo??).
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