DAY 21 in ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT

We were up early to watch as we sailed into the port.  There were dozens of cargo ships and fishing boats anchored in the harbour. Alexandria is a large cargo port as well as passenger ship terminal.  We were off the ship as soon as it had been cleared by the authorities and we were ready to board our bus to Cairo.  Our group was only 35 and travelling on a 45 seater coach that gave us all room to move which was perfect for the 3 hour drive. As we left the port we had two armed police motorcycle escorts and another vehicle.  What struck us as soon as we left the confines of the port was all the rubbish scattered everywhere.  A lovely city boasting such an interesting history including Cleopatra’s life, and we’re looking out the window of our coach seeing mounds of rubbish everywhere. As we continued to drive out of the city of Alexandria and take the highway to Cairo we saw some sights none of us on the bus had ever seen before.  I’ll put up some photos for you. J Our guide ‘Mimmo’ and our driver ‘Achmed’ were both lovely guys full of enthusiasm and excitement ready to show us their Egypt. 

The drive from Alexandria to Cairo is one long straight highway, very flat land surrounds this area of Egypt.  We passed many oil refineries along the way, and I must tell you petrol is only US$1.00 for 4 litres. J

I mentioned in my previous post that Royal Caribbean had cancelled all tours to the Museum in central Cairo due to the unrest there with the political demonstrations being held as they are voting for a new President at the end of this month. However, Mimmo (our guide) was calling the Tourism people, the Museum and whoever else and a decision was made that it was OK for our group to proceed to the Museum.  When he announced this is what we would be doing I was beside myself, not being a risk taker that was a bit uneasy for me.  Anyway, all authorities confirmed it would be OK, so we trusted their judgement.  As we approached the city of Cairo there were vehicles filled with people on their way to the protest.  Somehow they can easily fit 4 on a motorbike, no helmets, 15 in a VW combi van, and 8 in a saloon car, sometimes there were also a couple of people in the boot and we even saw a guy on top of the boot.  Anyway we continued passing all these vehicles and finally arrived right next to the main square where there were already thousands of people gathered.  The coach dropped us at the gates of the Museum, where there were Police guarding the gate. When we arrived in this famous Museum, we were the only ones there apart from a group of 10 Asians with a tour guide,  a couple of locals and our group. As we set off with Mimmo around the Museum we could hear the chanting and yelling of the throngs in the square. For security reasons cameras are not permited inside the Museum. We felt quite safe once inside the Museum and had an amazing and interesting tour.  Mimmo was very informative and explained so much about Egypt in 3620BC, Farrohs, Mummies etc. All along the way the chanting continued outside. As the tour was coming to an end we walked up to the top level of the Museum and there was gold mask of Tutumcachmen and all that was with him in his tomb, jewellery, gold, bracelets, anklets. His burial mask alone includes 11kgs of gold.  Absolutely amazing and anyone reading this who has seen this will understand what I am saying. We were in the Museum for at least a couple of hours.  Finally as it was time to leave Mimmo assured us that once we were all back on the coach we would be driving in the other direction toward the Pyramids and that as the crowds were dispersing from the protest everything would be fine and we would be quite safe, which we were. We were taking photos outside the Museum and noticed that the building next to the Museum was burned and there also was no Souvenir shop in the Museum.  We were told at the last ‘Revolution’ as he called it, which was in November, they burned the building next door and jumped the high fences into the Museum and stole everything from the Souvenir shop. Anyway all was well and we were on our way to see the Pyramids. Cairo is full of unfinished buildings everywhere, still can’t quite understand why it is like this.  Everywhere looks like it’s been hit by something. The dust from the sand storms thickens everything.  There are some lovely green trees here and there but they look grey with the sand. The rubbish in the streets was worse in Cairo.  It’s mainly plastic bags, paper and the odd dead dog or goat here and there.  I must say it’s not smelly as they are not permitted to dump perishable waste. We drove along the edge the Nile River for a short distance, it is very wide and the water is a dirty brown, don’t know how they can wash clothes in it.  We noticed a lot of floating restaurants along the banks of the river.

Before arriving at the Pyramids we stopped at a cafe and our guide Mimmo picked up his order for our lunch which was freshly made Falafel and Hummos hot Pita bread sandwiches with Guava and Plum juice to quench our thirst.

Shortly after we turned a corner in the middle of these unfinished apartment blocks with dozens and dozens of clothes hanging out to dry in the dusty sand breeze when suddenly in the background we saw the Pyramids…… unbelievable to see them so close to the city. Cairo has a population of 21 million and once upon a time hundreds of years ago the Pyramids were in the desert, now the city has met the desert. As we drove up the hill, there they were.  We stopped at the largest first.  I had no idea that the blocks that make the construction are nearly as tall as me 5ft 6 inches, and they’re almost square. No wonder it took 100,000 men 20 to 40 years to build each of the three Pyramids. The vendors are extremely pushy and desperate to sell their wares and souvenirs around the Pyramids.  Roy said hello to one vendor and next thing he had on the Arab head gear and was standing next to a camel about to be hoisted up onto it. He didn’t want any of this and was only being polite by saying hello.  Then, of course, they wanted him to pay them, and if you don’t they’ll want your glasses, shirt, watch or anything else you have on you as payment. Roy paid for the head gear, only a few dollars and he was then left alone. After that we all learned it better to ignore them unless you do actually want to buy something from them. It wasn’t that funny at the time but afterward we all had a good laugh.  Some of our group did take a Camel ride.  As we drove down we stopped to view the Sphinx, which is huge.  I had no idea it was that large. Some of the group also walked down inside one of the Pyramids to the burial chamber. Not for me I wouldn’t be any good inside anything like that.

Our next stop was at a Perfumery which was most interesting as they explained how they make the essence of the perfume before it becomes, Christian Dior, Chanel etc.  Needless to say we all came out of there smelling devine. J

Our last stop before our 3 hour drive back to the ship at Alexandria was to a Papyrus paper making company.  Quite interesting to see how it’s done, and I’ve now got the recipe so if we run out of trees for making paper I’ll sell you the recipe to make paper out of Papyrus which grows readily in Australia and New Zealand already. J

By the time we got ‘home’ it was after 9.30pm, our 13 hour day was a busy but most fulfulling and informative one.  For us all it was a dream come true to visit one of the Seven Wonders of the world.

After an exciting day full of new experiences we needed a shower to get rid of the sandy dust and a quick bite to eat up in the Windjammer Café on Deck 11 and then it was off to bed. 

DAY 21 ALEXANDRIA

A bit of a leisurely start to the day as we were still quite exhausted after yesterday’s tour.  After breakfast, which I must say has been cut down to cereal and toast these past few days.  Roy’s gone from have bacon, eggs, sausages, hashbrowns, tomatoes, mushrooms. I bet him he couldn’t keep up eating all that every morning, now he’s only having smoked salmon and a piece of toast.

We decided not to go into Alexandria city centre today.  We had a bit of a tour yesterday morning on the coach before we left for Cairo. Instead we did some shopping at the market stalls at the port.  You have to bargain hard with them and in the end the final price is about half of what it started out at.

The weather has been a very nice 32C these past two days in Alexandria which didn’t feel too hot for us, but others from colder climates were struggling with the heat.

Tomorrow we will be transiting the Suez Canal.  We’ve ordered breakfast to be brought to our cabin and we’ll eat out on the balcony so we don’t miss anything. The transit will take 12 hours altogether. The Captain made an announcement this evening that our convoy will be beginning our transit at 2.00am which is a bit disappointing as we won’t be able to see anything until about 5.30am when the sun rises.

More tomorrow. J