Egypt

16th May 2004

After leaving ‘the Boyz’ at the Libyan side of the Egyptian border and getting fleeced massively for the guide, we begin the process of entering Egypt at 9-30am…..the last line of the Libyan diary entry was intentional and the mother of all nightmares was about to begin.

With half a marmalade sandwich inside us each, we spend over 12 hours walking back and forth from building to building with pieces of meaningless paper in hand. This was done either alone or being escorted at snails pace by one of the ‘pretty boy’ immigration policemen who laugh and joke with each other, help themselves to our water and go through our mobile phones at leisure. The problem lies with a certain customs man and our Carnet de Passages (vehicle import documents). We must leave the vehicle at the border and travel the 1000km to Cairo for a stamp. At 10pm we manage to eventually leave the border and a Yasser Arafat lookalike drives us to a hotel where we feast on chicken and chips like vultures. We now have nicknames for most of the border officials ranging from Dick-wod to Needle-dick….others unfortunately cannot be written!

17th May 2004

After telephoning the RAC in UK, the ECC in Cairo and Foleys, we are told we can go back to the border and the ECC will ok it with customs. We hail down a taxi and as Ranger jokes about getting the Yasser lookalike again, Mr. Arafat pulls up and we jump inside! After a further 3 hours at the border, the customs guy, christened Nobby, still has none of it. We are forced to catch the 7hr bus to Alexandria and after swerving cripples on the highway, almost leaving two Libyan lads behind at a roadside cafe and about fifty stops later we stay with Omar Mansour who contacted us via our website offering a place to crash when in Egypt – invaluable and a really friendly guy.

18th May 2004

With matchsticks wedged in eyes, we catch the 2hr train for Cairo early and to avoid the madness of the place, head straight for the ECC (Egyptian Club of Cairo – RAC equivalent) to get names added to the Carnet and stamped. After a cup of tea, a meeting with the Director General, who’s glasses defied gravity perched on the last micrometer of nose and the arms in his ears, and an attempt by the cashier to rob us of 3 Egyptian pounds, we leave with stamped Carnet in hand. The first three hours of the bus journey back to the border, resembled a Japanese endurance test where we were forced to stay awake to the screeching Islamic prayer songs blasting from the speakers….imagine a drunk cat trapped in some bagpipes. The second half of the journey we suspect was similar to Hell – bugs began to crawl from ash trays, mosquitoes flew in the darkness above our heads and then the bus sprung a radiator leak. We arrived in Salloum, close to the border at 5am after 13 hours from Cairo and marched straight to the same hotel we stayed in a few days ago. To add insult to injury, we are forced to play hunt the mozzy for a further hour in our room when we are confronted by 25 off the little blighters coming from behind the wardrobe and from under the beds….ahhhh!

19th May 2004

We needed to rest so sleep in and head for the border at lunchtime. After a further 3 hours of faffing about and almost getting crushed by a stampede of dust sheet clad, Osama lookalikes jumping over the customs fence with bags of rugs on their backs to run into Egypt, we get given the ok and our vehicle ! In the words of Jack Bauer from the TV series ‘24’, that was the longest three days of our lives.

After buying a large chicken, salad and pita bread we make kebabs and munch our way along the now familiar highway to Marsa Matrouh on the coast, to meet with Omar’s friend, Awad. We drink Pepsi in his home with children playing behind the curtains, happy to see some random visitors, before we demolish the chicken carcass and camp in a field opposite his home – we can both safely say he is the kindest and most genuine man we have met so far.

20th May 2004

In the morning, Awad takes us to the local market where his family-run builders’ merchants is based; we meet his jolly father and drink Egyptian coffee which is more like gravy and would be perfect for a Monday morning back in the UK ! We say our goodbyes and continue on to Alexandria to stay with Omar again and use a few days to recuperate, clean and check the vehicle and literally reset after the last few cruelling days. On entering Alexandria, we head straight for an ‘offy’ and load the car with a crate of Stella beer and then the beach! Walking along the 50km sandy beach with the Med rolling in, beers in hand, is just what we needed until we spot a couple in the water obviously in trouble. The girl is looking unconscious and the speedo-clad boyfriend is struggling to lift her out. We run to her aid and help carry her to dry land where she coughs up water and recovers – the fact she was wearing a full Adidas tracksuit for religious purposes didn’t help. This country so far has definitely been an experience and we only properly entered a day ago! A huge thanks must go to Omar and family & friends for being so generous and hospitable.

21st May 2004

To avoid sneezing for Britain, AD avoids the dusty, cockroach, mozzy infested apartment and wakes early in the roof tent. We clean and tidy the vehicle and then head for the beach for 5 hours sun, swimming and beers….awesome and just what the doctor ordered. After picking up our entire rucksack contents from the laundry, we sip another Stella whilst watching the sun melt in the Med….perfect.

22nd May 2004

Another lazy day spent on the beach sunning ourselves after a brief excursion into the centre of Alexandria for torch batteries and car sponge. Slipping into this beach life could be far too easy but tomorrow we must head south starting with the pyramids and sphinx in Giza, the White Desert, Luxor and Aswan before leaving North and entering East Africa….

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