Pharaoh's Revenge

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I was last in Egypt approximately 10 years ago. I needed to travel through Egypt because it is the best place to get a Visa for the Sudan. Not that it wasn't well worth while visiting Egypt again!


On this leg of my travels, I'm travelling down the Nile from Cairo to Khartoum.


I got my Visa in Cairo because it is the best place to buy a Visa. It's possible to buy one in the UK but it takes 3 months and there is no guarantee that it will be approved. The process in Cairo was relatively painless even if the Sudanese Embassy was very busy and chaotic.


I knew that I needed a letter from the British Embassy in Cairo. The Sudanese insists on a letter of invitation from your own Embassy saying that you are allowed to travel to the Sudan. In fact the letter that the British gave me was a rather supercilious piece of typewritten paper with no official heading. It explained how they don't issue the document that the Sudanese asked for, because there are no restrictions on where British Citizens can travel! This piece of paper had no fancy heading, but it did have an Embassy Stamp on it. This non-document, though was accepted by the Sudanese as the document that they want! This piece of paper cost me $US60.


Conveniently the Sudanese Embassy was around the corner from the British building. I had to ask someone if the door I could see was
actually the entrance for applying for Visas. When I entered the room it was packed with people, the lighting was dim and it looked somewhat shabby. There was a man sitting at a desk in the middle of the room with a load of people trying to get his attention. I waited to get his attention. Finally he told me to go to the window in the corner marked passports. So, I had another wait. The man at the passport window said “Application form”.


“Where do I get the form”, I said.


“Over there”, he said waving vaguely.


So, I queued up again to speak to the man at the desk in the middle of the room.


Finally after another 5 minute wait, I said “I need an application form.”


“Over there”, said the man at the desk in the middle of the room. He was pointing to another desk at the other end of the room.


So, I waited at the other desk for the man sitting there to speak to me. Finally he handed me a form.


It was written in both Arabic and English. It must be the worst designed form I've ever seen. It wasn't at all clear to me in which boxes I was supposed to be putting my answers to some of the ridiculous questions. I've never before been asked for my blood group on a Visa Application form. Frankly, I haven't the slightest idea. So, I picked an answer to the question at random. I assumed that as long as I appeared to have answered all the questions, then the bureaucrats would be happy!


I then took my form to the passport window and handed it over with my passport, the letter of invitation and 3 passport photos.


“You need 3 photocopies of everything, get them here”.


“Where?”


“Over there”.


So, I wandered over to the far wall which had a man standing next to a photocopier.


Then I returned to the passport window again. The man behind the counter stapled the documents together and gave them back to me.


I was slightly confused at this point because he had just given me back the documents.


“You come back Thursday, Visa ready. You need to pay today”


“Where do I pay”.


“Next Window”.


So, I had to queue again, before I parted with $US100. This man took the documents and gave me a receipt.

This was on the Monday. The collection of the passport on the Thursday was a lot less painful.

Arrival

I arrived in Cairo on Thursday January 24th. It was a late night flight from Tunis. My first impression of Egypt was not good - I had a tout asking where I was staying before I even cleared customs at 3am. I had no intention of going into Cairo at that time of the night. I waited around the airport until dawn, much to the bewilderment of the many touts in the airport. I was then able to catch a bus into town, which cost me just 2 Egyptian pounds (about US$0.3).


The bus dropped me off at a bus station underneath a motorway fly-over. It was my first re-introduction to the madness of Cairo traffic. There are no pedestrian crossings as such. You just have to plunge into the traffic, put your hand out and hope the cars will slow down or stear around you. I got the impression that they certainly weren't ever going to actually stop. They would rather crawl at the pace of a snail than actually stop!


I wandered past the Egyptian Museum and into Cairo's down town. I realised that I had forgotten how shabby the down town looks. (Unless it has changed in the last 10 years). I checked into the Windsor Hotel - which has a certain shabby elegance. It looks as if nothing much has been changed in the place in the last 50 odd years since it was the British Club during the colonial period. It also looks as if they haven't painted the walls in that long! The place even has an old fashioned manual switchboard at the reception desk.


I did the usual tourist things whilst in Cairo (see the photos). The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is old fashioned, musty, badly organised and full of exhibits with no labels. It's a terrible museum, but the contents are fantastic. So, I spent 2 days in the museum - armed with a 600 page guidebook which lists what it claims are the most important pieces! I also visited Alexandria on an overnight trip. Of course I also suffered a bout of Pharaohs revenge but it didn't last long. The bigger problem is that I've been suffering from a cold for the past week.

Luxor and Aswan

After that I caught the Sleeping train to Luxor, in order to visit all the monuments. The sleeping train is an old fashioned experience. Some old carriages have been renovated by a private company.


After Luxor I caught the train down to Aswan. Again another bout of monument visits.

Sudan...

Tomorrow I leave for Wadi Halfa in Sudan. I have a ticket for the ferry that leaves from near the High Dam in Egypt. It should take 18 hours, if I'm lucky...

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Photos

Fort Qaitbey, Alexandria.
This was built on the foundations of the destroyed Pharos Lighthouse in 1480.

Bibliotheca Alexandria
Inspired by the original Library founded in the 3rd century BC - which was one of the wonders of the ancient world

Hotel Cecil, Alexandria.
Many very famous people have stayed at this hotel over the years.

Village of the artists
This was the village of the builders of the tombs and temples of Luxor