When I left Suez for the Sinai Peninsula I really had no plan but to explore; I did have thoughts of going to Israel from Taba but I feared that I would miss some other Egyptian sites. At 5:45 am I was out on the street in Katreen waiting for the bus to Cairo, it was very cool (10 degrees); the chant from the mosque was loud. On the way to Suez we experienced 2 police blockades when all passengers passports were checked; there were so many officers at these stations, many were sleeping in chairs or on the ground. The scenery on the 6 hour bus ride was nice; for some reason I was happy to get back to Cairo and use this capital as a base. I checked into the same 100 year old hotel as I had on my last stay and planned my next days itinerary.
I arranged for a day taxi rental and met the driver in the morning; we were to discover some pyramids to the south of Cairo.
We got caught up in a traffic jam and yet again I was amazed as I watched women with their children risking life and limbs to cross the street. Our first stop was the Abu Sir site about 25 kms south of Cairo; I really liked the small town close by...the local citizens provided many opportunities for pleasure. There were 3 small children on a donkey,
ladies carrying an assortment of goods on their heads; small girls walked large bulls holding a rope, many donkey drawn carriages carried a variety of loads; I guess this was rural Egypt. At Abu Sir, 2 of the 14 original pyramids were evident, the others were either incomplete or dilapidated.
We then ventured to Saqqara which has the Step Pyramid of Djoser which was built during the Third Dynasty.
This pyramid is believed to be the oldest stone building in existence, it was built about 4,660 years ago (2015). This step pyramid was the largest on site with 2 dilapidated structures close by; the limestone facing had long been removed as was the case for many Egyptian pyramids. Dahshur was the next stop on this venture, this site had 2 distinct pyramids; the Red Pyramid
and the Bent Pyramid;
although 11 pyramids were originally erected in this area. I felt that these sites were very satisfying since they give me a better insight into pyramids in general (you can find that info on-line). The experience of standing beside or entering these ancient structures is what going to Egypt is all about. I ended the day of touring by going to Memphis, which is one of the old capitals of Egypt. There is a museum at Memphis and some Ramses statues but not much else remains of this old capital.
That evening in Cairo I went on a boat cruise for dinner with an Iranian guy that I met. These lit up dining boats are all over the river; this particular one was quit fancy. I had a buffet dinner and watched belly dancers; I did not know a stomach could move the way these ladies were making theirs contort, also there were 2 male Egyptian dancers. The next morning I boarded a bus from Cairo to Alexandria; the second largest city of Egypt, and another past capital of this Arab Nation; it was very industrious.
We passed the large Cairo Air Force Base and arrived in Alexandria by 10:15; just in time for me to board a bus to Mersa Matruh at 10:30. The 300 km trip west followed the Mediterranean Sea; there were good views of the sea; a whole lot nicer than the garbage filled streets of Alexandria.
There were no English speakers in this Egyptian tourist city of about 100,000 and it was a bit tough to get a hotel; the first 2 hotels had staff that could just manage to say "no foreigners", many hotels are for club members only. I found a hotel and looked out over the turquoise water, it was a beautiful sight.
The beach across from the hotel was loaded with Egyptians on plastic chairs; their food rappers were strewn along the beach, some had blown into the water. I swam a bit in the sea and while bobbing around I watched as a lady in a full Arab dress with a hijab on, that had mesh covering the eyes, tried to play with her kids in the knee deep water. She kept trying to adjust her hijab so that she could see what rocks she was stumbling on and the wet full length dress was dragging her down......not exactly the most usual beach attire.
In the afternoon I walked to Agiba Beach which was very nice; for the whole afternoon I only saw about 15 people.
The Mediterranean was a bit cool once I swam out from shore a distance; the water was more salty than I had experienced with any ocean. I went for a walk along the top of some cliffs at the end of Romell Beach and enjoyed the scenery.
These days of serenity give a sole person plenty of time to reflect on what has been witnessed in the previous days travel. On this day I pondered the water quality for locals on the Nile when I viewed so many dead animals in the channels that feed the river; thrown in the water by the farmers. On the beach there were clumps of oil here and there; nobody could understand my questions of "when was there an oil spill."
I found Mersa Matruh to be a lonely place because the people were generally not so friendly; the language barrier was obvious but the looks on peoples faces sort of reflected their mindset. At 5:45 am I was out on the street to catch a taxi to the bus station. I could see by the crowd that there were too many people for the one bus that left at 7am. Once the ticket window opened then 3 guys budded in front to get a ticket so I went up to the window and put my arm across telling others to get in line at the back. The people in front of me were just going to stand there and let guys reach in the window to buy their tickets. When I looked at the people behind me most of them had a cautionary smile of approval.....they just could not stand up for themselves. The bus driver was charging for bags; locals were 50 Piastres, for me he wanted 2 Pounds; I give him 50 Piastres.
Once I arrived in Alexandria I found a taxi driver with a few words of English and hired him to tour this old capital. We first went to Pompey's Pillar which was uneventful; there are very few remnants of the Egyptian culture in Alexandria. We then went to the very satisfying Catacombs of Kom Ash-Shuqqafa (tombs). These tombs were very impressive and are the largest Roman burial site in Egypt. It was worth it for me to tour around this northern city on the Mediterranean.
My stay in Egypt was close to ending......back to Cairo I went.
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