My Gallery 2

Living and working in a country with so much history I always had plenty to do on my days off. Every body knows the pyramids,  a trip to the pyramid plato at Giza is of course a must. To see the enormity of these structures takes your breath away. To see them at night even better. I liked to spend my weekends in Cairo, its a wonderful city, lots of interesting places to visit and observe the Egyptian culture and way of life.

To stay with history the museum is a must. Some of the ancient statues are so large they must have had the building made around them. To go shopping a visit to the Khan el Khalili  market is a must. Lots to see and the smell of spices will always be remembered.

I enjoyed a boat trip on the Nile and although the water is not so clean, according to legend, if you drink from the Nile you are sure to return. I did without a problem ! I hope the legend is true.

South of Cairo there are more pyramids at  Dahshur the bent pyramid and at Saqqara the stepped pyramid. On the way you pass lake El Fayoum an oasis 62 miles south west of Cairo

There are places of interest within the Sinai. In the south at St Catherines there is a Monastry at the foot of Mount Sinai. It is a fair climb on foot or you can take a camel. In the north of the Sinai there is ‘Moses Valley’ a place not available to tourists but is said to be the place where Moses struck the ground with his staff and produced water for his followers.

Water still flows and provides clear water to two villages lower down the valley. The spring never dries up.

I lived not far from the city of Al Arish located on the mediterranean coast, a true Egyptian city with many good shops many run by Bedouin families. A large market selling fresh produce, meat, fish often so fresh they were still alive, fruit and vegetables.  I am sure you could get anything you required to live a western style life there. I often purchased fresh bread and cooked meats etc. I also visited a barber shop, a very capable barber gave an experience not to be missed despite some pain, in detail, the removal of hair from the ears with twisted cotton twine brought tears to the eyes, etc etc.. the hair cut took some time and was done very well indeed, we had a break halfway through to share a smoke on the ‘shisher pipe’, (otherwise known as a ‘hookah’). I always looked and felt good after my visits there. A trip to town usually ended up at ‘Basatta’s, a restaurant on the beach that served fresh fish, superb. A true ‘slap up’ meal with local white fish and large prawns etc would cost about 48le, about £4  at that time.

An old railway line runs through the city, not now in use but was the old Cairo to Istanbul line destroyed by English troops in days gone by. The station is still in tact and the signal is still up !!