As the child bride and I get closer to Cairo, the frequency of Australian accents becomes valuable currency. If this trip is to end in tears, we want to be able to spread them around rather than be the only two infidels at the riot. We have just found out there are 9 on our extra trip to Alexandria and the full complement of 40 for the rest of the trip. How’s that for steadfastness in the face of rather challenging circumstances. If we all lived in New Hampshire in the USA we’d have their state motto tatooed on our foreheads – “live free or die”.
Speaking of challenging, wifi isn’t working as I write this in our room in Alexandria’s delightfully dated Steigenberger Cecil Hotel, built in 1936 I believe. The child bride and I shall be heading to the bar shortly because it’s a dry….you know the rest. Besides, there’s bugger-all on the 83 TV channels. TV in the Steigenberger consists of the BBC, CNN, numerous channels beginning with Al, lots of European channels (excluding the UK) and a documentary showing a re-run of 1973’s Yom Kippur war with a surprise ending.
We’ve now moved onto the first day-proper of this tour of duty and have already done a few things where you stand back, take in the full majesty or significance of what’s spread out before you, and say to each other, “this is why we came here”. We did it as the sun came up over the Anapurnas in Nepal. Here it was the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa and/or Pompey’s Pillar, take your pick. In respect of the latter, its historical significance and its imposing presence should not be diminished by the murder there of two Jewish tourists and their guide by a terrorist policeman on Sunday, four days ago. You wouldn’t know now because we walked through the same area where this atrocity occurred. But outside, as we left in the bus, the security presence was palpable. I didn’t notice when we arrived but we were early. Maybe they only work banker’s hours.
Speaking of security, we have our own. Despite not noticing the full extent of the security presence as we arrived at the various attractions, I had noticed quite a few young, fit looking grey suited gentlemen in addition to those wearing uniforms and bullet-proof vests and carrying automatic weapons. We had one of these grey-suited gentlemen on our bus (as did others, I assume) and he accompanied us to and from and around. He had an easily identifiable bulge on his hip under his jacket also. I’m not sure if his presence makes me feel better or worse – he’ll be with us tomorrow when we go to El Alamein. Concealed carry is a controversial subject in the USA. I’m pretty okay with it here as long as the concealment is in my favour.
If we can now take this discussion in the complete opposite direction, something rather pleasant and amusing was happening to us all as we made our tortuous way through streets made by people who never in their wildest dreams imagined a full-size passenger bus. Our driver managed u turns in places where I wouldn’t drive a shopping trolley. So slow was it that we would have been able to discuss the weather (let’s keep it non-controversial, remembering where we are) with passers-by if we could wind the windows down. No, these people were all smiling at us and waving to us – kids going to school, vendors sitting outside their shops smoking durries, old blokes watching the world go by as they sat drinking coffee. How nice I thought as we all waved back. But later, in keeping with the times I thought “do they know something we don’t?” Shame, really.