Egypt

When you're in a wheelchair especially with a progressive illness, your world, what you can do, and the options open to you, become very limited. So, its truly fantastic to step out of your routine and discover there are tour possibilities out there that can help expand your realm of possilities, which inevitably helps you in numerous ways.

Even though I must have pulled a muscle in my right arm (through breaking a fall??), I just have to write about my amazing week in Egypt thanks to a wonderful tour group that I found through the net (god bless it, gotta love it) namely Enjoy Tours. (This company now seem to be no more sunday 11/5/08) My digital camera paid for itself several times over, as the pictures came out great. To actually behold these monuments in the flesh, and be transported back in time by the history which they effortlessly possess, was truly humbling. I was only there for a week, but feel like I could easily write a book. My senses were constantly bombarded, every sight and smell was new and indelible.

All the fears I had of going to egypt in spite of my increasingly disabled body, the obvious inaccessibility, the heat-would I get sunstroke, the food, getting there-would the airline people lose my chair, and what if I needed the loo during the flight, thankfully proved groundless. Even though it took a while to organise the flights, I presumed it was going to be one long continuous flight and subsequently requested a seat at the back beside the loo as I had done years befoe on my long haul flight to johannesburg. This was the worst thing I could have said, as it set off all of air france' alarm bells. The dublin-paris flight was only by a small cityjet, and it would have been impossible to even access them. The fact that the flight getting there were broken into 2, suited me fine.

After a 1 1/2 hour flight to paris, we had to change planes and I could use the loo. The one thing I would always make a point of doing in future,is to make sure that there is a gap of at least one hour between flights. I had no idea paris airport was so huge, and I only just made the connecting flight ( I missed the connection on the return trip, as because wheelchair passengers are the last off the flight, there was only a 1/2 hour window and there was no way I was gonna make it, but I did'nt mind as it gave me 3 hours to get something to eat, use the loo, and make some phonecalls).

A helpful tip is to ensure your luggage is tagged to go straight through to your final destination, so you dont have to collect anything at the interim stop, and the plane to your final destination will not take off without you (even if you are late) as long as your luggage is onboard.

I had just gotten a new wheelchair the week before the flight (after a year's wait) It is ergonomically designed to assist your posture, and keep you more upright. It has been worth the wait, but knowing the reputation of airline baggage handlers, I was too afraid to bring it with me.I reverted to my old chair (terrible slouched posture with no armrests) and my boss in work made me wooden armrests, to stop me falling out ( I broke the first one getting off the loo at dublin airport going out, and a little boy helping me down off a step at the pyramids broke the second, but it was the thought that counts, and I have had the uncanny ability since childhood of being able to break anything not made of steel, I was'nt very popular with my siblings at christmas, but I digress).

The 4 1/2 hour cairo flight from paris was'nt bad either. It always makes the flight go better when you're seated beside nice people, and I had a good chat with a woman from mexico and an elderly egyptian man. I just don't know how people pass the time on such long flights as to austalia. I think a flight that long would be absolutely lethal to me. When I arrived in cairo, I was impressed by the airport, I think I must have been expecting some third world imitation airport ramshackle. I was amazed looking around me at the faces of egyptians who could very easily have passed for spanish or italian. The warm, dry air was very welcome as the previous weeks in ireland had been the usual rain, rain and more rain . Even though, it was now nearly 11pm, my enjoy tours team and private van ( the only way to travel) were waiting to help me through customs and onto le meridien pyramids 5 star hotel.

The view from this hotel has to be seen to be believed. It was just simply staggering. I've never stayed in such luxury before but for $70 per night, you'd be crazy not to spoil yourself. You want to see inside the hotel, I found myself taking video of the huge lobby adorned with a colossal chandelier. It was like something out of dynasty! When I arrived at the hotel after a crazy 45 minute drive through the chaotic streets of cairo, I met the founder and owner of enjoy tours, a 33 year old medical doctor, who has one of these personalities that is just magnetic, and you have no qualms about believing and putting your trust in him. He told me that he wanted me to have an excellent week.

I dont know what type of person they were expecting. For the past 2 months I had been in almost daily contact with them through email. Arriving saturday may 18th until sunday may 28th. Those dates were engraved in my memory and of course I'd sent them the flight no's and times.Imagine the state I was in when I got an email from them on thursday 16th, saying they were ready to pick me up TOMORROW!! I was frantic, sent them tons of email, also told them I'd take legal action if there was no one there to meet me after I'd gone all that way. Unfortunately I am the sort of person who acts first, and thinks about the reasons behind it later. It was only a translation problem, and was later resolved with a phonecall on friday..

Sunday was spent with a morning trip to the pyramids. I don't know why but during the daytime they just did'nt live up to expectations, I guess when you build something up in your head, the reality always fails to live up. The sound & light show at night, where the pyramids and sphyinx are illuminated together with a narrated history of their coming into being, was breathtaking. As would happen so many times to me during the week, I found it hard to believe that this was actually my reality, that here I was on a raised platform having a diet coke, in front of these awe inspiring creations. I had paid extra to bring my camera and camcorder in, but I eventually put them down to let my own eyes do the recording job.

That first day was also spent with a visit to funky bros cotton shop where I splurged on the 100% cotton goods buying 2 luxurious huge bath towels, tshirts,socks, a hand embroidered waistcoat and 3 fantastic full sleeved tops (with no buttons which is a definate plus for me). We went to a papyrus shop and bazaar. I don't like pushy salespeople, whose nice smiling demeanour and almost overbearing "assistance" change when it becomes obvious that you are not going to seriously spend. I dont like tacky tourist crap, so I'm not interested in mini pyramids or anything like that. I like practical presents, so I got bags and jewellary boxes made from camel skin. I think the egyptian custom of giving you some sort of beverage upon entry to the shop, has more to do with keeping you inside the shop, rather than just a frienly act, but its still nice.

Next stop was to an egptian natural essence/oil shop where after a lengthy diatribe about the goodness and usefullness of pure egyptian oils, I was parted with $160 for four 6oz bottles, and an oil burner thrown in for good measure to help seal the deal. I think a good rule of thumb is if you smell a rat head for the door! Boy, was I pissed when later in the week in aswan I could have bought 6 20 oz bottles for$240 which was infinately better value. Well, live and learn, but what really annoyed me was the shop manager seemed to definately know one of my guides, and later a vendor of oils in my hotel in cairo told me that what normally happens, is for the tour guide to bring the gullible tourist into the shop, and in return they get a share of the transaction. It makes sense now why they kept on telling me that I was getting a great deal. This was to happen to me twice (methinks) during the week.

As the man told me in our hotel, "hey, its business here".I regret pissing that money away, especially as you do see the abject poverty, the gangs of hardened streetchildren who lurk around, and all the people doing whatever it takes to eek out a living. (update 16/8/06: Now I think I got a good deal (still not as good as aswan though)as I have seen for myself how these oils work. If you add a tiny amount of them to your aromatherapy oils, you can see the whole bottle go crazy, and I have stopped adding the orange blossom oil to water for diffusion purposes, as even 3 drops is too powerful, and the well of water with the egyptian oils resembles a bubbling cauldron and eventually catches fire. So, yes, they are super powerful, and at this rate will last me for a very long time).

Had a great nights sleep in my huge room in le meridien pyramids in cairo, where the bed was just at chair level,. making for an easy transfer. Sometimes the beds in hotels tend to be too high, and it was'nt so bad when I had more strength in my legs and could sort of stand, but now I just cannot do any sort of high jump into bed, and I dont like being too high, cause if I fall out of bed its almost impossible to get back and reception would be getting a hasty call.

The best money I spent by far, was on my assistant Khaled. Without him it would not have been a carefree week, but rather a draining obstacle. The fact that he had little or no english was a problem. I found myself raising my voice when I would ask, for the umpteenth time, for him to get the suncream, and instead he would bring me toothpaste ! For stuff like charging up my camcorder or phone, and for help dressing and pushing he was just invaluable! As far as egypt goes, unless you are in perfect shape (and its still going to be tough and demanding), you need an assistant. My assistant only cost $240 for 6 days which was rediculously cheap.

Monday morning was an early start, being up and on the road (via private van) to cairo airport to get a domesic flight to luxor for the nile cruise. I've never been on a ship before, and had visions of being seasick pretty soon. I could not have been more wrong. It was the most opulent luxurious stay on what I can only describe as a floating palace.

In luxor, I was picked up by van, with a young tour guide,driver another helper and khaled (who had endured a very long train journey from cairo) It was great having a personal tour guide and we drove to the valley of the kings. King Tuts tomb was not possible to get into and my usual plan b of giving someone my camcorder was scupered, as they do not allow video camera's beyond a certain point. Thankfully this was to be the only place I could not enter (just a pity it happened to be the first stop) and I saw all of the boy king's stuff back in the egyptian museum in cairo.

The sun was beating down, and stupidly I had no hat with me, it was back in the van. But I had to retrieve it as I could feel sunstoke coming on. English tourists came up to me in Luxor, putting sunspray on me. I am rediculously white, and even though I love the sun, just cannot afford to overdo it. I had promised myself to be ultra cautious with regards to my health, and I was well stocked up with factor 50 sunscreen, anti everything, hats, bottled water,disinfectants etc. For a week's trip,time is of the essence, and even if you were unwell and in the loo for a day, your trip would be ruined.

I had lunch recently with a good friend, who is married to an iranian, and she laughed when I told her of the supposed fear of the unhygienic egyptians. She said that they think that we westerners are incredibly dirty, after all moslems clean themselves scrupulously before praying, and they seem to do an awful lot of praying. I imagine it would be hard to be a non muslim, as mosques and noisy immans are everywhere.

I got a lot of very useful tips from one of the best unbiased travel sites on the net. Most of the health fears were easily avoided, bottled water with a tight sealed cap ( so you knew it hadn't been tampered with) was everywhere, and as regards food in the ship and hotel, we were eating like kings. In fact on the last full day in aswan, they asked me whether I wanted to eat in the hotel or in a local restaurant. I happily chose the local and had a feast for 9 euro! In fact its so cheap you treat everyone or leave a big tip ( I have a story about my experiences with tipping but will relay it later).

Actually, I'll relay it now lest I forget. In ireland, it is not the custom to tip ANYONE. However in egypt, it is the custom to tip EVERYONE. It was'nt a problem for me to tip the drivers and assistants as I had seen the sweat rolling off, as they got me around these ancient temples and ship gangways.

One tour guide asked me why I needed to get more money from the bank, when I had been at another one the day before. I was tipping 20-45 euro's to many ( a lot in a country where teachers get 25 euro a week), and I was always quickly short. Indeed Dr Mohammad Gamal, the young visionary founder of enjoy tours told me, that they should have given tipping guidelines for tourists from ireland and britain, as he had sometimes received annoyed reports that sometimes the guides received nothing from said tourists.

The profuse thanks, and looks of delight were thanks enough, except for one person who never even acknowledged it, and therein lies my problem with tipping. For me tipping is an act of appreciation, not a forced obligation, regardless of whether you are happy with the service or not.

As spectacular as the valley of the kings and temples of karnak and luxor are, after a while, I'm sorry, but they all look the same. At times I would have problems registering the fact that this was my reality, that I was actually beholding these creations whose majesty had been preserved by the sands for so long, and whose image I had always assumed, for me at least, would never be witnessed in person.

Later on the ship, we had the captain's formal welcome cocktail party where we all dressed up in our glad rags.The ship had 68 passengers, all from spain and a few from south america, a mother & daughter from nottingham, 2 from portugal and yours truly. The owner of the boat's wife was spanish and that was the lingua franca for sure. The 5 of us quickly gelled. It was great for me as my assistant had no english, so there would be plenty of awkward silences.One evening I was up on the sun deck looking at the fabulous lush greenery by the nile as we gracefully and admiringly sailed down it. Little wonder then that over 90% of egyptians still live along the course of the nile. Beyond its immediate, life giving banks, lies harsh unremmitting desert.

Anyways, there I was admiring the views when a young woman said "hola" to me. I did my pigeon spanish responce, but it turned out she had been to ireland, and had excellent english. Meeting Blanca was very special for me as it turns out she now works for an organization in cairo that helps the street children. I had brought so many t shirts, presents and sweets, but I did'nt see much overt signs of hardship and povety in cairo ( I guess the tourist police were doing their job) Blanca confirmed all the horror stories I had heard, and then some!

She spoke especially of the plight of many of the girls, imagine if you are a raped, pregnant girl in a strict moslem country? Whatever chance boys have, girls have none! Blanca said she has seen many girls with slashes on their faces, the result of being part of a gender, that is still seen as disposable and inherently inferior.

I personally thought that the climate had changed, looking around cairo, you see women, some veiled some not, and those that are covered, are very stylishly covered,with plenty of colour and very little dark drab floorlength outfits. But I was assured that the reality had remained depressingly unchanged. I freely admit that I have lots of clothes and stuff that I have either never worn or worn only once. It was with great pleasure that on the last night in cairo, I filled a huge hamper bag with all the stuff I had brought, and even soaps and shampoos(I have a terrible habit of taking all the miniature shampoos etc that you get in hotels).

I gave them to blanca, as she said its one less thing that the street children have to buy. I regret that she did not make an announcement on the cruise, explaining what she does, and inviting everyone to donate stuff. We all have so much of everything, she would be doing us the favour by relieving us of them, and making room in our suitcases for all the stuff we would buy in egypt. But she did'nt, I think because she was on a break with her mother and did'nt feel it was appropriate.

There is a good shot of me having just woken up staring out the window as we cruise down the nile. The days were a mixture of lazing around up on the sundeck, having a massage, texting back to rainy ireland (and making them jealous), and then when we docked, the van and tour guide would be waiting for me (yes it was that organized), and then when were tired from sightseeing, back to our ship, where there was some entertainment every night from bellydancing to nubian shows.

It was real 5 star luxury all the way, to the point where I sometimes felt guilty living such a high life in the midst of such poverty.When we docked in Edfu, I had a close encounter with a very shady stallowner, where I was saved thanks only to the fact that his credit card machine was on the blink. I had a bad vibe as soon as we went into his stall. "You like this?" , straight into a black bag without waiting for a responce,again "you like this?", eventually he had seven or eight items in bags. I told him there was no point putting them into bags, until I was happy with the agreed price. He then took out his calculator and came back with a "special" price of 220 euro for everything.

I settled on 3 tops for 60 euro and he was going to "let"me have 2 handmade tablecloth sets (which he would'nt take out of their bags) for another 50 euro. His credit card machine was broken, and we were pushed for time, so he let me take the goods and said I could give the 110 euro to my tour guide, who would see him the following week.

Back in my room on the ship, I wanted to have another look at what I had bought. I don't drink or smoke, and don't mind spending money, as long as I have something to show for it. One of the fantastic white embroidered tops was not there, and in its place was a folded sheet of cotton. I was'nt impressed and began to see that man's true colours.

Immediately I thought about the exspensive handmade tablecloths. I asked khaled to spread one out over the bed, and I understood why he had been reluctant to let me see them in his stall. Plain is an understatement! I would not pay 50 euro for those two ANYWHERE. Back on the ship, there followed a quick chat with the guys at the reception desk, who served as translators also for a bemused khaled, who was probably wondering why I was going red in the face. I showed them the tablecloths, and they told me that these plain, poor quality ones are generally used in egypt in funeral houses to put the dead body on display with.

I decided to keep the two tops, leaving 30 euro for the stallowner, a 30 euro tip for the tour guide and a bag with the two tablecloths for the guide to take back. I dont know if the guide was in on the scam, as he kept telling me at the time that I was getting a great bargain, but the scam backfired. The day before I left cairo, they received an angry call from the tour guide, but when I showed them the 2 tops, they knew he had been trying to scam me. All I can say, is that if the transaction had gone through on my credit card, it would have been very annoying. I think I had a very lucky escape.

That evening, my spirits were lifted when we had a fancy dress party, where all the passengers had to dress up in egyptian outfits It was a fantastic night, and so funny to see! The spanish certainly know how to party ! The next morning the boat stopped briefly in front of the temple of komombo. Its a great pity that my video cassette of this did'nt make it. The views were spectacular, with the ship docked right in front of the temple.

The street hawkers are so persistant, and I had to laugh as I heard one elderly spanish woman try to explain, in a mixture of spanish and english, that she had already bought the said souvenir before. Then it was onto aswan, and it looked so fantastic. It is big and full of impressive buildings,and I could'nt wait to have a closer look, but I was in for a shock...........

Everyone was leaving the boat, and heading off with their respective tour guides, but there was no sign of anyone for me. I knew there was something wrong,. as everything had run like clockwork the whole cruise, I could always be certain that my tour team would be ready and waiting for me in the lobby. It turned out that I did have the afternoon free but the tour guide that morning had forgotten to tell me.

Had I have been told in advance of the free afternoon, it would have saved me a fit, thinking that I had saved and paid to do nothing. From the very beginning, I knew it was going to be an intensive week, but had vowed to push myself. I wouldn't go all that way to do nothing more than sunbathe. Some people like to do that, and see little beyond the artificial confines of their hotel, but its not for me. Anyway, the impromptu free afternoon was filled by sunbathing, chats and massage.

I could not wait to get out in Aswan, as it looked so impressive from the boat, and lucky for me the team were ready to roll by the evening. First e went to the unfinished obelisk, and to see the actual stone quarries, where all those elaborate and huge pieces were conceived, and then brought to the nearby nile to be transported to cairo etc.I gave the camcorder to khaled and could see it in its entiriety later. Then it was on to see the mighty aswan dam, which was a momentous undertaking, as it had to divert the course of the mighty nile, in order to harnesss electricity for the major cities of egypt.

By this stage I was exhausted, all the lack of sleep, and forcing myself onwards had caught up with me. The poor tour guide thought he had done or said something wrong, as it was patently obvious that I couldn't give a crap about the history of the dam (at that time), but he was ok when I told that the reason I was yawning and looked totally disinterested was because I hadn't slept in two nights straight.

We decided to switch gears a little, and go to a nearby nubian village. The nubian people are a distinct ethnic minority in egypt (much darker looking) whose ancient lands happened to be needed in order to build the dam. So they had to be moved out of the dam path, and you can still see saved temples that are now surrounded by water. So for $30 we got a welcome drink in the village, and handpicked henna tattoos. They look fine on your upper arm, but I made the classic mistake of having one on my hand (which of course smudged). I bought some fabulous walking sticks, designed to look like about-to-strike cobra's, and a woven bag. The village was so tranquil, with resting camals taking a breather from the punishing sun.

To see the felucca's sail around aswan port was beautiful, but to go shopping in the local markets was fantastic. My assistants did the dealing for me ( after the fiasco in edfu,they knew the vendors might easily fool a wide eyed tourist, but not a fellow egptian) and I got some great bargains, especially shoes. Shoes with convenient velcrobe that I wear everyday,and only cost 8 euro were a particularly good buy!

Starving (and refusing to eat out when I had paid good money for the restauraunt on the boat) I made it back, just in time for the evening buffet. Aswan was the last stop on the cruise, and the next morning we went to the airport in Aswan for a flight to cairo

Met up with Pilar from Cadiz, where in espeenglish we chatted, and admired each other's elaborate henna tattoos. I remember her saying that she thought I was indiana jones, and at least for that extraordinary week, I guess I was.

The flight back to cairo was very early ( at 6.30am), and I was looking forward to an onboard snooze. This was not meant to be, as a large group of mostly white south africans got on, including one mouthpiece who just loved the sound of his own voice. I felt so sorry for the crew, as they tried to get the asshole to put on his belt, and when one of his own group turned around and told him to shut his mouth, an onboard fight nearly ensued. So I didn't have a peaceful flight, but at least the one good thing is that were back in cairo early.

We made our way to the egyptian museum, where I got to finally see the contents of the tomb of tutankhamen, whose tomb I could not see in the valley of the kings. It is VERY impressive. Apparently it only took three months after the death of a pharoah to produce all of the trappings of his wealth and prestige, which would accompany him on his eternal journey.

After lunch ( I manage very well insulin wise, my body lets me know whether I'm too high or whatever, which is just as well as the portions are HUGE for the money)we embarked on the place which I really wanted to visit in cairo, the famous Khan al khalili market. This place is steeped in history, being referenced by columbus as a place where east meets west. My eyes were like saucers as I was mesmerised by the colours, smells, throngs of people,acres of shops..........I''d died and gone to heaven!

Again, watch out for those vendors! I saw a fantastic lamp, which I set my heart on,but he wouldn't go less than 90 euro (which he claimed was his cost price). I eventually bought an exact replica down the street for half the price. I got great full sleeved tops for 5 euro. It is a shoppers paradise, and it would be easy to spend a full day there browsing. One thing I found interesting is that you don't see beggars. The people there have a tangible sense of esteem and dignity(or it could be down to the tourist police who are everywhere).

Went to the sound & light show in english, and by the time it was over, it seemed to finish off superly what had been an amazing few days. The hotel is just opposite the pyramids, and I was told I would have to be up for 5am, so I went for a farewell meal and drink at the hotel's nubian restaurant. They were probably dying for me to sling my hook, but I just wanted to leisurely absorb my last few hours, and after that I did go to bed (fully clothed)with the t.v on. The next morning I was on an early flight to paris,and then to dublin. I was nearly comatose and still was going in to work the next day. After a week like that, I almost felt I could do with another holiday to recuperate

For anyone who reads this, know that you can experience this magnificent mystical intriguing country. Do it now, place no faith in tomorrow!

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