Egyptian Mission

Last October, before all the revolutionary excitement began, I went on a tour of Egypt. Beginning in the south at Luxor, or Thebes as it was known in ancient times, my wife and I headed further up the Nile by boat to Aswan and it's famous first cataract. Although better known these days for its controversial dam and associated industry and military base, Aswan still retained much of its original charm from bygone years. In stark contrast to Luxor, Aswan appeared to be a city that was not only more prosperous but a place that its inhabitants still cared about and was proud of.

The Nile at Aswan

Over more than a week of cruising the Nile we took in many of the greatest surviving temples and towns that the ancient world still has to offer; the transplanted temple at Abu Simbel created by Rameses II, partly in honour of his proverbially beautiful wife Nefertari, but mostly in honour of himself; the vast temple complex of Karnak that covers more than 100 hectares, is the second most visited site in Egypt after the Great Pyramid and is still yielding its secrets to archaeologists today; and also the temple at Edfu, dedicated to the battle between Horus and Set, thought to be an inspiration to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel.

Entrance to temple at Edfu

Dispensing with the old, we spent our last few days exploring modern Cairo. The largest city in all Africa, Cairo felt comfortable both in its London-esque hustle and bustle and in its mercifully low temperatures - only in the mid 30's, a full 10-15 degrees cooler than the scorching heat of the south of the country. Lots of people recommended not to try and tackle Cairo on foot, but if you enjoy the hectic, organised chaos of major cities then I can recommend few better ways to spend your time there. Certainly preferable to spending more than about half an hour seeing the Great Pyramids in Giza. Having come from the south of the country where so many of the historical sites were properly looked after and remarkably intact despite earthquakes and invading armies, the squalor of what should be one of the greatest sights in the world was difficult to overcome. The essence of this was nicely captured when we noticed that the area 50 yards in front of the Sphinx could best be described as a rubbish dump.

The view they don't want you to see at the Sphynx

A particular highlight of our time in the capital was the day we decided to walk from our hotel in the north west, near the now famous Tahrir Square, to the citadel in the south east. Walking from the prosperous and modern, skyscraper-dominated part of the city into the older and distinctly poorer half, still with a skyline dominated by its minarets, via the frenetic hassle-fest of the souks truly served to give a glimpse into the inequality that was so effectively rebelled against earlier this year.

We got to the heart of the Old Town just as local schools were closing for the day. It was reassuring to see both boys and girls together, faces uncovered, allowing them to reveal a look that clearly indicated they don't see many western tourists in this part of town. I had only learnt three or four Arabic phrases by this point, none of which would have been much use at this juncture, but lots of the children took the opportunity to practice their vastly superior English, and only about one quarter of their phrases involved swear words; but all was said with a friendly and cheeky if not slightly embarrassed grin.