Drinks with Agatha

A Grand Old Hotel

Agatha Christie wrote her famous novel “Death On The Nile” in Aswan, Egypt, while staying at the Old Cataract Hotel. Since we had a few hours before a flight back to Cairo, Regis insisted we have the “experience”. Of course she claimed it was because “I should have the experience since I had read all of Agatha Christie's books”, but I think she really wanted to do it. Friends we met on the cruise had told us it was a great experience even though he was reluctantly allowed in with sneakers and without a collared shirt; “We will lend you a jacket . . . .”

First problem was getting there. You mention you want to go to the Old Cataract” and the EP 20 cab ride was suddenly EP 200, so it took some hard negotiating to get the price down where it should have been. Once we found a driver happy to take us there he even insisted on waiting for us and taking us back for EP 45, so it all worked out.

Welcome to the Old Cataract

We arrived and asked for a table for coffee , but were told there was nothing available until 10:00. Once we said that would not work and they realized we really were interested, “His Colleague” would figure it out. Obviously, they want to discourage folks just wanting to look, but don't really want to send away paying customers, so we were offered a seat on the terrace for drinks. Although it was only 9:30, we decided that was ok, after all a Bloody Mary is sort of breakfast isn't it? I recall in Las Vegas that was a normal breakfast . . . .

After our drinks we were actually encouraged to explore the gardens and the lovely grounds. We walked around snapping a few pictures trying to look like we belonged. It really was a beautiful hotel with the original old hotel from Agatha Christie's time combined with a more modern section. I can understand how Ms Christie could relax here and write a best seller.

Drinks on the Terrace

The Lobby

The View From the Terrace

Exploring the Gardens

Valley Of The Kings

The Valley of the Kings 

Strangely, one of my favourite stops on the Nile Cruise was a bleak hot desert valley. There is no town there, no magnificent temples or cathedrals, and not even any water, but it was fascinating. This was the Valley Of The Kings.

For years, the Egyptian Kings tried to outdo each other by building bigger and more elaborate Pyramids for their burial sites. Finally one wise advisor suggested this might not be the best idea. It was Ok to design elaborate tunnel systems into these pyramids, to outwit grave robbers, but really, it is hard to hide a giant pyramid, and once you are dead and buried the next King is more concerned with deciding how his eternal resting place is going to outshine yours. This advisor suggested he had found an ideal spot for a burial site. It was unknown and far away from known cities. He suggested digging elaborate tombs carved into the mountain and then simply cover it over to keep the location hidden. In the middle of nowhere the tomb would be safe. To make it more secure, he designed an entire city of just the workers who had no contact with the outside world and their entire world would be serving the king to dig his tomb.

Going Down Under the Mountain

It didn't quite work out that way, because there are over 63 known tombs in the Valley of the Kings, so obviously it did not stay hidden, and indeed most of these tombs were discovered and robbed, but the famous discovery of King Tut's “Untouched” tomb, was here in the Valley.

The Valley Of The Kings remains however, nothing but a winding desert valley between mountains. There is nothing there but the tombs. Today they are uncovered and marked, but you can imagine how this would have appeared to be nothing but a desolate desert valley to anyone coming across it. There are no elaborate temples or monuments to the Kings, just a quiet place of eternal rest.

Visiting The Valley Of The Kings, you can descend into seven of the tombs, and they really are impressive inside. A simple unadorned entrance leads down carved and elaborately decorated shafts leading to rooms under the mountain. Often there are false passages, blocked tunnels, and side tunnels, all leading to a deep final burial chamber for the Kings. It is interesting to watch the walls as you descend. Often they start out with wonderful carved and painted walls, but the deeper you go the plainer they get. In many cases the kings plans and elaborate designs outlived him, and many of the tombs were not finished when he died. King Tutt's for example is a very simple unadorned and relatively shallow tomb, because he died a young man and there was not time to excavate an elaborate deep tomb.

Cruising the NIle

Cruising The Nile

The Nile River is said to be the lifeline of Egypt, and without the river, Egypt could not exist. The country is one massive hot desert with a thin strip of green running through it nourished by the Nile. If you visit Egypt, you are never going to be far from the Nile, so taking a Nile Cruise during our visit to Egypt seemed a good idea.

Pumping The Nile

The number of cruise ships in Egypt is amazing, all along the river they are moored in spots four or five deep. Unfortunately, most of them sit rusting and sad with fading paint, shredded canvas awnings and torn indoor/outdoor carpeting. When we arrived at “our” ship it sat beside the Nile surrounded by these unhappy looking dockmates. Later I questioned our guide who told me that prior to the revolution most of these ships would have been carrying tourists up and down the river constantly, but the tourists have been scared away so the ships were mothballed, waiting for things to improve, but it hasn't yet.

Tombs Along The Nile

The cruise began in Luxor, which although smaller than Cairo, it is still a large city, so it took a while before we started to see the real Nile. But as we went further and further south the scenery got better and more interesting. In many areas there were sandstone mountains and in other areas almost jungle like areas of greenery. These green areas were never very wide however, and the further south we went the narrower these strips got. Sometimes the desert came right to the riverside. There were always little settlement not far apart, but there were also areas of green.

Prime Real Estate

Our boat did not move very quickly up the river, giving us plenty of time to watch the Nile scenery drift by. We saw longer sections without the ever-present mosque towers announcing their presence throughout the country. Other areas were quiet sections inhabited by only cows, donkeys and people living in simple reed huts, quietly tending family plots alongside the life-giving Nile. I will say that no matter how far south we went, there was always some sign of people. After all, the Egyptians only have these tiny green strips to live comfortably, so few were wasted.

Unfortunately no matter how remote the sections of the Nile were, there was usually one sign of civilization. The boat might be slipping through a section appearing to be nothing but green palms, but then “Put-put-put” would echo across the river. In those quiet remote rural areas, there is no power grid but water still has to be pumped from the Nile to grow the crops so the quiet was broken by the sound of diesel engines running pumps which pumped the water from the Nile into the surrounding fields, trying to stretch the strips of green as far a possible.

Our cruise ended in the city of Aswan. With the building of two massive dams, navigation of the river stops here. This is a beautiful city with most of it built just on the east bank of the river, providing a lovely desert view across to the west bank. A nice place to terminate our Nile Cruise experience. In fact this is where Ms Agatha Christie ended her Nile cruise and stopped to write her book “Death On The Nile”.

Felucca

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Feluccas on the NIle

A Felucca is the name for a particular kind of boat used on the Nile in Egypt. It carries a single triangular sail hung at an angle from a single mast. Because they do not have a serious sailboat style keel, they are used mostly in calmer waters, such as rivers. They were the predominant means of transportation on the Nile for many years, and are still in use today, but mostly as a tourist ride. They are an ideal size for large river, and are easy to manoeuvre with just one person, but will accommodate a good group of people.

The "Crew"

On a pleasant Egyptian evening we booked a felucca for a sunset ride on the Nile. Wine, beer, chicken wings and pizza were packed and the boats are all well suited for this type of activity, with comfortable seating around the edges and a large table for food and drinks in the centre.

Fill my glass again . . .

The pilot pushed us away from the pier, and we were off on our Nile felucca ride. The boat has no motor, depending on the quite steady breeze blowing off the desert to power our craft. This is a leisurely trip, no frantic trimming of sails, running back and forth, or balancing the boat by hanging off one side. It is calm, relaxing and peaceful, with the pilot sometimes leaning back holding the tiller with his legs as he helped us sample the chicken wings and pizza. A popular evening activity, the Nile was filled with feluccas gently sailing back and forth across the river as we waited for sunset.

Sunset on the Nile

As the sun set in the west, and the drinks and food were slowly depleted, we watched the skies darken with evening and we made our way back to the dock, another great travel experience. I was reminded once more of the quote from “The Wind In the Willows” by Rat,  "There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats"

A Great Egypt Evening

Sick in Cairo

Recovering in Cairo

Nothing is worse than getting sick on vacation. I have been bragging about how I haven't gotten sick in SO long, but I managed to do it on this trip. It started out as a cough, and a slight fever in Toronto, but I took it easy and laid low for a couple of days, so I thought I had it in check. I wasn't that great on the ten hour flight to Cairo, but I figured doing nothing but sit for that long might just help the recovery.

Nope, really got it worse when I got here, I thought at first it was just a cold, but pretty sure it was the flu; fever, chills, coughing, no appetite, just feeling miserable. After the first day, I gave up and went to bed.

Regis still got to have fun

Fortunately, I could not have chosen a better place to get sick. It is warm and comfortable, and our friend we are visiting here is “super nurse”. She got out her stethoscope, thermometer and blood pressure checker and quickly diagnosed the flu. I was sent off to quarantine (Actually a comfortable bedroom), and told to drink lots of water. She had a special tea concoction of green tea, honey and ginger, and picked up some Egyptian cough syrup. Next she found some actual flu medication, and after a consult with her doctor put me on some antibiotics. Apparently the doctor did not need to see me, her word and descriptions of my symptoms was good enough although he was willing to see me if needed.

I believe I am on the mend, after two days in bed I am ready to get down to serious recovery out by the pool in the wonderful 30° temperatures here in Cairo. Wine is suggested for flu recovery isn't it?

City Life

A nice city walk

When I was 15, we moved from a house on a street of similar houses in the “burbs” to a 100 year old farm house on 250 acres of land. Although I had grown up living in the city, I took to country life quickly and found I loved it. I looked after a neighbour's heifers in our barn, and worked on his farm in the summer. To this day, I do not turn up my nose when we drive past a field spread with manure; to me it is a pleasant reminder of living in the country. This idyllic country life only lasted a year however, when Dad got transferred to Halifax with his work and we were back in the city. My love of the “Country Life” remained and my goal was a house with land in the country. When I got married we had an opportunity to rent a nice house in the country with lake frontage for a ridiculous low price. I'm glad we were renting, because I hated it. I think I went down to the lake twice, and every time I needed something it involved a 30 minute drive to the city. That was when I discovered that my idealistic dream of the country life was not what I wanted – I had become a city dweller.

Traffic

I discovered that I loved living in the city and the closer to the heart of the city the better. There are a couple of factors causing this. One was that I like to walk. I walk to get groceries, I walk to take pictures, I walk to explore, I walk to visit friends and family. Walking in the country was usually a walk to "walk"

How to totally mess up a busy intersection.

with no real goal or destination, just out and back; walking in the city is always new and exciting. After years living in the city I am still discovering new trails to hike, neighbourhoods to explore or places to walk to.

The other factor is I love being around activity. I love walking through crowds of people, I love traffic, I love ships coming and going, I love construction. The hustle & bustle of the city that bothers many, I find interesting. Although not a particularly “Social” person, I love watching and observing people. The city is the place to do this. I enjoy walking through peaceful forests and country meadows, but my favourite walks are exploring cities.

Lots of people to observe

When my son moved to Ottawa, he lived right downtown and I loved visiting him, and his move to Toronto puts my visits right in the middle of one of Canada's most vibrant cities and I love spending time there. We visited friends in Vancouver who for a while lived in an apartment right in that city's heart and I immediately knew I'd love living that close to things. I found that when I travel I gravitate to rentals in the heart of cities or towns all over the world. I love being able to walk to city markets and finding local wine shops. Regis says I can somehow “smell” markets and always manage to find interesting markets to explore. When I retired I spent three months in China in an apartment in the Suzhou and could walk anywhere. We had an apartment right on the Danube in Budapest, another just outside the wall on the river in Chester UK, one right in the middle of the walled city of Lecce Italy, and on the waterfront in Auckland. I loved them all.

I've discovered that I have become a city person and love life in the city. The country is nice to visit, but the city is where it's really at.

Doors of the United Kingdom

I always take pictures of doors wherever I travel, and this trip was not different.

These pictures were taken all through Wales, England and Scotland over the past month.