Tag Archives: cairo

Wyles Walkabout

It felt right turning left

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Was glad to get to the airport except for the faff of going through security at Cairo as they give you contradictory information, but you just roll with it. There was a big queue for the check in for the flight to Abu Dhabi but that was for the economy section. I had upgraded my flight so checked in on the no queue business class counter. The flights were Cairo to Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong and I was checked in all the way through so I didn’t have to waste time in Abu Dhabi finding my bags and checking in again which was quite a releif.

After immigration there is another security checkpoint and here I have a lighter in my hand luggage confiscated. Seems odd they confiscate it here, when I have flown London to Marrakech, Casablanca to Cairo, Cairo to Sharm and Sharm to Cairo with it in my hand luggage without any issues. Personally I just think the fat sweaty oaf at security wanted to smoke and needed a light. If I had known, I would have put it in my hold luggage, but it’s only a lighter so no big issue.

The business class lounge was shared by several airlines and was not Etihad specific, but it wasn’t that impressive. I was beginning to regret booking it but at least it kept the riff raff away. Once on board however, I knew I made the right choice. Big comfy seat, plenty of leg room, decent in flight entertainment and good food, including ice cream.

At Abu Dhabi, have about 2hrs before the next flight leaves so just enough time to check into the business class lounge and have a drink, all gratis (well, paid for up front in the price). This lounge looks like what airlines advertise as business class, proper a la carte menu, snacks, free bar, WiFi, massages, showers, WiFi, comfy seating, and a whole load more. This was great. Sadly only had limited time as needed to get to the gate as the pane was boarding. Abu Dhabi is a surprisingly large airport. Boarding the plane the air stewardesses are greeting all the passengers and directing them towards the back of the plane but when it was my turn I turned left into business class, with oversized seats that convert to flat beds, large screen infotainment screens per seat, welcome drinks, hot towels, amenity kits, blanket, pillows, etc. and minimum of 3 windows per outer isle seat! It was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, not the Airbus A380 I was hoping for, but still exceptionally comfortable.

Had an aperitif then a 3 course dinner which was so much better than the food in economy, plus had proper cutler, glasssware etc.

Flying over India at night, above the clouds, I saw spectacular lightning which must have lasted about an hour lighting up the night sky. Was grateful we were flying above it and not through it. It was getting late so positioned the seat into sleep mode and actually had a good few hours sleep.

When I woke up, we had about an hour and half before we were scheduled to land in Hong Kong so just enough time for breakfast and a freshen up before landing.

So it’s the first time I’ve been to Hong Kong, wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Collected my bag and then bought an Octopus card (the same thing as an Oyster card in London) and got the underground to Central and then to Jordan station. My hotel was about a 5 min walk from the underground station but what I hadn’t taken into account was the volume of people and the humidity. It took a little longer to walk than 5 mins but not much more and by the time I reached my hotel (Nathan Hotel on Nathan Road) I was already drenched and could not wait to check in. Very nice lady on reception upgraded my room to one on 11th floor and it is really, really nice. I think because of the jet lag and time difference, despite having a decent sleep on the airplane, I was so tired that I showered and then went to sleep. When I woke up, it was 11.30am (Hong Kong time / 04.30 UK time) and it was overcast and raining. I haven’t seen or felt rain since May!

So the first day I wanted to go to Hong Kong Island but it’s actually raining quite hard and Victoria Peak is shrouded in cloud, so thought I’ve give that a miss and explore locally (Kowloon) instead. Kowloon Park is just a short walk from the hotel, covers 13 acres, has a lake and an aviary. It also has the Hong Kong heritage museum so I called in there to keep out of the rain, but also to escape the humidity.

I was feeling a bit peculiar, probably because of dehydration and not having eaten anything in a day, so needed to find some food. The smells as you walk passed some of the restaurants are fabulous, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, hot meat, and some are utterly stomach churning, usually the drains. But I find somewhere and have some beef noodles with pepper. Thought it best to avoid the ‘black eggs’ or the ‘pork bag’ just in case.

Soon I find myself down on the waterfront where the Star Ferry departs to Hong Kong island. Here there are plenty of shops, designer stores, shopping malls etc. and then I find ‘Garden of the Stars’ which is similar to Hollywood’s walk of fame where they have hand prints of some of China’s famous movie stars. Obviously there is a statue of Bruce Lee.

Next day try and get up early to head over to Hong Kong island. Caught the metro from Jordan to Central and then it was a short walk to The Peak Tram which takes just under 10mins to cover the 0.8mile distance, rising to nearly 400m above sea level.

Frustratingly had to queue for over an hour to get the ticket but I would have sooner done that, than walked it. Once at the top the ticket also granted access to the Sky Terrace where you can get great views, weather permitting, over Hong Kong Bay.

Later in the afternoon, I did something I always enjoy doing when I visit somewhere that has them, is go on one of those hop on, hop off, open topped tour buses that deliver an audio commentary in various language options as you go. The ticket covered 3 routes and includes return Star Ferry crossings, so I did the green route yesterday which covered areas such as Aberdeen and Stanley on Hong Kong island and then caught the ferry back to Kowloon at sunset.

Today I did the red route which covered the business and shopping districts and the blue route which was around the waterfront and Kowloon.

Am feeling pretty hungry right now so about to head out and see what the dinner options are. The hotel has a wide ranging menu but I just don’t fancy ‘poached loofah’ or ‘goose gizzards’.

Wyles Walkabout

Back in Cairo

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After what seemed ages, but in reality was less than 10 days, am back in Cairo again. Most of Cairo is not going to win any ‘pretty city’ awards with its hundreds of thousands of high rise tower bocks squeezed together, looking as if they are from the communist eastern block, only more red-ish brown than grey. Seem to pass endless unfinished buildings but some have their laundry hanging from the windows, maybe just to keep the sun out.

But we get back to the hotel at a reasonable hour, time enough for dinner and a few drinks. Next day was a visit to the Egyptian museum. The building itself looks as if it was an old Victorian railway station with its grand entrance and archways but I don’t think it was.

The museum is spread over two floors and is crammed with items discovered from ancient Egypt, the tombs and temples. There were plenty of sarcophaguses and mummies, statues, alabaster jars, tools, jewellery, daggers, head pieces etc. There was a small hall dedicated to the royal mummies and one hall for Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun’s golden head mask was on display with very strict security and you were not allowed to take any photographs. The mask is made of pure gold, weighs 11kg and measures 54 x 39 x 49cm.

There is a new museum being constructed at Giza, just 2km from the Pyramids. Costing more than US$1 billion, the new museum will be the size of approximately 10 football fields and should open early 2019. Depends on the Egyptian builders… It will re-house and restore some of the country’s most precious relics.

After the museum visit, headed over to Khan El Khalili Bazar, which is basically a market down narrow streets and lanes with stalls selling anything and everything from tourist tat to fridges. It was very similar to the medinas in Morocco and as there was nothing I wanted to buy, mainly because of the amount of travelling I still have left, decided to leave and head back to the hotel. That was easier said than done as the narrow streets suddenly came alive, now very packed with people and each street looking pretty much the same. Eventually found my way and rewarded myself with an ice cream.

Back at the hotel and looking at the tickets, I realise just how many historic sites I have visited in Egypt, all individual and unique. Very difficult to chose a favourite. The Pyramids were great but I was put off because of the amount of hassle you get to buy things. Temple at Karnak was huge and too busy (it took ages to try and get photographs without anyone in the background). Valley of the Kings was fabulous but on the surface looked like a quarry, the treasures were all underground. But I think my favourite was the Nile cruise. Such an iconic thing to do in Egypt.

Final few days in Cairo and I changed hotel to one not far from the Pyramids. In fact, you can see the Pyramids from the pool 🙂 Really not a bad way to end my trip to Egypt but the time has come to move on to country number 3 and I fly to Hong Kong later today. Am really looking forward to Hong Kong and China but also looking forward to the flight in business class on Etihad. Not bad for someone who is unemployed…

Wyles Walkabout

Cairo to Luxor and on to Aswan…

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Back in Cairo after a delayed flight from Sharm el Sheikh. It was only delayed about an hour and a half (twice the time of the actual flight itself) but it was enough to make me a feel a little uncomfortable as I had arranged for a transfer from the airport to the hotel and I wasn’t sure if the transfer would still be waiting for me. I was anticipating the hassle of getting to the hotel if he had left already without me. Fortunately he was and I never thought I would be so grateful to see a little old Egyptian man with no teeth holding a sign with my name on it.

I knew the transfer would take about an hour and in Egyptian traffic, that would be 1 hour more than I wanted. So relieved to finally arrive at the hotel and simply enjoy the air con and a cold drink.

Early start the next morning, about 05.00hrs, and headed over to Sakkarra which is the ancient capital of Egypt. It took about 2 hours on an air-conditioned bus to get there but saw the first stone stepped pyramid which was built 27th Century BC, in the Third dynasty for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser by his vizier, Imhotep, long before the more famous pyramids at Giza.

Already it was close to 40 degrees centigrade and it was quite uncomfortable in that heat, even that early in the morning. So back on the bus and back to Cairo to spend some time at The Great Pyramids and The Sphinx. The heat was unbelievable, as were the flies, sadly the amount of litter, but worst of all were the hawkers try to sell you tourist trinkets or trying to get you to ride a camel or go in a horse and carriage for an overinflated price. Even after 3 or 4 “no thank you’s”, they persist to the point where it no longer feels rude about blanking and ignoring them.

That aside though, the pyramids are spectacular and the scale is immense, 146.5m tall and each side base is 230.4m long. The Great Pyramid was built as a tomb for the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu, it took approximately 20 years to build and has three burial chambers inside. Still many theories exist as to how they were build but no matter how they were, it is almost incomprehensible that they were build in this heat. Surely the climate could not have been that different between then and now and they reckon at least 5,000 workers died during the construction. Each block of the granite and limestone is said to weigh between 3-7 tonnes. Plenty of tourists around taking selfies etc, so just to blend in…

The Sphinx (head of a man and body of a lion) also located by the Pyramids, is a lot smaller than I was expecting, only 19m high, but it’s still the largest Sphinx in Egypt. Some restoration work visibly underway so cannot get to close to it at this time unfortunately.

So after these amazing sites, it was back on the bus and back to the hotel to collect luggage and then the dreaded 410mile (10 – 12 hour) bus journey to Luxor began. It took about 2 – 3 hours just to clear Cairo’s city limit, mostly because of traffic but was just thankful for the air-conditioning. It was a long, slightly cramped journey where just as you doze off, there is a speed bump to jolt you awake. This went on mile after mile and lost count of the amount of police / security checkpoints we had to go through. Some we were just waved through, others we were stopped and had to wait for armed escort vehicles. Despite all this, being stopped in the middle of Egypt in the middle of the night with no light pollution, I could see the Milky Way. Amazing. Eventually, we arrived in Luxor at a fantastic hotel at 03.30 in the morning. All I wanted to do is sleep and zonked out immediately.

Unfortunately there was an early start next morning at 07.00hrs. Doing this to try and avoid the heat, but about a 1 – 2 hour bus ride to visit Valley of the Kings and Hatchepsut Termple. The Valley of the Kings itself is not that impressive, just looks like a quarry, but this is where many of the Pharos and kings were buried, including Tutankhamun.

Luckily we got into Tutankhamun’s tomb and saw him, well, what was left off him. He was about 18-19 when he did and was about 5ft tall. His remains are blackened and you can only see his head and his feet – the rest of him is covered in a white cloth, but you can still see him, his teeth, hair, nails etc. In a way, kind of looks like the sacrificial sausage on a BBQ – you the one that always gets burned first. The sarcophagus was separate and intricately decorated but you are not allowed to take photos inside Tutankhamun’s tomb. There are several other tombs in which you can but only if you pay 300LE (about £13) and the hieroglyphics are so colourful and preserved.

After this, we moved on to Hatchepsut Temple, which is probably what most people think of when they hear Valley of the Kings. It’s actually a Royal mortuary on the West Bank of the Nile built 15th century BC by Queen Hatshepsut, stepmother of pharaoh Thutmose III. Visibly amazing to see.

There are so many sites to visit here in Egypt, but perhaps one of the top ancient sites to see is Abu Simbel. Built by King Ramses II and cut into solid rock, they are known as the “Temple of Ramesses, beloved by Amun” it was one of six rock temples erected in Nubia during the long reign of Ramesses II. Their purpose was to impress Egypt’s southern neighbours, and also to reinforce the status of Egyptian religion in the region. Here there are two temples next to each other, one for his favourite wife and one for himself. Quite rare to find a wife on equal status of the king.

What is even more amazing is that when the Aswan High Dam was constructed in the 1960’s, Abu Simbel would have been flooded. So a major relocation project went under way to raise the Abu Simbel 65m higher up and just over 200m further inland to avoid the flooding.

After Abu Simbel, visited the Aswan High Dam. This was really interesting and is one of Egypts most heavily protected sites. When it was build it produced 90% of Egypt’s electricity but now only 10% due to population increase. It’s 111m high and stretches nearly 4km. Lake Nasser holds nearly 170 trillion cubic meters of water and it is reckoned that if the dam were to fail, the water would reach Alexandria and the Mediterranean, just over 1000km away, in under 30mins.

After the ‘GCSE Geography revisit’, quick stop at Philae Temple on an island now protected from flooding since the Aswan High Dam was built.

That’s a lot of sites, tombs and temples squeezed into a couple of days. It’s now time for some serious rest and relaxation. I am now on board a Nile cruiser, M/S Marquis and will be cruising to Luxor for the next few days, stopping off at Edfu on the way. Good news is there is a pool, great food and a great bar. Time for a G & T…