Egypt 2007 (Part Three)

Salum – In riva al mare – 164/2788 - sole -

Continued from "Egypt 2007" Part Two

Oasi di Siwa – Parcheggio in piazza – 604/3392 – Sole

A long crossing awaits us, departure at 7, a dual-carriageway road with two lanes, some vehicles use both carriageways in the opposite direction, we're amazed but here it must be a normal thing, after Marsa Matruh you head inland on a single two-lane road but with a good surface, the occasional pothole, negligible traffic, a police car with armed men follows us and discreetly escorts us, every now and then it overtakes us and slots into the group then returns to the rear. At 1 pm we stop at a café for lunch: a sun-scorched square where Tina buys some pastries made with coconut paste…….horrendous. Before reaching the Siwa oasis our guides stop near a small hill; from the top of it you can take some nice photos of the panorama.

Once we arrive at the oasis we park in the square, after a short rest, with the campers, we head towards the salt lake squeezing through alleys and little streets impassable for our vehicles, but we manage to reach the destination and wait for the sunset; the spectacle alone is worth the kilometres travelled, here you can't take enough photos. Back and settled in the square, three at a time we go to a nearby hotel to fill up with water, unfortunately the water pressure is low and it takes a long time to fill the tanks. Unfortunately, an incident happens to us: a cart pulled by a little donkey hits the rear bumper of the camper with the hub of its wheel, no big deal, the plastic corner piece came off, tomorrow I'll try to fix it.

It's got very late, with two other couples we decide to go to the restaurant, a spot-on decision, we ate well: mixed grilled meat with chips, cola and non-alcoholic beer for the outrageous sum of €4 each.

Marsa Matruh – Lungo mare spiaggia di Rommel – 315/3607 – Sole

This morning at 5.30 the Muezzin, with his croaking chant, woke us with a jolt. Regular wake-up at 7, departure for the excursions at 8, to visit: - Shali Fortress - Tomb of Mesu-Isis - Ruins of the Temple of Amun - Temple of Umm Ubaydah - Siwa Springs - Cleopatra's Baths - Gebel al-Mawta Necropolis - Temple of the Oracle The first visit on foot and the rest in characteristic little carts pulled by donkeys, at every pothole my back was killing me, anyway it was all very beautiful and interesting, our guide is very eloquent and clear in his explanations. We're ahead of schedule, Luisa and our guides decide to set off in the afternoon and not tomorrow morning.

At two we set off again, not before filling up with diesel, a little swindle, the pump's meter doesn't match the actual fuel dispensed, I notice an excessive quantity compared to the kilometres travelled, for what diesel costs it's not worth filing a complaint. We set off again, but immediately stop, unfortunately the blow taken last night is more serious than expected: the rear bumper has come off, Luciano who is following me warns me that I'm losing it, I fix it with duct tape, I'll have to fasten it with rivets. We go back on the same road as the outward journey, unfortunately from the Siwa oasis to the Bahariya oasis there's a road under construction and only the first 70 km are finished, the other 300 are just a track passable with off-road vehicles and not with campers, we have to go back via Alexandria and then head into the desert again.

Towards evening at sunset, Alberto asks if we can stop and take photos of the sun setting over that immense expanse of sand and stones, we're lucky, we find a dromedary that against the sun, with its black figure in the foreground, gives more depth to the background.

At Marsa Matruh we find another police car that guides us to the night's parking spot and we're amazed by the place: the famous Rommel beach, we line up along the seafront and happily toast with Tony's usual Prosecco and my Refosco, having finished the Tocai, some policemen approach and we offer them a drink, when they refuse we think of offering them Coca Cola, refused as well, they leave, then everyone to dinner happy, but only for a little while: a policeman arrives and makes us move off the beach onto the promenade, that's fine, it's nice and you can see the illuminated city, while I'm writing a counter-order: we have to move to the other side of the road, we're bothering the people walking on the pavement, THERE'S NO ONE WALKING, we move and we think and curse that bureaucrat manager who had fun behind our backs stupidly throwing his weight around.

TIP: Don't offer alcoholic drinks, it could be taken the wrong way and backfire on you.

Alessandria – Parcheggio “Carrefour” – 305/3912 – coperto/sole

Wake-up at 7 to leave at 8, not before having wandered along the seafront and taken a few photos, the Rommel museum is closed and can't be visited, we notice that where we're parked, along the hedge, there are quite a few syringes, we note with bitterness that even here the affluence and the degradation of the young have arrived.

Still escorted by the police we cross the city again, not before filling up with diesel, we get back on the dual-carriageway motorway with two lanes, unfortunately not very smooth, there are no potholes but humps and dips, it feels like being on a roller coaster, at a checkpoint a distinguished character in jacket and tie gets out of the police car escorting us and stays there, we'll later find out he was the governor of the area who had made sure we left his territory unscathed, for them we're a problem, after the terrorist attacks on tourists, they're all on alert and seeing us leave the territory unharmed makes them breathe a sigh of relief.

Before reaching Alexandria we pay a dutiful visit to the El Alamein war memorial, Tony had a very good and praiseworthy idea: a wreath for the fallen, which, during the visit was laid inside with a small ceremony, those of us who had done military service had brought their regimental cap, Tony the Alpini one, Carlito the artillery one, me the bersaglieri fez, unfortunately I no longer have the feathered hat, other Italians from another group were present and I noticed they were moved seeing us pay honours to the fallen. During the journey Tony has problems, he can't empty the grey water, the electric valve is jammed and won't open the drain, after various attempts he finally manages it.

In Alexandria, still preceded by our off-road vehicle and the police, we reach the Carrefour car park, after settling in, the manager of the shopping centre comes to see us, he wants us to move to another more favourable area and has us visit the shops, not before giving us some gifts with brochures of the area and a jug with an advertising slogan, we thank him and set off by minibus to visit the city. Alexandria is a modern city with beautiful buildings and fairly clean, for this evening we've seen the seafront and Farouk's palace, now a grand hotel, then a stroll in the centre. On our return we did the shopping at Carrefour, we regretted buying so much food before leaving, here we found everything at a paltry cost.

TIP: When you leave buy only what you need for a few days, you'll find everything in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt spending a tenth, with superior quality in terms of fruit and vegetables, for meat you won't find pork, but the white meats and beef on display I considered good.

Alessandria – Carrefour Car Park – 0/3912 – Sun

It could have been a quiet night if it hadn't been punctuated by planes landing at the nearby airport, in the square there was always a team of police officers watching over us, this comforted us, but, at the same time intimidated us: if there are armed guards, there can also be danger, our thoughts go to the victims of terrorism and one can well understand the fear of the local authorities that it could happen again.

Visit to: - Pompey's Pillar - Serapeum Library - National Museum - Bibliotheca Alexandrina - The Citadel – Fort Qaitbey - Catacombs of Kom-Shuqqafa (can be skipped) - Mosque of Abu Abbas al-Mursi - Catholic Cathedral - The Souq Lunch at the restaurant "Marcato del pesce": quite good, we expected more, but probably they wanted to save too much, the fish was a simple mackerel, but well cooked and the various side sauces weren't bad, I think that when you eat in the company of nice, cheerful people everything becomes good. During the bus tour we saw, near the port, stalls with various types of fish and lots of scampi and king prawns that made everyone's mouth water, on our return to Alexandria, we promised ourselves we'd buy them and feast on them.

Baharia Oasis – 545/4457 – Parking in the desert – Sun

Departure at 7, today is a transfer stage, a long day of driving awaits us, to get out of Alexandria we have to retrace part of the road we took on the way in, the 2-carriageway road with 4 lanes each is pure chaos, none of the rules are respected, the law of the strongest and the bully prevails, we narrowly avoided accidents several times. The traffic decreased once we got off the motorway and began crossing the black desert, a single-carriageway road with two lanes and a fairly good surface. At 1.30 pm a quick lunch in tremendous heat, fortunately we have air conditioning. In the evening, our guides have us park in the desert, we arrange ourselves in a square and in the middle a long table, where everyone brings something, in the end we ate everything and more, always cheerfully, then all to bed a bit merry from the too much wine guzzled…

White Desert – parking in the desert – 158/4615 – Sun

This morning before leaving some campers move away to empty their tanks in the sand, unfortunately two got stuck in the sand, the Ducatos with front-wheel drive are a problem, I went over and with the tow rope I freed them by reversing, having rear-wheel drive it wasn't very difficult. To get back onto the road there was a small but very steep slope, I, to avoid scraping the tail, took it at a diagonal and ended up in the un-compacted sand, result: I got stuck. Fortunately Tony with his camper, a Vas on Iveco, came up onto the road from another side and towed me onto the asphalt.

Once we arrived at the Bahariya oasis the visits began to: - Temple of Alexander (only rubble, it was completely destroyed) - Temple of Ain al-Muftella After crossing the black desert with its rocks with black tops encrusted with crystals, we enter the white one, it feels like being on the moon, we leave the road and take a track marked at the sides by large stones, then stop in a clearing for the night's stop, two off-road vehicles are waiting for us to take us deeper into the desert, Tina doesn't feel up to it and stays in the camper. This trip into the desert was wonderful, even though our backs suffered from the jolts taken while driving along the tracks with potholes and dips, with the drivers not slowing down but enjoying every bump, the scenery was fantastic, towards evening the sunset was thrilling.

On our return to camp the off-road drivers and our guides prepared a Bedouin dinner for us: grilled chicken with various sides, plus our wine and pastries brought from Italy.

Bir el Gabal – Kamp – 317/4932 – sun

8 o'clock, we leave the white desert and return to the asphalt, good road, the occasional dip and hump, a few police checks and at every change of province the escort following us is automatically replaced Visits: - House of Naglaa Mohamed Sonusy (a painter and sculptor, very good, who exhibits his works) - Tomb of Qarat Qasr Salim - Village of Parafa – No longer inhabited, but well kept, dirty of course, you visit the various dwelling places, work places: the mill's grinding stone, the blacksmith's forge, the place for justice, the prisons and for the final sentence. - Fortified village of El Qasr Arriving at Bir el Gabal where we'll then spend the night, with still a bit of daylight I repaired the bumper that was hit in Siwa, four rivets and everything was fixed better than before…….. let's hope they hold.

Towards evening, after we'd all taken a shower, we fill up with water, unfortunately it's spring water, it has a yellowish colour and is very hot, they say it's good and good for the eyes and bones, I don't believe it much………. anyway for washing it's fine, for eating we always use the mineral water in the 5-litre bottles bought in Libya.

Al Bagawat – Car Park – 235/5167 – overcast hot muggy

Departure at 8 am Visits: - Mut Village – very dilapidated and empty, nice view from above - Museum of Antiquities in Kharga –interesting, some mummies and other finds from the tombs. - Nadura Palace, visited after lunch, at the top of a hill, only ruins. We didn't go and while we were wandering near the campers, we noticed some women and children working in the fields, at the moment I hesitated to approach, then the police escorts invited me and introduced me to the group which let itself be photographed, laughing when they saw themselves again on the camera's little screen. - Temple of Hibis, at first you couldn't enter because it was being restored, then they let us through, in good condition and well restored. - Christian Necropolis of El Bagawat – Worth a visit, among the many only two tombs are still visible with the paintings.

Now we're parked in the square in front of the necropolis, the police car discreetly watches over us.

CONTINUES IN "EGYPT 2007" PART FOUR