We decided to go to Egypt. Why Egypt? Because we have talked of going there for years, but this time we thought – let’s just do it!
A direct flight from Manchester to Luxor saw us arriving at about 5pm and being met by a young man called Sherif, a representative of the travel company. Sherif showed us where to collect our cases, how to get an entry visa and took us to our hotel, The Old Winter Palace. He introduced us to carcady, a drink made from hibiscus leaves, tasting like red wine without alcohol, of which we became very fond.
Sherif gave us a brief outline of life in Egypt, what we could expect to experience in his country and a promise to return the next day with a more detailed plan. He left us with a list of the best tours available, and we went to our room feeling like perhaps we had made the right decision.
Wonderful and real
Our hotel was seemingly caught in a time-warp, Agatha Christie meets Poirot, decadent but tired, charming but sleepy. In a word – wonderful. I didn’t want perfect, I wanted real, and it was perfectly real. The rooms were well presented and spacious, spotlessly clean, the furniture old but comfortable, the balcony tiny, but overlooking the Nile, big enough to sit on and that was all we needed. The bed – so important – was the best I have slept in for years: big, the right amount of firmness, with crisp, fresh sheets and plentiful pillows and cushions, TV, mini bar, marble bathroom with fluffy towels and all the necessary bubbly soapy prerequisites.
The staff were always nearby to help you, but never “in your face”. The Egyptians seem a very happy people by and large, enjoying, soberly, a quality of life from which we could learn quite a lot. For example, tipping. In the UK, it is normal to tip a barmaid 20, 30 or 40 pence for providing a round of very expensive drinks. We usually leave 10 per cent after a, maybe iniquitous, meal.
In Egypt, though goods are cheap, money is scarce, services such as medicine more so, and benefits non-existent. So the poor people have, basically, nothing, and so ask for money. No, they don’t beg, they do something: in the hotel a man may press the button to call the lift, so you can, if you wish, give him £1 Egyptian – 10 pence, or even half that. When you visit the tombs, a man may help you negotiate an uneven step – you can give him five pence UK if you want. No one asks and no one complains if you don’t.
We spent our first full day in Egypt finding our way around the hotel and its outlying shops. The hotel shop was really a no-goer, but opposite was a shop selling Egyptian cotton goods, excellent choice and quality, free same-day alteration service and so reasonably priced that we ended up buying another case to carry it all home. And that was just for my husband – I went again later in the week. I had to get another case. Fixed price, no bartering, suits us best. Having returned home, worn and washed all our purchases, I have no complaints at all.
We wandered back to the beautiful gardens of the hotel and headed towards the pool. The restaurant there was casual and comfy, serving delightful lunches from soup and salads to koftas, kebabs and pizzas.
Every meal was excellent and every meal was inexpensive. Ok, cheap. We chose to dine at the hotel purely because the food was so good. Our account for all food, room service, mini bar, drinks alcoholic and not, came to under £300 for the whole week.
So now to the tours. We chose the river cruise to the Dendera Palace, three hours on a river boat to get there, 90 minutes on site, then a matching trip back, lunch and afternoon tea included. Lovely …
 ‘We saw Egypt as we feel it really is – safe, friendly, good’ |  |
We wanted to visit the West Bank, but the tour was only offered on an afternoon and I had promised my man that, if he would sight-see in the morning I would let him siesta in the afternoon. When I told this to Sherif, he replied that he could arrange a morning tour for us, but it would only be me, my husband and a guide. I thought that would be great – a guide of our own.
A guide for us!
How right I was! Hamed was the star that made our holiday shine. A professional Egyptologist, he showed us everything
 ‘The sites they have for us to see will not last forever’ | |
worth seeing and, because it was only us, he could take us to tiny corners where big tour groups could not fit easily, show us the most fantastic hieroglyphics and give us a complete explanation of them all. When I got out the movie camera, Hamed began his commentary so that I would have his explanation on tape. He loves his country and its history, and his enthusiasm rubbed off on us – I was in heaven!
So spoiled were we that day that we asked Hamed if he could change our remaining tours so we could just be with him and not with a group. It cost a few pounds extra for us to have a highly respected guide, all to ourselves, for the Valley of the Kings, the Queens, the workers and the Nobles. For the Temple of Luxor
 It cost a few pounds extra for us to have a highly respected guide, all to ourselves, for every single thing we wanted to see! | |
– for every single thing we wanted to see! Hamed also took us to the obligatory perfume shop and alabaster store and papyrus seller, but the best ones.
Hamed even took us home one day for lunch cooked by his wife – a veritable feast of wondrous chicken and lamb, rice and vegetables.
We saw Egypt as we feel it really is – safe, friendly, good. Hamed and Sherif asked us to tell our friends that Egypt is a safe country. The horrors of the last century have decimated their tourism industry, and tourism is all they have. Egyptians need and want us to visit, and the sites they have for us to see will not last forever. In the tombs, you can see where the water table is damaging the foundations of the excavations. The temples WILL fall – in our lifetime.
So, thank you Hamed, thank you Sherif, thank you Egypt. We will return next year!
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