Packing up the house

End of a posting... experienced expats know the feeling when a number of unknown local men come into your house and pack up all your belongings. It was our turn again, and for the past 3 days 4 Egyptian packers were busy putting everything we have in boxes, bubble wrap and thick cardboard paper. The foreman ("reis") didn't speak any English, so Mary could practise her Arabic again. Constant supervision is the key, and the men did a decent job. On the 4th day the container arrived, properly dented from an earlier traffic accident, and in true Egyptian fashion there was no lifting equipment. So the packers had to lift everything above their heads to get it in the container. Mary had ordered a fence for our house in France, and it took 4 men to carry it, and an additional 2 to get it in the container. Backbreaking, but people are expendable here. The container left for Alexandria, to be unpacked again by Egyptian customs, and hopefully all will arrive in The Hague in reasonable shape.

Paula and Dorien in "box city"

Waiting for the container to arrive

In the evenings we were first invited by Reda, to have dinner at his house. His family outdid themselves, and as local hospitality dictates there was plenty of food for 10. The next meal was cooked by Piet, from some of the leftovers. This turned out to be a bit of a disaster, as afterwards Paula and Dorien spend the night throwing up in the toilet. And they were wiped out for the next 2 days! Luckily Piet and Mary were not so badly affected, so they could still supervise the loading of the container. That evening was Piet's farewell with his office team, a felucca ride on the Nile. We had to leave Paula and Dorien at home, but we had a very enjoyable sail, with some drinks and snacks. There were nice words for Piet, a few presents, and then off home for a very early night. Now there are a few days with little to do, just camp in an empty house. Only Paula's friend Annabelle will visit for 2 nights, but she is very low maintenance. Some calm before the storm......

Dinner at Reda's house, with his daughter Miriam

Piet on his last sunset felucca ride on the Nile

Farewell tour: Wadi Hof by bike (II)

Friday, and another bike ride. We planned to take Maarten, who is leaving soon, on the Wadi Hof "the long way round" trail (see post of 12 February), which he was keen to do. However, Maarten whimped out and went kite surfing at the Red Sea instead, but we set out anyway (already getting used to Maarten's absence!). So at 8 am Piet, Marcel, Paul, Ruud, Willem and Floris assembled at the Katameya gate for an all-Dutch expedition. Temperatures, close to 40 the day before, were slightly more benign this day. We set off on the known route, past Paul's Point and up on the Wadi Hof trail. Willem did a back flip after trying to go over a large rock and Floris flipped over his handle bars after misjudging a soft sandy patch, both without any (physical) consequences. Up on the plateau the views were somewhat disappointing, due to the large amounts of dust in the air, but the trail was not less spectacular. We descended into Wadi Hof, which was by now boiling hot. On the long climb out of the Wadi, after 2 hours on the bike, Willem's lights went slowly out, and he had to be stimulated up by Marcel. On top Floris realised that the suggestion of bringing 3 liters of water was serious, when he drank his last drop. We cycled slowly back towards "the house", and on the last descent Piet was called by Willem: his rear derailleur hanger was bend, and cycling was not possible anymore. Piet cycled back up again, and after consultation with Marcel (already at the house) it was decided that Marcel would continue to Katameya and get his car to pick up Willem at the house. Willem could still freewheel-descent, and had to walk the flat and uphill trails. At the house Ruud was still waiting, we parked Willem in the shade and continued home, and saw Marcel retuning with the rescue car. And after a trip of more than 5 hours ( 3 1/2 hours cycling time) it was coke and snickers time again. And the rest of the day: more organising and ...... packing!

Piet speeding up one of the little climbs

Farewell tour: the Egyptian Museum

As Piet had to clear off some leave days before our departure, we decided to pay a final visit to the Egyptian Museum, which contains thousands and thousands of artifacts from the pharaonic era. We visited the Museum before when we had just arrived in Cairo, but it was difficult to appreciate the displays and without any pharaonic knowledge they were truly overwhelming. In the mean time we have done a lot of reading (Amelia Peabody's adventures!), and visited many of the sites throughout Egypt. So it was time to put ourselves to the test.

After dropping off the girls at school we drove to Maadi and parked the car. We wanted to take the metro to downtown (a first after 4 1/2 years!). It is a modern system, with 1 LE tickets, automatic turnstiles, and regular trains. There are special women's carriages, and a sign on the platform where they should stand to wait for the next train. We got in on one of the mixed carriages and soon felt like tinned sardines, as it was morning rush hour. At Sadat Station, below Tahrir Square we got out and walked to the Museum.

At the museum it was very busy, heaving with tourists, guides and school classes. After a double security check we were in and went straight to Tutankamun's treasures, as most of the guides were still explaining the basics near the entrance. It is amazing what this insignificant pharaoh, who died at an age of 19, managed to collect for his burial. Everything was crammed into his relatively small tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor: 4 huge gilded wooden shrines, fitting into each other, with the 3 sarcophagi inside them (also fitting into each other) with the mummy with the famous golden mask in the centre. The mummy and the outer sarcophagus are now in his tomb in Luxor. Further there are rooms with funerary couches, canopic jars (containing Tut's internal organs), a throne, many golden statues and two lifesize wooden statues of Tut, which were placed as guards at the tomb entrance. Most of the artifacts are stunningly beautiful, and 3500 years old! We also had a look at the goodies from the royal tombs of Tanis, the tomb of Yuya and Thuyu, the animal mummies and the Amarna area (of heretic pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti). Slowly suffering from pharaonic fatigue we decided to call it a day and took the metro back to Maadi and had lunch at Cilantro.

Back home, and we were off again: we picked up the girls for their regular horse riding lesson at the stable. They saddled (with Reda's help) Mirinda (Paula), Humphrey (Dorien) and Mr. Small (Mary) for his first real lesson. They did some of their regular exercises, but the Mr. Small / Mary team was struggling a bit with directions. Reda tried as well and fared a little better. Then Sayed turned up and showed them "the hand of the master", and Mr. Small looked like he has been doing these twists, turns and changes of speed for years. Feeling confident Sayed decided that it was time to put Piet on horse as well. Mirinda was volunteered and Piet did a few laps, closely supervised by all his girls and the other horses. No accidents! Afterwards we had an Egyptian dinner with Sayed at the stable, as it was (possibly) Piet's last visit to the stable. But Mary will go again tomorrow, and Thursday, and Friday, and .......