2006 Egypt

19 December 2006, Tuesday; Union Hotel, Alexandria, LE85

We were up early to pack, breakfast and get a taxi to Turgomen Garage there to book and catch the 08h00 bus to Alexandria (Al-Iskendariyya in Arabic). Our taxi driver did not bother to stop at any traffic lights – just hooted to let others know he was crossing. A little nerve-wracking, but it does keep the traffic flowing!

The two-and-a-half-hour bus ride was pleasant – taking us along a double-lane highway with a shoulder and giant advertising billboards every 500m or so (Charl says every 100m). Past a “smart village” – all glass, pyramid shapes and angles, very modern and fresh-looking.

We taxied to the Union Hotel on the Corniche, checked in, left our luggage with the receptionist as our room was not yet ready, and went out immediately to visit the Graeco-Roman museum. Which was closed. For how long, I asked? Three years, was the reply!

So off to the Roman theatre at Kom el-Dik and the catacombs at Kom esh-Shufaga as planned.

It is apparently said that Alexandria is the greatest historical city with the least to show. Much of ancient Alexandria was destroyed or now lies beneath the modern city or in the sea. Kom el-Dik was discovered when some barracks were being demolished. Baths, homes, and a well-preserved theatre with 13 ranks of imported marble seats in white. Built in the 3rd or 4th century, performances were held here until the 7th. We particularly enjoyed the Roman villa with its stunning mosaic floors.

Then in yet another taxi to Kom esh-Shufaga, or Hill of Fragments – named after broken wine jars, etc found in the rooms below ground. We hired a guide here and enjoyed our tour thoroughly. This is the largest burial site from Roman times (1st century) discovered in Egypt. It consists of three storeys underground and is decorated in a mixed Roman-Egyptian style. For example, there is a carving of Anubis, the Egyptian jackal-headed god of embalming, dressed as a Roman soldier!

By taxi and bus then to El Alamein, 105km to the west. There to visit the war museum and the Commonwealth graveyard. In June 1942 Rommel (Desert Fox) tried to push through the allied lines to Alexandria and Suez. At the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1942) the advance of the Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies. At the Second Battle of El Alamein (October/November 1942) Allied forces under Montgomery broke the Axis line and forced them in a retreat that pushed them all the way back to Tunisia. More than 80,000 were killed or wounded. The commonwealth war cemetery contains 7,000 tombstones of soldiers from various countries who fought on the British side.

It was a longish walk from where the bus dropped us on the main east-west road to the museum (which is well laid-out and interesting, but at which we were the only visitors) and even further to the cemetery. The first gravestone we saw there was for someone named Day. The cemetery is well-kept and poignant – so many young lives lost.

Back on the main road in the late afternoon we hoped to flag down a bus, but in the end managed to hitch an extremely fast ride with a young man en route Siwa to Cairo. He spoke no English and as we neared Alexandria began to regret his spontaneity and generosity as finding a place to drop us where we could get a taxi into town took him well off the slip road to Cairo. It was dark by now and as his frustration grew, his driving deteriorated on the fast-moving busy artery into the city. Weaving between other erratic drivers at manic speeds. With nothing we could do or say to make any of us feel better about the situation. Finally he found somewhere to drop us near some shops and we thanked him profusely as his kindness had undoubtedly added an hour to his journey home.

By taxi to the Hotel Union to find our room was really nice with an en suite bathroom, two big beds, a balcony with a stunning view of the Corniche and the harbour and the Med beyond, and a TV with CNN.

We dined in a bright white restaurant draped with artificial flowers. On the menu: Rice with caw legs LE7.50; Caw legs with rice LE18. And had delicious dessert (rice pudding with fruit and ice cream) at a tea shop on the Corniche. Where men and women strolled and chatted and drank tea and smoked sheeshas.

A good day!