Cairo to Cape Blog
10 - 14 November 2008
Off to visit the Kings
As nice as Dahab is it is time to continue on, after all we have 17,000kms to cover from beginning to end of the expedition. An early morning start saw us depart just after 7am for a long driving day - a real test for vehicles and drivers. The plan was to cover as much distance as possible and to see how we tackled the Egyptian driving style, how tired we all got and most importantly how the Landies performed.
We managed about 600kms from Dahab, across Sinai past St Katherines under the Suez Canal and another 100kms before the sun started to set and it was time to pull off the road and make camp for the night; our first bush camp. We sat under the stars as the full moon rose over the sea. The following morning Fred commented that we had "the best toilets in town."
The drivers performed fantastically with only one incident - a slight dent on the front side of Hans and Jenny's Landie when a vehicle over taking cut in a fraction too soon - typical driving style out here and one that made everyone drive a little more defensive than before. The bump was so minor it was not until a couple of hours later at a fuel stop that Jenny broke the news to Thiemo. No one hurt and only slight damage - something to be expected.
The following day was a relatively short driving day arriving in Safaga just in time for lunch. The day was not without excitement with our first encounter with the traffic police (not only us but it seemed every vehicle was being pulled over and fined 50le for anything the cops could think of). Thiemo and I cruised through but the police stopped the other 4 Landies. The fine... number plate in the wrong place... each vehicle was to be fined 50le (USD$10). Considering by this point we had traveled over 800kms through Egypt and countless police checks enroute we figured this police check was involved in some serious revenue raising! After a lengthy discussion with the police officers they finally let us pass without paying a "fine".
Egyptian Convoys
The Egyptians are very protective of tourists. There are certain roads we can travel; certain roads we can and some only in police escorted convoys. Leaving times are secret - again for our "protection" so secret that it is only the day before the convoy leaves we find out the exact departure time. Our first convoy was from Safaga to Luxor departing at 7am, 320kms under police escort with over 100 tourist buses, taxis, and a hand full of independent travelers in their own vehicles. Anyone who is not familiar with convoy etiquette quickly becomes accustomed to the chaos; convoy quickly turns into a race between coaches and drivers to see who can get to the front of the line first. We, as we always do, decided to hang back and put up with the constant sirens, hooting and waves to move quicker by the tailing police vehicle. The humorous thing about the convoy are the road signs clearly stating the speed limit of buses (80kms), trucks (70kms) and cars (90kms); although we sat on 85kms per hour the buses who are supposed to do 80kms per hour were so far ahead we completely lost sight until the second marshal area 1 hour from Safaga...
Qena is a large town we must pass through on the convoy. We are not allowed to stop or get off the convoy yet the centre of town is blocked 6 times per day to allow for the convoys. It is also a place were you drive as fast as you can through the centre of town completely ignoring the 30kms per hour signs!!
We finally reached Luxor just after 11am much to the relief of all of us.
 Waiting For The Start Of Convoy |
 In Convoy, Safaga to Luxor |
Luxor
Luxor is second to Cairo in tourist attractions. On either side of the centre of town are two significant temples - Karnak and Luxor temples; with Valley of the King and Queens on the other side of the Nile River.
After a quick "nanny nap" as Linda describes, it was time to for a few emails before exploring the town. Hans and Jenny headed to the shores of the Nile to go for a sail in a felucca (having sailed from Germany to NZ some years ago they couldn't pass up the opportunity to sail on the Nile); Russ and Sue decided to explore the town on foot; Peter, Linda and Fred decided horse and cart was more their style and took a 30 minute tour of Luxor including the local markets. Thiemo and myself started on foot until we arrived at Ali Babas roof top bar and restaurant nicely perched high up overlooking Luxor Temple (later to be joined by Sue and Russ for a few beers and a local meal).
A visit to Luxor is not complete without a day to explore the historic sites in the area. So while the rest of the group are in the safe and trusty hands of Peter our local guide I spent the morning catching up on emails, confirming our bookings, completing visa application forms and of course writing this blog! Thiemo is with his other wives...5 landies making sure all is OK.
Tomorrow we are off to Cairo on the train from Luxor to explore the Pyramids and obtain our Ethiopian and Sudanese visas.
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