December 2006 Archives

Wishing a Happy Christmas to all my readers!!

I have a few days here in Cairo between sections, and the chance to sort out my things, do washing and repairs before the next stage of this epic Dover - Cape Town journey begins on the 1st of January 2007.

Passenger News: The last section picked up just one more person who is travelling all the way to Cape Town, and two who are travelling as far as Addis Ababa - the others leave at Cairo. 5 passengers stay on the truck, 1 left in Alexandria, and 6 leave here, but 13 join, so there will be some new faces and new people to talk to for the next section from Cairo to Khartoum.

I had some emails asking me who was on the truck for the journey through Tunisia, Libya, and into Egypt, and what kind of people they were. The passenger list was like this: 2 English, 1 New Zealander, and 9 Canadians. The youngest was 36 and the oldest 68. The majority were in their late 30s. There were 2 couples, and the rest were single. Only 2 were vegetarians, but they found sufficient to eat throughout the trip, especially in Egypt. On the next section, the balance changes yet again. I have not seen the final passenger list yet, but apparently there will be people from Australia, Holland, Ireland, and the US joining, and the balance of men/women changes from 6/6 to 6/12.

Since my last blog in Tripoli, we have spent much time in the Libyan desert. We had a really wonderful time, and I enjoyed the chance to visit this seldom-explored part of the world very much. As the sand is so soft, and the truck so heavy, we left it behind in Tkarkiba, and transferred to Toyota Land Cruisers, with special sand-tyres. They could handle the soft dunes with ease, so we were able to journey deep into the desert, visiting ancient cave paintings still preserved after 10,000 years, the saline lakes of Ubari, and many of the big dunes that cover this part of the country. We had Tuareg guides, who were able to navigate through the rocks, dunes and sand fields, still coming out where they wanted to. I never saw them use a map or GPS!

Sand patterns

Camping in the Libyan desert

Travelling Tim

Though we brought tents, most of us slept out at night. The weather during the day was sunny and quite hot for December; at night there might be some cloud, and always quite a strong wind. I was using both my sleeping bags, one inside the other, so when the drawstrings were pulled tight that left a small window for me to watch the stars through whilst going to sleep, and if I woke during the night. OK, so everyone has enthused about the stars in the desert 100 times before, but just in case you've never slept in a desert, I'd like to add my recommendations for the experience. Its just like nothing else - the sky is so black, and the stars are bright, and there are just so many of them. An evening around the fire ( desert TV ) and then snuggle down in a warm sleeping bag to watch the shooting stars streak across the sky, or the Milky Way, so bright you can almost read by it. Apparently, the Milky Way contains 10^10 stars, or 10 billion, and when you are looking at them from the desert you can well believe it! I'm looking forward to doing more of this down through the deserts of Egypt and Sudan.

Leptis Magna - Arch of Septimus Severus

Leptis Magna ruins

Apart from the wonders of the desert, the other highlight of this section were the magnificent Roman ruins of Libya, still so well preserved and accessible. The most impressive were in the abandoned city of Leptis Magna, but the other sites at Sabratha, Cyrene, and Apollonia were just as interesting. You can see more of my photos on the Africa Photos-2 and Africa Photos-3 pages.

Libya was a great place to visit, despite lots of pre-conceptions of a police-state that carefully controls its visitors. This has changed completely in the last few years, though a full time guide is still required, making the country much more suitable for group travel than individual backpacking trips. I found the people very friendly and interesting to talk to, and to talk back to us. A suprising number of people spoke English. There were lots of satellite dishes everywhere, so people are obviously picking up their English from the many channels available these days. There are lots of cars on the road too - everyone seems to have one, though this might be explained by the cost of fuel - a litre of diesel is only 11 cents US - far far cheaper than bottled water!! No alcohol is available in Libya, so its not the place to go if you want to party.

After Libya, a slowish border crossing took us to Egypt. Christmas was spent at Siwa Oasis. This is a small town deep in the Egyptian desert, reached after hours of driving through an open, rocky landscape. Just in case you were wondering: despite what you have seen on 'Lawrence of Arabia', the desert is not all big sand dunes - much of it is just flat and rocky, or covered in gravel. You can drive for hours and not see a thing, apart from the occasional microwave relay tower. Suddenly, some palm trees appear on the horizon, then more, and then the town of Siwa appears as if from nowhere. It has a few small hotels, some natural springs, an abandoned mud city, some fresh-water lakes, LOTS of donkeys, and is a good place to take a Christmas break. Somewhere to shower, somewhere to get the sand of the desert out of my hair, pockets, and just about everywhere else it might have crept into.

The ruined 'Shali' at Siwa Oasis

As mentioned above, the food in Egypt is a lot better for vegetarians than it was in Libya or Tunisia. Here there is a large selection of salads, some lovely bean-dishes with a variety of different sauces, (called 'foul'!) and the famous 'felafel', common throughout the Middle East but perfected here in Egypt. A felafel is a round ball of ground chick-peas and spices, that are deep-fried in a moment then served with salad and some tahini sauce in a hot pitta-bread. Food for the Gods!! The prices are cheap too - felafel with salad, bread and tahini in a sit-down restaurant costs typically 5 Egyptian pounds, which is about 90 cents US. Buy one from one of the many street vendors and it is even cheaper.

A selection of dates

I went to visit the Poste Restante counter at Cairo's main post-office yesterday, and was surprised how quiet it was there. A few years ago, it would have been crowded and bustling as travellers from all over the world queued to pick up their mail, but these days email has almost taken over completely as the preferred means to receive news and greetings, and yesterday I was the only person there. Instead of sorting through a huge pile of mail from the 'M' pigeon-hole, I was given the entire stock of poste-restante letters to look through - about 12 items for the whole of Cairo, of which 4 of them were for me!! Thanks very much to Jill and Gerry, Stan and Rosemary, Margaret Makins, and Sue Kitching for their letters and Christmas cards. If anyone else did send me anything, I am sorry not to have received it. If you put an address on the outside of the envelope it should be returned to you after about a month. Please write again, to any of the addresses I will check along the route (you can see a full list on THIS page). It is always nice to receive hand written letters, newspaper cuttings, cards, etc., and all will be replied to personally. Emails will be answered as emails. I'll send postcards from time to time, when they are available, but the main news will continue to be found here on this blog-site.

Cairo Poste Restante ladies

Well, that about wraps up this 'Correspondence from Cairo'. I'll end by wishing a very Happy New Year for 2007 to everyone, and hope that it will be the best year yet for you all.

Travelling Tim

Tripping in Tripoli - a title I couldn't resist, but I will hurry to assure all concerned readers that the 'trip' in question is my Overland Trip or Journey, not a new accident concerning my ankle!

If you have been following my story, or know me personally, you will know how I broke my ankle just 10 weeks before this journey commenced. I am pleased to report that it has improved greatly, and although I am still using crutches for long walks of over 2 miles duration, I am now able to hobble about effectively on even quite rough terrain. It is still quite painful as I walk about, but perseverance triumphs and exercise definitely makes a big difference: even after a morning's walking over a rough Roman road or cobbled street, the difference to mobility the next day is very encouraging. Actually, I've already worn through the bottom of one crutch, so its about time I stopped using them. As you might have seen from my 'Where's Travelling Tim' page, I am currently in Tripoli, preparing to go into the Sahara desert, and guess that crutches won't be very useful in sand anyway, so I better get used to being without them!

Latest news: Well, I've got as far as Tripoli! Arrived 2 days ago, and am enjoying the country and the people very much. Suprises: so many people speak English here - yes really! In Tunisia I got used to having to struggle with my basic French skills, but that's not necessary here. There is always someone who speaks English, and most of the time they are very pleased to practise their skills and spend time chatting. Other suprise: wow there are Sooooooooooooooooooooo many cars here. I guess the price of fuel has something to do with it - diesel is just 11 cents US per litre. For my British readers, that's about 36p per gallon. The roads are just jammed with cars of every type, except Toyota Land Cruisers - only the police and army are allowed to use those. Everyone drives very fast and very close, with lots of screeching of tyres but suprisingly few accidents.

I spent yesterday wandering around the medina - the old city - with its maze of narrow streets and its hundreds of shops, generally grouped by type as is typical throughout the Middle East: a street of goldsmiths, a street of shoemakers, a street selling spices, and another selling cakes and pastries. Its very easy to get lost in such a warren of twists and turns, but who cares - I often make unexpected finds that way, such as a small courtyard with a fountain where I can sit and rest for a while, or a bakery where I can watch the time-old process of producing the daily bread, and maybe take a photo. I tried that this morning, and was greeted like a long-lost friend, and presented with a small loaf straight out of the oven - they would not accept any money.

Today, being a Friday, is the Holy day, and most of the shops are closed, but I hope to visit Tripoli's Great Mosque later on this evening. We will be staying here just one more night, then journey south into the Sahara. I will have to have an extra long shower - its the last one we will get for 10 days!

Waiting to board the ferry at Dover

The journey so far: whoops - I didn't mention that, did I?! We all met up at Dover on the 22nd, before crossing to Calais. When I say 'all' I use it in its loosest sense, as on this first leg of the journey there were only 2 passengers and 2 crew in a truck that will seat 24! The first week was essentially a transit through Europe, so no major sightseeing was expected, though we did see the magnificent cathedral in Reims, where I lit a candle for all friends and family, and thought of the pleasure my Dad would have had seeing such impressive architecture.

Most of the time during the first week was spent driving: through the flat farmlands and WW1 battle grounds of Northern France, then down through Dijon and the vineyards of Aix en Provence to Toulon, the Cote d'Azur, and the sun of the Mediterranean. We travelled along the coast road through Antibes, Cannes and Nice, which was nice. Didn't have any chance to mix with the Jet Set as they had all jetted off to some other part of the world, leaving their luxury villas locked up for the winter, and the roads comparatively clear of Lamborginis and Maseratis. No chance to park for the night in MonteCarlo (at 10 Euros per hour) so we continued on to Italy, and stayed in one of their excellent motorway service-stations, with salad and pizza for dinner, and coffee and croissants for breakfast.

First view of the Mediterranean

The next day, passing through the mountains, we drove to Genoa (or Genova) to wait for the Grimaldi Lines ferry to Tunis. Had a great 36 hours exploring the city and its own maze of back-streets, where the houses are so close you can reach across to borrow a cup of sugar from your neighbour quite easily, and where even the Emergency Services use tiny little vans to fit between the buildings. The journey across the Mediterranean was uneventful. The sea was calm and flat, and the ship made a good 21 knots (39Km/hour) for most of the journey, arriving at Tunis early. I used the 22 hours to write Christmas cards, which were posted in Tunis on the the 1st of December. The sun shone most of the way, though there was little to sea from the deck, despite sailing fairly close to Corsica and Sardinia. Just one or two ships to wave to. (I like waving.)

Reception of the BBC world news on my little Sony short-wave radio was excellent, as has proved the case throughout Tunisia and Libya too, so I am able to keep in touch with world events. I haven't seen a newspaper in English since leaving Europe, but the BBC keeps me up-to-date with all important happenings, such as San Francisco's recent move to pipe the smell of cookies into some bus shelters, and the subsequent complaints from the local Diabetics Society, who felt left out.

Tunis

Tunis cathedral

In Tunisia we picked up 10 new passengers, taking the total to 12, which is a bit more like an Overland Trip. Canadians, mostly, with Brits and New Zealanders making up the numbers. Quite a few are only going as far as Cairo, so there will be big changes there as the passenger-count increases to 19. We spent the first few days in Tunis, a lovely city, which I would recommend highly. Lots to see, pleasant weather, cheap food, and plently of cats. Tunis has got to be the number one cat-capital of the world, and the people, likewise, are proud but friendly, pleased to have visitors, and partial to Tuna, which as a vegetarian I have had great problems avoiding. They put it in everything!!

Tunis Medina

Tunis Medina

Tunis museum

There are more photos of Tunis and the Museum on my Africa Photos-1 page.

After Tunis we travelled to the wonderful Roman ruins at Dougga, the ancient city of Le Kef, the famous mosque at Kairouan, and the stunning ampitheatre of Thysdrus at El Djem that held 30,000 people. As a total change, we then went to see the underground houses of Matmata, some of which were used in the movie 'Star Wars' and as such attract quite a few visitors! The set-decorations are still there! Crossing the Tunisian-Libyan border was a LOT easier than we expected, and after a day at the Roman site of Sabratha (which gives you another name to Google for images) we arrived at Tripoli, which brings me back to the start of this Blog-page, and is therefore an excellent place to end, for now.

A village in Tunisia

Dougga ruins