Egypt: Land of Mystery

Two days ago I returned from a month-long trip to Egypt, not quite as tanned as I'd expected, definitely thinner, and with my mind still reeling from the things I'd seen and done and learned.

Modern Egypt is a world of contradictions. It's both organised and chaotic, cruel and kind, poor and wealthy, and even now after days of reflection I'm having a difficult time trying to abbreviate my feelings. Perhaps they can't be. Perhaps they will remain a jumble of disconnected ideas and images. It is, after all, a very complex place. The past is constantly battling for attention in the present, and the present has its own problems to deal with.

I was dismayed as everyone else was on October 8, when two Isreli tourists and an Egyptian tour guide were murdered in Alexandria. At the time I was in Saqqara, just south of Cairo, and the news hit the region like a storm squall. Everyone was talking about it in low and disappointed mutters, worrying about what it would inevitably lead to. Most of the people I met and talked to were realistic about the implications for the region, though one of my drivers muttered darkly that this was the beginning of the final war, which no part of the world would escape. I sipped my carbonated pineapple drink, staring at the desert slipping by out the window of his van and listening politely as he worked his way through the problem and finally changed the subject.

By the time I left Egypt two and a half weeks later, things had indeed worsened, and I will admit to feeling relief as my plane finally reached the Indian Ocean on the homeward stretch to Australia.

Still, nothing will dim the memories of the beautiful things I saw and the experiences I had. There are few places where hospitality still plays such a large role as in Egypt, and fewer places still with such an incredible material legacy. I can't wait to share some of these things with you, so stick around for an announcment on that, very soon.

Jim :)