Mike Albin, Head of the LC Office in Cairo, and his wife, Elaine, met us at the airport.  With them was an Egyptian who, with some baksheesh and our diplomatic passports, helped oil our way into a short line in which we were able to escape customs.  The baksheesh deal was something new for us but we were certainly not going to complain.  While we had heard about the practice, we had no idea that we would have ever been the benefactors.  A way of life in Egypt.

After dinner with the Albins, we went to the Shepheard Hotel where we were to stay.  The old building was, for years, the hotel where all important people stayed.  Pat and I love to seek out these old colonial hotels because they generally are more elegant and interesting – and seedier by the time we stay there.  Shepheards had a wonderful lobby with plush velvet furniture – very worn.  Our room was dark because of all of the dark wood and the curtains that were made of heavy velvet – green, I think.

However, when the curtains were opened, our balcony was just yards from the Nile.  As often as we could we would sit on our balcony and watch the river traffic with many feluccas sailing by.  Feluccas are sail boats that have been used on the Nile since antiquity.

The original Shepheard Hotel was originally founded by Englishman Samuel Shepheard in 1841. It was once occupied by Napoleon’s army and used as headquarters during his invasion of Egypt in the 18th century.  It became the playground for international aristocracy where every person of social standing made it a must to have tea, to see and be seen.

The hotel had many notable guests. Among whom were the celebrated explorer Henry Morton Stanley, Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener and author T. E. Lawrence. The hotel’s guestbook reads as a who’s who among dignitaries, with the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, the Prince of Wales, King Faisal of Iraq, the Aga Khan, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Prince Erik of Denmark, King and Queen of Italy, the Maharaja of Jodphur and The British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. The Shepheard has also become a favorite location for many a feature film. It formed the setting for a number of scenes in “The English Patient.”

We hired a guide/taxi driver for tours of Giza and Sakkara.  With him, we had experiences that were hard to believe.  We had requested an English-speaking guide to pick us up early so that we could see the pyramids as the sun rose.  Indeed, he picked us up early but his English was minimal.  Thinking that we might arrive late, we fretted when he we stopped for gas.    However, our fret was short lived, for while there, we saw a tableau that was truly wonderful.  While our driver was buying his dollar of gas, there were a couple of camels also being filled up at the same station – with water.  Unique and unforgettable.

We arrived in time for the sun to rise behind the pyramids.  It was a blessing that the guide’s English was minimal. We were left in silence to experience the moment and were not interrupted with the facts which were unimportant that morning.

As we left the pyramids, language suddenly became important – or the lack of language.  What we thought the guide said was “we go now to palace of sin.”  Oh my, mother’s worst fear was about to take place, and of all places, here in Giza.  We tried to say that we didn’t want to do any such thing but he didn’t even understand the word “no.”  Finally, we gave up.  Perhaps we thought if we’re going to sin, we should just relax and enjoy it.  We had no idea what kind of sin we were going to commit.  Was it a bordello?  Probably not, since Pat was with me.  Was it a belly dance?  Perhaps.  Was it an opium den?  Perhaps.  As the taxi stopped, we saw no palace but only a storefront announcing what we know not – in Arabic.  As we stepped in, we smelled the smells of a bordello – not that I am a bordello expert.  We were ushered into the inner sanctum and seated on pillows.  We soon learned that we were in the palace of scents, where one was enticed to buy attars from the far corners of the world.  The attars are a fragrant oil or perfume usually obtained from flowers. Attars have been famous in the Middle East, Persia and India for a thousand years, but generally unavailable in the West.  Every statement made by the salesman started with “M’lady-Sir,” each time smearing a new scent on our arm. “M’lady-Sir, this is used to make famous perfume Chanel number 5.”  “M’lady-Sir, this is used to make Elizabeth Taylor’s famous perfume.”  etc., etc.  The salesman explained that all one had to do, was to put a few drops in a vial of vodka to reproduce one of these wonderful “sins.”  Falling into the trap that had been prepared for us, we bought several vials and, when we got to DC, mixed up a couple.  We put these into a drawer and forget them – until we opened the drawer.  It smelled like the “palace of sin” for a long time.

I began my official calls with a visit to the National Library of Egypt.  It looms large in my memory for one reason and that was dirt.  Perhaps it was sand.  I have not seen so much dirt on floors anywhere!  The only place that was clean was the computer room.  The National Librarian, Mr. Abd al-mun’im  Musa, never referred to it.  Perhaps he no longer noticed.  That evening I told Pat about it and said that if I were the Librarian, I would lock the doors, buy mops and brooms for each staff member, including myself, and we would clean that building before evening.  I would check to see if I had the authority to fire the cleaning staff and, if so, I would give them 30 seconds to improve or face unemployment.

Pat reminded me that she had read in the Washington Post that the Minister in charge of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities had declared that it was to be cleaned up and Pat reported that it had been.  She spent a great deal of time there and thrilled to see the many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history. It houses the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, and many treasures of King Tutankhamen.  She reported that all of the signs were in Arabic. She tried to read every one – to no avail.

One of the great surprises was our tour of Old Cairo which was given by Caroline Williams and it was wonderful.  Certainly, I knew about Phraonic Egypt but somehow it had escaped me that Old Cairo is an absolute jewel!  It contains the remnants of those cities which were capitals before Cairo.  Beside old Islamic Cairo, it encompasses Coptic Cairo as well as ruins of Roman fortifications.  Old Cairo also contains the City of the Dead, an enormous area which contains the old cemetery where some people live and work amongst the dead.  It is a slum of the worst kind.  Old Cairo is in ruins but architecturally it is exciting – with great domes, mosques, impressive minarets, etc.  Guess what.  Everything is covered with dust.

We were entertained by several people at dinners and cocktail parties.  The largest one was a Mike and Elaine’s apartment and there we met most of the U. S. Embassy brass.

All traffic signs, stop lights, lane divider lines, etc. are only there as suggestions.  It is unbelievable.  For instance, Pat had a terrible time crossing Tahir Square to get to the Museum; however, she worked it out.  She would find an old lady in black and stay as close to her as possible.  Pat said that such ladies had lived a long life and she was sure that they could survive as least one more time crossing the street.

Our flight for Nairobi was scheduled to leave at 2:55 in the morning, which required us to leave the hotel at 12:30 a.m.  We assured Mike that we could handle everything ourselves and that he need not take us to the airport.  Even at that time of the morning, everything was chaos.  The chaos happened in dimly lit crowded rooms and made everything feel surreal. We turned down the offer of help from a man wanting to help for baksheesh.  When we finally started the process of checking in, we were told that we would have to pay an exorbitant amount for overweight baggage.  As I remember, it was in the neighborhood of US$200.  The baksheesh man was close by and we asked him to help us.  In the end, we did not pay for the overweight baggage.  We are not sure why.  Perhaps it was the business class ticket.  Perhaps it was the diplomatic passport.  Perhaps it was the baksheesh.  We were very fortunate, for the next people in line had to pay dearly, probably making up for the shortfall of our not paying.

We had some very nice experiences in Egypt.  Several years later we returned for a trip of the Nile with Peter de la Garza and Ben Tucker.  Also, I later returned without Pat for the purpose of helping to start a National Library of Agriculture in Egypt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner with the Albins, we went to the Shepheard Hotel where we were to stay.  The old building was, for years, the hotel where all important people stayed.  Pat and I love to seek out these old colonial hotels because they generally are more elegant and interesting – and seedier by the time we stay there.  Shepheards had a wonderful lobby with plush velvet furniture – very worn.  Our room was dark because of all of the dark wood and the curtains that were made of heavy velvet – green, I think.

However, when the curtains were opened, our balcony was just yards from the Nile.  As often as we could we would sit on our balcony and watch the river traffic with many feluccas sailing by.  Feluccas are sail boats that have been used on the Nile since antiquity.

The original Shepheard Hotel was originally founded by Englishman Samuel Shepheard in 1841. It was once occupied by Napoleon’s army and used as headquarters during his invasion of Egypt in the 18th century.  It became the playground for international aristocracy where every person of social standing made it a must to have tea, to see and be seen.

The hotel had many notable guests. Among whom were the celebrated explorer Henry Morton Stanley, Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener and author T. E. Lawrence. The hotel’s guestbook reads as a who’s who among dignitaries, with the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, the Prince of Wales, King Faisal of Iraq, the Aga Khan, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Prince Erik of Denmark, King and Queen of Italy, the Maharaja of Jodphur and The British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. The Shepheard has also become a favorite location for many a feature film. It formed the setting for a number of scenes in “The English Patient.”

We hired a guide/taxi driver for tours of Giza and Sakkara.  With him, we had experiences that were hard to believe.  We had requested an English-speaking guide to pick us up early so that we could see the pyramids as the sun rose.  Indeed, he picked us up early but his English was minimal.  Thinking that we might arrive late, we fretted when he we stopped for gas.    However, our fret was short lived, for while there, we saw a tableau that was truly wonderful.  While our driver was buying his dollar of gas, there were a couple of camels also being filled up at the same station – with water.  Unique and unforgettable.

We arrived in time for the sun to rise behind the pyramids.  It was a blessing that the guide’s English was minimal. We were left in silence to experience the moment and were not interrupted with the facts which were unimportant that morning.

As we left the pyramids, language suddenly became important – or the lack of language.  What we thought the guide said was “we go now to palace of sin.”  Oh my, mother’s worst fear was about to take place, and of all places, here in Giza.  We tried to say that we didn’t want to do any such thing but he didn’t even understand the word “no.”  Finally, we gave up.  Perhaps we thought if we’re going to sin, we should just relax and enjoy it.  We had no idea what kind of sin we were going to commit.  Was it a bordello?  Probably not, since Pat was with me.  Was it a belly dance?  Perhaps.  Was it an opium den?  Perhaps.  As the taxi stopped, we saw no palace but only a storefront announcing what we know not – in Arabic.  As we stepped in, we smelled the smells of a bordello – not that I am a bordello expert.  We were ushered into the inner sanctum and seated on pillows.  We soon learned that we were in the palace of scents, where one was enticed to buy attars from the far corners of the world.  The attars are a fragrant oil or perfume usually obtained from flowers. Attars have been famous in the Middle East, Persia and India for a thousand years, but generally unavailable in the West.  Every statement made by the salesman started with “M’lady-Sir,” each time smearing a new scent on our arm. “M’lady-Sir, this is used to make famous perfume Chanel number 5.”  “M’lady-Sir, this is used to make Elizabeth Taylor’s famous perfume.”  etc., etc.  The salesman explained that all one had to do, was to put a few drops in a vial of vodka to reproduce one of these wonderful “sins.”  Falling into the trap that had been prepared for us, we bought several vials and, when we got to DC, mixed up a couple.  We put these into a drawer and forget them – until we opened the drawer.  It smelled like the “palace of sin” for a long time.

I began my official calls with a visit to the National Library of Egypt.  It looms large in my memory for one reason and that was dirt.  Perhaps it was sand.  I have not seen so much dirt on floors anywhere!  The only place that was clean was the computer room.  The National Librarian, Mr. Abd al-mun’im  Musa, never referred to it.  Perhaps he no longer noticed.  That evening I told Pat about it and said that if I were the Librarian, I would lock the doors, buy mops and brooms for each staff member, including myself, and we would clean that building before evening.  I would check to see if I had the authority to fire the cleaning staff and, if so, I would give them 30 seconds to improve or face unemployment.

Pat reminded me that she had read in the Washington Post that the Minister in charge of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities had declared that it was to be cleaned up and Pat reported that it had been.  She spent a great deal of time there and thrilled to see the many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history. It houses the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, and many treasures of King Tutankhamen.  She reported that all of the signs were in Arabic. She tried to read every one – to no avail.

One of the great surprises was our tour of Old Cairo which was given by Caroline Williams and it was wonderful.  Certainly, I knew about Phraonic Egypt but somehow it had escaped me that Old Cairo is an absolute jewel!  It contains the remnants of those cities which were capitals before Cairo.  Beside old Islamic Cairo, it encompasses Coptic Cairo as well as ruins of Roman fortifications.  Old Cairo also contains the City of the Dead, an enormous area which contains the old cemetery where some people live and work amongst the dead.  It is a slum of the worst kind.  Old Cairo is in ruins but architecturally it is exciting – with great domes, mosques, impressive minarets, etc.  Guess what.  Everything is covered with dust.

We were entertained by several people at dinners and cocktail parties.  The largest one was a Mike and Elaine’s apartment and there we met most of the U. S. Embassy brass.

All traffic signs, stop lights, lane divider lines, etc. are only there as suggestions.  It is unbelievable.  For instance, Pat had a terrible time crossing Tahir Square to get to the Museum; however, she worked it out.  She would find an old lady in black and stay as close to her as possible.  Pat said that such ladies had lived a long life and she was sure that they could survive as least one more time crossing the street.

Our flight for Nairobi was scheduled to leave at 2:55 in the morning, which required us to leave the hotel at 12:30 a.m.  We assured Mike that we could handle everything ourselves and that he need not take us to the airport.  Even at that time of the morning, everything was chaos.  The chaos happened in dimly lit crowded rooms and made everything feel surreal. We turned down the offer of help from a man wanting to help for baksheesh.  When we finally started the process of checking in, we were told that we would have to pay an exorbitant amount for overweight baggage.  As I remember, it was in the neighborhood of US$200.  The baksheesh man was close by and we asked him to help us.  In the end, we did not pay for the overweight baggage.  We are not sure why.  Perhaps it was the business class ticket.  Perhaps it was the diplomatic passport.  Perhaps it was the baksheesh.  We were very fortunate, for the next people in line had to pay dearly, probably making up for the shortfall of our not paying.

We had some very nice experiences in Egypt.  Several years later we returned for a trip of the Nile with Peter de la Garza and Ben Tucker.  Also, I later returned without Pat for the purpose of helping to start a National Library of Agriculture in Egypt.