I am scribbling this post in the hotel room, in bed, under covers, shivering and munching some Mozarttalers which A brought me from Vienna. No, it is definitely not cold, either in the room or outside. But the skin on my arms and face is sun burnt. Yes, I’m afraid I did it again to a certain extent :-). It was extremely hot today in Egypt, I wore a t-shirt and we had to walk a lot in the sun so … A is making a fuss about it although I specifically asked him not to … It’s far from being as bad as the Malta experience.
But what a busy day this has been! We set off quite early (for a day off) – I hardly had time to grab a take away coffee from the coffee shop in our hotel (well, to be really honest, A brought it to me, together with a fresh croissant. Poor chap, he knows very well how grumpy I can get early in the morning, before having my coffee). The guide, Mohammed, was already waiting for us in the lobby at 8.30.
Our today objective was El Fayoum, a beautiful area which serves as holiday destination for many Egyptians. It has a big lake, Qaroun, apparently Egypt’s largest salt water lake.
The prehistoric people who lived here were, at first, nomadic hunters and gatherers, but later began harvesting plants near the lake. This developed into what is said to be the earliest agricultural area in the world, where fences were erected and guarded warehouses built. It has remained an agriculture center, the peacefulness of which is a relief from the hustle and bustle of Cairo, from which it is a brief trip. Bird life still abounds around Lake Qaroun, bordered by semi-nomadic Bedouin settlements and fishing villages.
Fayoum is not a true oasis since it depends on Nile water instead of underground springs or wells. The ancient Bahr Yussef canal runs through the center of the city and irrigates the land. Only two hours from Cairo by road, Fayoum is renowned for its year-round warm climate, numerous water wheels (introduced by the Ptolemies in the 3rd century) and lush agricultural land. Cotton, clover, tomatoes, medicinal plants and fruit are all grown here. The local Souk (market) in Fayoum City sells copperware, spices and gold jewelry and there is a special pottery market once a week.
We made the first stop to explore some ruined temples belonging to various ages – ancient Egyptian, Ptolemaic, Roman. We were a bit surprised as tourist police was everywhere, our car was stopped and our guide had to give details about our nationality, what we intended to visit, the hotel we were staying at in Cairo, etc. He was even given a telephone number that he could call in case something was wrong and we needed help. We were escorted by armed policemen during our visit to the temple which felt a bit oppressive and weird, since Egypt is generally a safe country. As it is with all these ruins, there was not that much to be seen, of course and, by that time of the day, it had become extremely hot and the sun was incredibly powerful so our walk was quite tedious.
The second stop was to see an interesting pyramid built around 1000 BC. It looked quite strange; we were told that it was built in three layers (lime stone, red granite for the burial chamber and bricks on the outside). The inside was flooded so we could not see much. We were told by the armed policemen that around the pyramid there were several tombs of the workers that built the pyramid. To prove that, we were invited for a short walk around and were shown remains of bones that looked like white sticks and were scattered everywhere in the sand, holes in the ground where the tombs were supposed to be and even two skulls that were supposedly remains of those times. To me, the skulls looked quite new, so I secretly doubted they belonged to the poor workers that toiled to build the pyramid. But, of course, I kept those thoughts to myself.
We then stopped in the city of Fayoum to see the famous waterwheels and, especially, to have some cold drinks. When we returned to the car, something interesting happened. A group of local young women that were admiring the waterwheels saw me, surrounded me and were trying to tell me something. Our guide told me that they wanted to take a picture with me. They were so enthusiastic and friendly so I immediately agreed. So they grouped close around me, we almost held hands and one of them took the picture. Other people automatically stopped in the street and took pictures as well, some of them using their phone cameras! A also took a picture so I will be able to post it here as soon as he downloads it. Later, in the car, the guide told us that apparently it’s every Egyptian girl’s dream to be blonde and have green or blue eyes. Apparently this is their ideal beauty. I don’t know if this was Mohammed’s attempt to compliment me. All I know is that I was touched by the girls’ reaction.
The last stop was to see the lake itself. We stopped at a 5* hotel built right on the shore. We entered the reception area and went directly to the swimming pool which was located near the lake. There was nothing really special about the lake, apart from the fact that it was big. The water was quite dirty so we were not really impressed and left quite quickly not before visiting the loo which was very civilised there.
I had a very interesting conversation with our guide on the way back to Cairo. We talked about many things – couples, sex and marriage in Egyptian society, the role of women, and day to day life in Cairo. I was a bit surprised to hear that the Egyptian society is still so very conservative and many things considered normal in Europe are viewed here as completely outrageous and unacceptable. It is, for example, unacceptable for a girl not to be a virgin when she gets married. If she is not a virgin, the new husband has every right to divorce her immediately and disgrace her by making the fact known to relatives and friends. Furthermore, if the girl is a virgin but is so ‘weak’ as to agree to make love with her future husband before getting married, the guy would commonly think that that particular girl is not, in fact, made for marriage and would have serious second thoughts about marrying her! Apparently, if she was weak with him, she could be weak with somebody else, after the marriage consummates! This sounds so bloody unfair and silly to my ears!!
The family circle still plays the most important role in getting the young people together and, ultimately, making them marry. Mohammed’s sister, for example, got married through the mosque that she was regularly attending. At that mosque, there was this old woman whose role was to facilitate young people to get to know each other with the view to get married. And our guide’s sister ended up marrying the old woman’s own son! Mohammed told us that, if he wanted to find a wife for himself (he’s 34), he would typically ask his mother to spot a few suitable girls and introduce them to him. It is also forbidden for young people to date and spend time alone with each other - they always have to meet in the presence of their families.
I was also rather shocked when Mohammed asked if I can cook, if my cooking skills are good. I naturally said ‘no’, as they are actually inexistent. He smiled and said that, in Egypt, when a guy is about to marry a girl, he has the right to ask her to cook for him, so he can test her cooking skills. And men here apparently prefer the women to cook everything from scratch and avoid using semi-cooked food that is found in the supermarkets. How very nice indeed! A observed that Egypt seems like a nice place to be. For men. Not for women though. Well, I had no cooking skills (and, sadly, I still lack those – gee, I have to do something about it. I think.). And I also wasn’t a virgin upon getting married. My goodness, there must have been something I was doing right though :-). I wonder what :-). I have just made a mental note to remember to ask A!
Later on in the conversation, it was Mohammed’s turn to be astonished when I told him that I’m 32. And I got the same comment about my looking much younger, again early 20's. Hmmm … maybe I should start using some make-up!
We are already looking forward to tomorrow. The city is just a few steps away and is alive and waiting for us!
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