The Silk Route Motorcaravan Club.
Bulletin 105 (Part 3 of 4).
The Middle-East (Egypt).
Continued from Bulletin 104.
Three days later, we return to the Mediterranean coast to go back to Alexandria via El Alamein which is now a tourist spot. Short visit to the French, Italian, German and English mausoleums. How was it that now-friendly nations tore each other to pieces in this way?
Arrival in Alexandria. Reading the Alexandrian Quartet by Durrell gave me a desire to get to know this city, its strategic centre being the Midan Saad Zaghlou, a beautiful square on the sea front facing the legendary Cecil. I ask an Egyptian driver to take me there. He does so with a smile. On the spot, in front of the said palace, there is a car park complete with warden and flowers (€1 per hour), very well located. A few cabs offer their services to drive us to Fort Kuat Bay, west of the shipping lane where the old lighthouse stood, or to the superb library.
Along the coast road, a multitude of cafes are occupied by elegant gentlemen smoking the hookah, a throwback to the past grandeur of this town where Arabs, Frenchmen, Jews and all sorts of easterners lived in perfect harmony.
We feel pangs of regret as we take the desert road, Wadi Natrum, designed by Coptic monasteries living independently. This road takes us directly to the pyramids from where, heading towards Cairo, we take the road to Saqqarah, on the right bank of a canal. 4kms further on, at Haranieh, is the campsite which, despite a dubious setting, affords good sanitary facilities. The patron, who speaks perfect French having been a pupil of the monks, puts himself at our service. Near the campsite, one can visit a very beautiful school of carpet-making run by two French-speaking nuns. The pupils are freed from the study of other subjects. You can buy some remarkable work. It is called the Wissa Wassef school.
Having already seen the over-touristy pyramids of Giza, we go to see those of Saqqarah 25kms away. Much quieter, and 20kms further still, in deepest Egypt, still following the canal, are to be found two superb deserted pyramids lost amid the dunes. A marvel.
We spend five days in Cairo. A very appealing city: visits, walks, Syrian visas, crowds in the sun. Bliss!
Then the road of the oases. Across the Libyan desert, it will take us to Luxor via Bahriya, Farafa, Dakhika and El Kharga.
First stopover, Bahriya, 350kms to the south-east of Cairo. Good road. We cross the dunes and rocky valleys. Obviously, not a cat on the horizon, only a few heavy goods vehicles. A good night at Ahmed's place: the campsite here has hot springs and is a private oasis. Our only companions are four Japanese.
Second stop, Farafa. The smallest oasis, but probably the prettiest, 300kms from Bahriya. We cross successive black and white deserts, Very beautiful scenery. We sleep in the car park of one of the two hotels - this too is deserted. We explore the oasis and discover a curious and very beautiful house made of cob. That's Badr, an extremely talented painter and sculptor who displays his work. Very original.
Third stop, Dakhika-Mout. Still going south-west for 300kms, a good road dotted with a few beautiful oases, among them the villages of El Kharga and Balat which haven't hanged a bit for centuries. It's really a very different Egypt. We overtake a French cyclist who is travelling 100kms a day, sleeping in the dunes, and is on his way to meet his girl-friend in Luxor. That's the life.
We spend the night at Mout in a Bedouin encampment along with six young Australians who are crossing the deserts in 4x4s. Very good meals, a camp fire, starry sky, Bedouin chanting. Afterwards our hosts offer us vodka. The Koran must be asleep.
Fourth stop is El Kharga. Last oasis in the south, chief oasis of the province. We sleep in the car park of a hotel that gives us a gracious welcome and where we meet a very nice French-speaking couple from Cairo. We met them before at Balat. Final straight line, 300kms of deserts in all senses of the term, including both environment and traffic.
Last stop Luxor. The contrast between this and our recent stopovers is dramatic. A mass of tourists, boats, felouques [small yachts], buses, hotels and traders in knick-knacks. The campsite does not tempt us to hang around, all the more so since we know these parts. The one good thing - an invitation to take tea with a young man who introduces us to his mother, three aunts, five sisters and cousins, and two brothers, all crammed in to one tiny room. But what kindness and joie de vivre!
Road to Aswan. Inevitable convoy with police escort. We covered the 250kms in record time. We are far away from the quiet of the Sahara. Fortunately, Aswan, with its fabulous setting, the idleness of the Nubians (very beautiful museum), the marvellous, genuine souk, leave us with very happy memories. In the van, we go on a trip on the left bank of the Nile. To do this, you have to follow the right bank from Aswan to the New Bridge, cross over, and there you step backwards 1,000 years in the surrounding villages.
Return to Luxor. Still in convoy, then to Hurgada (Red Sea). Very disappointing. Masses of palaces, snack bars, fast food, McDonalds - a real factory.
We go up as far as Suez where, to reach Sinai, we take the tunnel which passes under the canal. Night in the yard of the police post before the tunnel.
Sinai. Free at last. No more convoys. We go along the west coast of Sinai before turning off towards St Catherine's monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. Fantastic scenery, changing colour in the sun. Very few people because people go by bus from Sharm El Sheik to Mount Sinai and back.
Bedouin camp. We have met a young Israeli, completely frozen. He had gone up to admire the sunrise on the top of Mt. Sinai (three hours walk). He returns disappointed because the platform was invaded by all sorts of photo-flashers. Fortunately the crowd doesn't stick around for long up there. The monastery sign says full all day, but in the evening, how quiet it is.
Sharm El Sheik awaits us, with its depths, its well-off Russians, its palaces, night-clubs etc. A second Hurgada, fortunately saved by the Ras Muhammad park which you can visit up to 18.00h, but where you can camp after 18.00h. We had the feeling of being all alone in the world, which was the case. Sea, bays, beaches, mangroves, corals. A lovely stop.
After stopping at Dahab, a paradise for hippies from all over the world, but very empty in these uncertain times, we camp at Nuweiba, near the port, at the Small Dune Camp, our feet in the water. The internal situation means that we are the only people there at the dam whose owners, after a welcoming cup of tea, charge us a derisory amount. They are so nice that we are sorry for them having no tourists, especially Israelis who are the core of their clientele.
Port of Nuweiba. After unusually quick customs formalities, we embark on an ancient ferry boat which takes us to Akaba in Jordan in four hours. We are accompanied by hundreds of Jordanians, Egyptians, Algerians and Tunisians on their way to Mecca. Four hours of continuous entertainment on board. An enormous crowd, multi-coloured, indescribably boozy faces, rich women in veils, snacks all the time, no WC at all (plan for this), everything in a cheerful clutter.
At Akaba, since French people don't need a visa, formalities are speedy. Having already visited Jordan and Syria, we decide not to hang about especially as people are getting nervous. In the evening, a succulent meal awaits us at the Wadi-Rum resthouse. A quiet but very chilly night ensures rest in this historic setting.
Rapid journey through Jordan and Syria. As we pass into Turkey, the snow waiting for us at Antakya will stay with us until Istanbul which is white under the wheels and which possesses a magic charm.
Messers Bush and Saddam have interfered with our Uzbeki plans: we will go to Crete at the end of June to await the end of the conflict.
Armand and Christiane Pourtau.
Sixth European Motorcaravan Festival.
From our special envoy and representative, Gerard Desfaucheux.
Close on 4,000 people (1,800 vans) have got together to celebrate the event at Lavalanet (Ariege) on 7-9 June 2003, and, they expected, to work in the workshops.
On the celebration front, nothing to say - very successful: introduction to the region (various trips), regional products, displays by local cultural associations, local markets. But on the van front, no workshops as had been expected. Only a talk where just the rep of Fiat France (Lionel Pires) spoke and answered questions. He announced the setting up of a 'Fiat Motorcaravan European Service Network' which will target builders of vans and their users. Sixty Fiat agents are so far signed up and are tackling the problems in search of solutions, including problems over the guarantee (to be continued...).
We also heard about the establishment, in Ariege, of a network of 'labelled' parking places specifically aimed at disabled people. A first in France.
All the other questions received no answers, including the one which I asked Swend Meysonnier, chief editor of Camping-Car magazine: would it be possible to ask the insurers to offer worldwide cover without a time limit? My suggestion was that this should be done by publishing an open letter to the insurers.
The gathering enabled us to meet motorcaravanners from all parts of France and Europe and we hope that the work undertaken by the organisers will have economic benefits for the beautiful department of Ariege.
Practical information: South Africa.
Having carried out two self-organised trips to SA in 2000 and 2002, I feel able to recommend to you as points of reference, two small tourist services: a taxi business (Tourist Trips and Transport) based in Soweto, and a tourist guide based in Bloemfontein.
During my first journey in SA, I used a guide called Mr Poloko Tebogo, particularly to visit Bloemfontein and its region, whom I recommend to anyone planning a journey because of the quality of what he offers (welcome, knowledge of the country and its history, tours within realistic limits). His contact details are
Poloko Tours CC - Ck 2000/011899/23.
Bloemfontein Tourist
Centre, 60 Park Road, Bloemfontein.
P O Box 9292, Bloemfontein, 9300, South
Africa.
Tel : (051) 448 5667 Cell : 082 867 4947 Fax : (051) 447 1363.
E
mail : polokotours@yahoo.com.
During the second journey, to Johannesburg, which I undertook in September 2002, I visited Soweto with a guide whom I can recommend to those feeling like fish out of water. He is called Tshepo, has his own minibuses, and organises visits to the famous township to order, in safety, and at decent prices. Here are his details:
Leamogetswe tours and transport - 1116 Mageza Street.
Mofolo
Central P.O. Dube - 1800 - Johannesburg / Soweto.
Tel : +27-11 982 6075 Fax
: +27-11 982 3891.
Cell : +27-83 292 2017 E-mail :
tshepo.bog@mweb.co.za.
I remain at your service for further information, and I thank you in advance and wish you a safe journey.
Charles Martin, 8 grande rue, 88320 Blevaincourt.
Postcards from...
Yves et Annie Polge, Hélène and Félix Fenech, Italy, 5 March. The Boromee islands [Lake Maggiore] are not to be missed, even if the sun is often hidden. A delight for me to get back into the Italian language. In our plan for the next few days, a tour of Lake Maggiore.
Same writers, Mostar, Bosnia. Pleasant trip after the Italian border. Croatia is delightful and is speeding up its urban development. Beach campsites, marinas, holiday homes, road works. Lovely lake at Kotor, Montenegro. Visit to Mostar, then Sarajevo and on to Slovenia. Stop at Gradacac, invited by a Bosnian who showed us the town and traces of the war. We go ahead of the Pope to Osjak and Dokovo. Heat on the Slovenian plain, return via Dalmatia and Istria.
Pat Tribelhorn, Mezokovesd, 6 March. Greetings from our trip to the Europa rally in Hungary and enjoying the lovely people and the hot weather. Hope to see you all somedays...
Change of address.
Maurice et Paulette Lherbette-Prioux 7 bis rue de Suette, 49140 Seiches sur Loir.
Change of e-mail address.
Denis et Simone Lahaye : myrtesvar@aol.com
Return.
Well done for your trip. We are back from our 12,000km tour which took us from Berlin to Poland, Belorus, Russia (Moscow, Golden Circle, St Petersburg, the Baltic States, return via Dresden (Germany). We are preparing an account of the journey. It will be a long job keying it into the computer. If any club member wants more info, we could supply it with pleasure.
Denis and Simone Lahaye.
Departure.
Michel Barbaudy has departed for Madagascar, on 26 June. [When does he ever stop? Ed]
Take the plunge!
Why not offer to host the 2004 AGM and
Balades?
We already know how Wales will host a visit in June, but we need to fix the sites and dates for the autumn. Why not in the south of France? I should like it to be in the hinterland of Nice - but the question is open for general discussion...
E-Mails coming from everywhere!
North America.
7 June 2003.
No, no: we haven't been touched by the strikes affecting our country. Our silence is simply connected with all kinds of difficulties which interfered with our lines of communication. Right now, all is working correctly. We have been in the USA for four days and are well. We had a great reception in Castroville, 30kms from San Antonio, by descendents of Alsatians who settled in Texas in 1845. From now on, we are on far-western Alsatian time! Tomorrow we are going to taste sauerkraut, our first for nine months. Afterwards, we are going to set off again towards New Mexico.
You can find the account of our adventures on our website from the end of next week. Here is a reminder of the address: www.family-dreamtime.fr.st. Happy reading.
Erwin, Laetitia, Ingrid and Eva Munch. familymunch@aol.com
12 June 2003
A few days in Cincinnati to collect our big American camper bought second-hand by our brother. The four of us will travel for two months and then we will be just two for the Canadian part of the trip. If you are interested, here is our route plan from Cincinnati to Vancouver: Indianapolis, St Louis, Kansas City, Denver (no great tourist interest), short pause at Moab with a visit to Arches, canyon land, mesa verde, Monument Valley and Navajo land. We set off then for Lake Powel then Bryce canyon and finally the famous Grand Canyon. Essential visit to Las Vegas, Death Valley, the sequoias, Yosemite, and San Francisco. We will go up the west coast as far as Seattle to cross into Canada and visit Vancouver.
More of the plan in the next bulletin.
Bernard and Liliane Hespe liberdupel@free.frL [sic]
South America.
Preface.
During our journey, we intend to keep a record. It is meant for our family, friends, the children of our village school and their teachers, for our friends in the association Aventure du Bout du Monde whose radio station [?] at Le Mans posts our news on its site www.abmlemans.net under 'Grandes Voyageurs', for the Silk Route Motorcaravan Club to print extracts in its monthly bulletin.
The keyboards here are different, time goes by so fast on the Internet, forgive the missing accents and errors in typing and spelling. Make your own corrections.
12 June 2003.
We have arrived safely in Buenos Aires after 25 days on the ship. The Grande Brasile is huge, 214m long, 32m wide, and our cabin on the twelfth deck was 40m above the waterline. We were the only passengers amongst a crew of twenty seven men. Landings at Bilbao, Dakar, Banjul, Conakry and Freetown. Then five days at sea to reach Salvador de Bahia. Then Vitoria and Rio de Janeiro where we took a minibus to Corcovado, 70m above sea level. To go down again to the beach at Copacabana where people play volleyball with their feet. We saw the Maracana stadium, the biggest in the world. The weather was superb, even though it's winter. Then a stop at Santos where it was All Saints' Day weather, then we reached BA.
We are in the outskirts at Tigre which gets this name because a long time ago, a circus lost a tiger there. It is dark after 18.00h and light at 08.00. We are in a campsite beside the sea on the delta of the River Plate, the biggest in the world with more than 100 rivers and 380 islands.
In the morning at 7, high school pupils come not to catch the school bus but to embark on a huge launch which takes two hours to get them to school. The college pupils leave a bit later, and the primary school pupils embark at 9, dressed in white overalls and with life jackets on. They come back in the evening and the boat crosses to drop the children on the pontoon near to where they live...
18 June 2003.
We are leaving Tigre to travel to the north-east of Argentina, to the borders of Brazil and Paraguay. We are off to see the spectacular Iguazu Falls on the river Parana travelling first via the Jesuit missions. At Tigre, as in BA, it is not very warm. Sometimes we take off our sweaters during the day, but it's winter and the days are short. We are in a hurry to reach warmer weather.
Having set off in the afternoon, we arrive at night at the suspension bridge at Zarate. It is very high to allow for the passage of big cargo ships such as the Grande Brasile as far as the container port a bit higher up. We go to the Las Tejas campsite, access on the right after leaving the toll bridge.
A campsite worker invites us to follow his 4x4 at night and suddenly, surprise! surprise!, we are close to the river, the Rio de la Plata de las Palmas. And on the other side is a huge cruise ship from the 1930s. The owner of the site bought it four years ago. To get it on to his property, he had a canal dug and then filled in again, and had the boat buried up to the Plimsoll line. He adapted the 216 cabins to rent out to holiday-makers who will not risk sea-sickness.
We stay alone with Jesus, the warden, who suggests having our meal in the boat's dining room which is all panelled, with a good fire burning in its fireplace.
We are introduced to Arturo who whistles and crushes seeds on his perch near us. He is a pretty green parrot whom you must avoid touching as he can give you a dreadful bite. It is better not to get too close to the other guest on the boat as he takes a walk there. He is called Leandro and his snores, mingled with groans, make us anxious. Luckily he is timid and only four months old, but he's a lion, the size of a big dog with a thick coat and pretty round ears. Much more handsome than a teddy bear. In case of flood, Noah's Ark is ready...
Next day we are taken on a 4x4 round the property. 1,100 hectares of land, marshy and wooded, by the riverside; forests, pools, canals, banana and palm trees.
Lots of amazing birds, of which one, the emblem of Argentina, builds a nest of clay in the form of a hut with a twisted passage-way to protect the chicks from predators. A lion, a lioness and her cubs (aged 21 days) are shut away behind solid bars. Everything about this site is amazing, even the owner who won't let us pay him and gives us cakes and pastries. We are his only customers, but at weekends there are as many as 2,500 people.
We set off again. We spend two days in the pleasant town of Gualeguaychu, and the night in a campsite of 6,000 hectares. Again we are the only customers.
Next day, a surprise! After 200m on foot, we reach a huge white sandy beach on the river Uruguay. You would think it was the seaside. The river is 3kms wide and looking downstream you can see nothing but water. No land on the horizon. Coming back, we meet a huge green and brown lizard as long and broad as an arm.
23 June 2003.
Visit to the Jesuit missions of Santa Ana and San Ignacio Mini, impressive for their organisation. They are being restored.
Night at Wanda at a viewpoint, invited on to the land of the Prefecture Marine [Marine police HQ? ] from where we have a magnificent view over the Rio Parana and Paraguay on the other bank. Visit to an open-cast mine for semi-precious stones.
24 June 2003.
We are at Foz de Iguazu, meeting point of three frontiers, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Tomorrow and the next day we will go to see the famous waterfalls. Now we must find a restaurant to celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary.
Jacques Berlivet berliland@netcourrier.com.