"The Rebirth of the Phoenix" a Cairo Travel Page by SabrinaSummerville

“Is this your first time in Cairo”, asked the very elderly Scottish lady in the elevator.

“No,” I replied, “I’ve been here a couple of times.”

Without giving me a chance to respond, she proclaimed almost gleefully “This is my twenty second time. I just love this place.”

If that isn’t a testament to all prospective Egptian tourists, then I don’t know what is. This lady sould be commended by the Cairo Chamber of Commerce!!

For me this was just my second Cairo visit (third in all to Egypt) and I was here almost specifically for work and to buy some property on the Red Sea Coastline. You see, I just love the place too and plan to return often to my house in the sun.

Cairo has changed a great deal since I was here last, yet it has been just two and a half years since I landed at the ancient and typically Egyptian terminal. This time we were whisked through a gleamingly modern new terminal and straight to our private car.

Now Cairo stands proud – stunningly modern new buildings mixing with the ancient. The highly fashionable new City Stars complex is almost as remarkable a structure as the pyramids themselves, though in a totally different way.

Students on our flight spoke of the nasty smells of Cairo – I was met by night air scented with the heady odour of fresh jasmine, the smell of the sheesha pipe, and the perfumed air blown by electric fans in public areas.

Yes, the old still exists, as does the poverty and the crazy traffic – but let’s be honest, it takes longer to drive across Dublin these days than it does to drive across Cairo.....and Cairo houses in excess of 15 million people, ten times the population of Dublin.

Cairo truly is a modern city rising, as it were, like a Phoenix from the ashes.

I have had two main travel dreams and both came true for me within a six month period in 2004/5. Lucky me :-) The first of these was to see the pyramids. I had put it off again and again, but eventually I decided that I was just going to head off into the sunset and realise my dream.

The first thing we did very right was to book into the Mena House Oberoi, which has a perfect view of the pyramids from all public areas, inside and out. We arrived at night and as we wandered through the beautiful grounds I gasped as I saw the ghostly image of the ancient pyramids rising as if from the gardens of the hotel. I felt such a thrill, and the taste of delicious anticipation.

The second thing we did that really made the holiday was to use the services of Viking Tours. We had a private minibus, driver and guide just for the two of us. Our guide, Annan, was a former Egyptair stewardess and told us everything we wanted to know in a most interesting and informative way. She was also good fun , very professional, and attentive to OUR requirements.

For me, of course, the highlight of the Cairo visit was the trip to the Pyramids - more of that in a seperate review.

However, I was tickled pink when all the Egyptians started to comment that I looked like Queen Nephertiti. At the museum, other guides would first stare at me and then point me out to their own group of tourists. It was charming and flattering and went a very long way towards explaining my kinship with this amazing country.

In one of my dreams, of course, I was an Egyptian Queen - so here I was, the Egyptians themselves were confirming it!!!