After leaving Alexandria, with a fresh security guard, our first stop was El Alamein (Al Alamin), which was a World War II battlefield in July 1942 and again in October/November 1942. The Allies managed to push the Axis powers all the way back to Tunisia in a decisive victory. The US was not involved at this point in North Africa, so they were not a part of either one of these battles. We visited both the Military Museum and the Commonwealth Cemetery.
We arrived at our resort in Marsa Matruh about three in the afternoon. Pretty much all of us decided to head down to the beach and sit next to or in the Mediterranean. I had a very large brimmed white straw hat with me to keep me in the shade even in the water. So, with swimsuit, hat and large bath towel, I joined the others under a couple of giant umbrellas next to the water. Once I received the sizeable, lemony drink that I ordered, I wandered into the water and sat down in it with only my head and the hand holding the drink above the gentle waves. I was soon joined by most of the rest of the group. We sat in the Mediterranean, chatted and sipped our drinks. What a pleasant way to spend a couple hours before dinner.
When you think about how long people have lived next to the Mediterranean, it is amazing how clear and beautiful the water is. The following morning, we visited some of the more famous beaches in and around Marsa Matruh. The first beach was Agiba (Ageebah) Beach. It is a beautiful, turquoise color and is only accessible by a path leading down from the clifftop above the beach. Another beach is called Cleopatra’s Bath. It is rumored to be a beach where Cleopatra and Marc Antony came to bathe.
We headed from there to Rommel’s Cave, which was his headquarters prior to El Alamein. The German General, Erwin Rommel, nicknamed “The Desert Fox”, did not return after El Alamein and left all of his belongings behind. He later commanded the German forces that opposed the Allied landing forces that invaded Normandy. About a month after that, he was implicated in the plot to assassinate Hitler. Since he was considered to be a national war hero, he was given the choice of committing suicide (by a cyanide pill) instead of a trial. He was then given a state funeral with the official reason for his death being that he died from injuries incurred when his staff car was strafed in Normandy.
We had another free afternoon, so we bought some food in town to have lunch down by the water and spend another relaxing afternoon in the Mediterranean (I was actually contemplating paddling around instead of just sitting in the water with a drink). While getting ready to go down to the beach, a big storm came up. No rain, just a lot of wind and sand – an authentic Egyptian sand storm. The umbrellas were taken down quickly and the waves became very choppy. A few hardy souls still tried to gather down on the beach, but seven of the group came to my room.
The rooms were all quite large with sofas and tables and chairs. There was a plastic table with four chairs out on the balcony which we brought inside to allow for seating for eight using the two tables. We hoped it would be a short storm, but it ended up going the rest of the afternoon and all night. It was extremely noisy, so none of us got much sleep. We were all pretty bleary-eyed in the morning.
In anticipation of the trip, I had purchased a couple pairs of light-weight, cotton trousers in a khaki color plus several cotton gauze tops in light colors. I had read that most of the mosques and many of the Coptic churches frowned upon people entering wearing “immodest” clothing. So, I kept cleavage exposure to a minimum and kept the trousers legs and the sleeves of the tops long. I was also trying to keep as much of my fair skin as possible from being exposed to the sun.
Then there were the shoes. I kept those light in color too, but still with great tread on the bottom and lots of comfort. Due to having issues with my left foot, I wear a great deal of bracing inside my shoe and often an additional brace on my foot and ankle. I knew I would need to remove my shoes at mosques and possibly other places as well. So I wore the brace on my foot and carried my collapsible cane whenever that was a possibility. I also had a couple of cotton gauze scarves to cover my head. How did I know about all of this? I not only read about it in guide books, but it was in the information that came with my tour documents.
The day after the sand storm, we went to visit the Saint Macarius the Great Coptic monastery in Wadi el Natrum. We were warned the prior afternoon. But several people on the tour did not bring anything other than tank tops and shorts and had nothing for their heads. They were denied entrance to the monastery (at the mosque in Cairo, those who were inappropriately dressed where given long robes with which to cover up, but the monastery didn’t provide anything, they just didn’t let them in). About half of us went in while the rest of the group cooled their heels in a covered area just inside of the grounds.
The monastery had been founded in 360 AD. We visited the tiny original 4th century church and the 7th century church. As anticipated, we needed to remove our shoes in both churches. Back when the 7th century church was being restored in the 1960s, bones which they claim belonged to John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet were found in a 1st century crypt beneath one end of the church. They were reinterred in a tomb in that church near the entrance to the crypt. Didn’t get to see the bones, but we saw he tomb. We also saw the entrance to the crypt.
Once we left the monastery, we headed back to Cairo (with another fresh bodyguard) and arrived late in the afternoon. We made a visit to the Khan-el-Khalili bazaar. This maze of shops, stalls and coffeehouses was built in the 14th century on the site of a prior mausoleum. It seemed to me that a person could get lost in the labyrinth and never be heard from again. I was very careful to go in pretty much a straight line and not wind around too much so I could keep my bearings. It was so overcrowded with things and people that it was very difficult to keep track of other people in the group. Most of us made it back to the tour coach by the right time. There were a couple of stragglers, however, that our Tour Director went on a brief hunt for until we needed to leave. Fortunately we saw them waiting for us in the wrong place before we completely departed the area.
That night we went to a Sound & Light show at the Pyramids. It was basically the history of ancient Egypt and the Pyramids and Sphinx with projections against various walls and lots of different colored lights. It was a very late night as we didn’t get back to the hotel (which was next to the airport) until 10:30pm. I managed a couple hours of sleep before getting up at 1:30am to get ready for the flight to Aswan.
