I boarded the coach for Sharqiya at midnight, having booked my ticket early and so having the seat behind the driver.
The journey was pretty uneventful, with a stop halfway after about 3 hours at a roadside cafe/shop.
Expecting to get fleeced, as the tourists generally do on their trip from the airport, I abstained from buying anything but then realised that I needed a bottle of water as I’d had a headache for most of the journey. I grabbed a bottle fro the fridge then enquired “b’cam da?” – how much is this? “Itneen w’nuss” came the reply – 2.50 LE. Ok, this was the same sort of place but it wasn’t for tourists and the bottle of water had cost me 30p.
We passed dozens of huge holiday resorts on the Red Sea – I have no idea which areas we passed through, but Zafira seems to ring a bell. I wondered who stayed at these resorts as it’s not a part of Egypt that is accessible directly from the UK.
We entered the outskirts of Cairo just after dawn and dropped off a few people, then passed by the national football stadium.
Another 2 hours as we entered Sharqiya, a large, sprawling town which was fairly quiet at 7am in the morning. After seven and a half hours travelling I finally alighted at the MCV bus station in Zagaig and collected my bags.
I called Ahmed and five minutes later he came strolling down the street. We grabbed a red and white taxi that looked as though it had just been rescued from a scrapyard and took a five minute ride into the centre of Zagazig. There we transferred to a microbus and had a 20 minute journey to Abu Hamed. Another change, this time into a tuk tuk and off we went to Ahmed’s village, Nazlett, El’Azeyzee. It’s a small farming community out on the East Delta and is surrounded by fields of crops.
At Ahmed’s I was then treated to a huge breakfast of bread, foul and some kind of vegetable stew. Luckily I’d mentioned to Ahmed when I met him in Sharm that I’m unable to eat large quantities.
A cup of shay (tea), and it was off to bed about 9am for a coupe of hours sleep.
I awoke around 2pm and showered (cold water!). Ahmed’s younger brother, Ali, is working in Sharm and his wife and daughter had given up their part of the home for me to stay in!
Another huge lunch followed, various kinds of mashi (stuffed vegetables) and a whole chicken stuffed with rice was on the menu this time.
Ahmed and I ate alone, served by the women of the household.
There are five kids running around, from Ali’s 6 month old daughter Rahhma, to Mohammed’s four, Ahmed the three month old son of Ahmed’s older brother Mohammed (still with me?) and his other three children.
Ahmed then took me for a walk to the next village (about 2 miles) across the crop-filled fields. The weather’s a bit on the chilly side at the moment, around 16-20°C, but it’s pleasant enough for a walk in the countryside.
In the next village we sat and had tea with more of Ahmed’s family (his sister’s side I think).
We then trekked back across the fields to his village.
We met a few people along the way, most of whom seemed to be related to Ahmed in some way – either aunts, uncles cousins, sister’s-husband’s-sisters or some such.
Back the his house it was time for more food, after meeting Achmed (who I had met in Sharm El Sheik and another friend – Mohammed I think). We then spent the evening with a packed room (just the blokes of course) trying to sort out Ahmed’s PC.
Then we went off to Abu Hamed in a tuk tuk, 4 of us! Probably the scariest trip of my life i the dark on uneven roads with an overloaded tuk tuk and no lights. Ahmed picked up his motorbike and I rode pillion back to his house.
I eventually managed to crawl into bed around 12:30 and slept in until 12:30, when I was woken by Ahmed for … yes, some food.
After lunch we spent a few hours working on his PC while various people came and went, his brother Mohammed included.
Ahmed then drove me into Abu Hamed and we clambered across the train tracks to catch a train from the wrong side! Hauling ourselves up into the carriage we found seats and enjoyed the journey to Zagazig, people occasionally jumping off when they decided they wanted to get off (yes, from a moving train). Various hawkers plied their wares up and down the train, watches, tea, baseball caps – it’s not just the tourists in the tourist cities that have to put up with this – it’s the culture!
In Zagazig we looked in a few computer shops but didn’t find anything suitable, so we then met Ahmed and another mate in the centre. Bought a pair of shoes for 39 LE and went to a coffee shop for a bit. We walked back to the station with them and caught a microbus to Abu Hamed where we went for kofta, kebab and liver. The takeaway food here is out of this world!
We then went to a computer store in Abu Hamed where Ahmed had his sister send his computer in a tuk tuk. They said it would take half an hour so we went, on his bike, so his sister’s house and had a cup of tea. The houses are generally kept very bare, apart from a rug and some cushions to sit on, or maybe a sofa. The hospitality is second to none.
Back to the computer store where we were sat until 1am, then a ride back on Ahmed’s bike with me holding 2 bags of shopping and a desktop PC on my lap, Ahmed refusing to use his lights on the bike and deciding to take a back route. Interesting!
Ahmed then decided to have me install all his favourite apps on the PC so I dragged myself off to bed about 2:30am.
Slept in until 12:00 when Ahmed woke me up – he was off to prayer (Friday) so I had a shower and started this blog.
When he got back we ate again – chicken, rice and a soup – really good. Then off to the hospital where Ahmed used to work “with crazy people” he said.
The mental health hospital was a bit of a sorry sight. Inmates were hanging at the bars of the windows and shouting to each other. The staff were lovely though, even though their office definitely needed a woman’s touch.
We walked around the grounds for a while then headed off for Ahmed to play football.
Took some video and photos, now back at the house, sat with the family and having tea while Achmed waits for me to download antivirus for his pc.
