Alexandria 2004 (Alexandria)

Member Name: maikli

Product:	Alexandria
Date:	23/10/04 (432 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Relaxed city compared to Cairo, Many monuments to see, A real working Egyptian city

Disadvantages: Urban sprawl, Beaches can be dirty

The best travel experiences are those which are not planned meticulously beforehand. If you have no plans, nothing can go against them…if you have no expectations of a place, you won’t be disappointed. My unexpected trip to Alexandria in Egypt falls neatly into this category. Let me set the scene…

Now, due to unforeseen circumstances involving an expired visa, a dead goldfish and a fat customs official (long story…), I found myself on a plane heading to Cairo from Sudan’s chaotic capital, Khartoum, completely unprepared for my arrival. I’d been in Cairo before, seen most of the tourist sites, and had a few days to kill. Staying with Sudanese friends does tend to make one lazy, and I was rapidly falling into a routine of sleep, telly, lunch, sleep, tea, coffee, chicha and sleep. It would have been very easy to keep up this routine for the remaining few days before my flight home, and my Sudanese hosts were encouraging me to do this. To be a good guest in Sudan, you should show that you feel at home by taking a nap on a bed, then stuffing yourself silly on whatever refreshments are brought out, answering the question “how are you?” until everyone is convinced that you really are fine, and finally dozing back off again, zzzzzzz….

But I reasoned that I wasn’t in Sudan, I was in Egypt, so things would be different here. I would not be forced into spending my days in slumber in a friend’s flat…oh no, I would be active, adventurous, energetic! I resolved to get up early the following morning and head to Cairo’s Ramses Station to see where a train could take me. “Where are you going?”, my hosts asked me in the morning, looking concerned at the thought of me doing something for myself. “We have grapes, you must eat grapes, then we’ll all go.” But…”eat grapes, then go!”

Three days later, I managed to drag a sleepy Sudanese named Bahr (“sea”) along to the station, all prepared for a day trip to…somewhere. Between us, we’d got a camera, some money and our passports…what else do you need for a day trip? This was Bahr’s first ever train trip, at the tender age of 24, so he was all in awe at the vast railway station, and nearly wet himself when a train chugged into the platform. I’d bought tickets to Alexandria, as there happened to be a train leaving in ten minutes. What did we know about Alexandria? Absolutely nothing!

Well, that’s not quite true. While writing a university dissertation on ancient medical techniques in the Middle East, the Roman city of Alexandria popped up in the references quite frequently, so I knew it to be a historical place famous for medicine and learning in general. I also knew it to be a big industrial port, and feared that industry would have suffocated any evidence of history, leaving a polluted port with no redeeming features. What did Bahr know? Well, he knew it was by the sea, and that, for him, was a good enough reason to visit. As well as being his first ever train journey, it was also to be the first time to see the sea, and that explained the big wide grin that stayed on his face for the entire train trip.

On arrival in Alexandria, we picked up a leaflet from the tourist office, and immediately set off to explore. Leaving the impressive colonial-looking station building, we emerged into a well-kept park. For a city of Allah knows how many million, the streets were remarkably calm and clean, especially compared to Cairo. We followed our minuscule city plan down En-Nabi Danyal Street, through a clothes’ souq, past the Centre Culturel Francais and a Roman amphitheatre to Saad Zaghloul Square.

On three sides of this rather impressive square stand more grand colonial buildings, including the famous Cecil Hotel, where someone called Winston Churchill once stayed. But my companion wasn’t interested in how former British PMs spent their holidays. No, Bahr was staring straight at the fourth side of the square, at his namesake, the Mediterranean Sea. We sat on the sea wall, watching fishermen cast their rods into the crashing waves, the odd big wave splashing our feet. The sun was shining, a cool breeze blowing in from the sea, and in front of us a sweeping view of the perfectly curved Eastern Harbour. Brightly coloured fishing boats bobbed up and down in front of an imposing square castle at the very end of the bay, while looking the other way, the brand new Biblioteca Alexandrina seemed to rise from the sea like a crested wave. Bahr was in his element. “Semha shadeed, wallahi!” (“My God, very beautiful”)

A pleasant walk along the corniche brought us to one of Alexandria’s modern attractions, the Biblioteca Alexandrina, better known as Alexandria’s new library. “What on earth is this Maikli doing, visiting a library on his holidays?” you might well be asking. The answer lies in Alexandria’s past life as the centre for learning in the Roman Empire. Many, many moons ago (my leaflet informs me it was founded in 2300 BC), there used to be an amazing library of ancient manuscripts containing the most up-to-date medical theories in all the world, until it was burnt to the ground, perhaps signaling the beginning of a decline that sent Alexandria into the background. Now, with financial help from the Greek government, Alexandria is back on the map with a stunning piece of modern architecture containing thousands of books, ancient and modern.

Even if you are not the remotest bit excited over books, and the thought of touring a library when you could be out in the sun sends a wave of boredom through your brain, you can’t come to Alexandria without seeing it. To gain access inside, head round the back, opposite Alexandria University, to the ticket office, where you will be bewildered by the array of different tickets on sale…one for the library itself, one for the art exhibition, one for the manuscript museum, one for this, one for that, with all sorts of combinations available. Add to this a multitude of prices (Egyptian, non-Egyptian, foreigner, foreigner-Egyptian (don’t ask!), student, international student, senior, elderly, child, family…) and you’ll soon be wishing you had a degree in tourism management just to be able to decipher the thing! If you are not Egyptian, then a tour round the library could turn out to be quite pricey, as each section costs between 10 and 20 Egyptian pounds. As we were doing Alexandria on the cheap, we plumpted for the basic library tickets and made our way to the entrance.

Now, with all the hype and the excessive security measures (think Heathrow and double it), I was expecting a magical world of books where any tome on every subject was to be found. After all, the big plan was to have the biggest collection of books in the Middle East. However, like many a planned holiday, the reality fell somewhat short of the plans, empty shelves speaking volumes about over-ambitious projects. Take away the manic Japanese holiday-snappers and the multi-national tour groups herded along the aisles like sheep, and what you have is basically a university library. Maybe the magic was all hidden away in locked rooms, the keys to which are purchased along with a combination elderly child non-Egyptian day ticket, but I have to say the library is far better on the outside.

Before leaving the library behind, we spent a few minutes admiring the building itself, surrounded by a shimmering blue pond with all the alphabets of the world carved into sandstone walls. The building rises from the ground and doesn’t seem to reach great heights, but what surprises many visitors, including myself, is that inside there are seven floors.

Next stop were the beaches. Bahr desperately wanted to swim, but time was disappearing as quickly as the sun, and there was a definite chill in the air. Watching the sun set behind Fort Qaitbey (the afore-mentioned square castle), we decided to be spontaneous and stay overnight. Along the corniche are hotels to suit most budgets, from olde-worlde classic hotels like the Cecil and Windsor charging and arm and two legs for a room with a view, right down to the Blue Riviera Hotel, where an elderly French Madame will rent you a spotlessly clean room that hasn’t changed its décor since the 1950s for around US$5. You can even see the sea if you ask someone to hold onto your legs and stretch out from the balcony, craning your head to the right. No prizes for guessing where I rested my head in Alexandria…

After checking in, we wandered back along the lengthy corniche to the city centre, where two pairs of tired legs happily collapsed into wicker chairs at a streetside coffeehouse. (I should perhaps mention that Bahr, like most Sudanese, look upon walking as one of life’s little discomforts). Over an ‘ahwa (coffee) and a chicha (nargileh, hubble-bubble, waterpipe or whatever you know it as), we fell into conversation with a local who was puffing away contentedly on his own apple-scented chicha.

“Swimming? At this time of year? Are you mad?! If you must, don’t swim on the beaches near here. You should take a taxi along the corniche to Ma’amoura or Montazah, where the beaches are cleaner. But it is too cold! Go to see the Roman ruins, or the boat-builders of Anfushi instead.”

We reassured him that we were both quite sane, and mentioned that it was Bahr’s first time at the seaside, which he obviously thought was cause enough for a celebration, so another round of coffee and more coals for the chicha were ordered. After dining on koshary (pasta, rice, lentils and a spicy tomato and chickpea sauce…why on earth don’t they make this in Sudan?!), we found ourselves stumbling back along the corniche to our hotel, vague memories of cheap Egyptian whisky with our new Egyptian friends wafting in and out with the sea breeze.

I do enjoy a good lie-in, probably more than most. But when I am in a new city that needs exploring, hangover or no hangover, I force myself to get up and out before the sun becomes too hot. Bahr did not have the same inclination to go sightsee, and obviously was not accustomed to copious amounts of cheap spirits. His eyes could not be prised open, and he himself could not be prised out of bed. I think he had a headache.

So it was alone that I discovered the delights of Alexandria’s Anfushi district, where the fishing boats are picturesque and beg to be photographed. Round the headland, I followed the sound of banging hammers and came across several boats in-the-making. The boat-builders were not at all surprised to have a foreign tourist invade their territory, and in fact were quite welcoming, literally forcing me to have a glass of tea. Abdel Malik and Mozamil explained that they had been building and repairing boats all their working lives, but added that strangely neither of them enjoyed sailing them. Their busiest season is apparently summer, when Cairenes by the hundreds descend on Alexandria, rent boats and crash them into rocks because they haven’t a clue how to steer them. The waters around Alexandria are notoriously dangerous for their undercurrents, and I was warned not to swim at any beach unless a lifeguard was there to keep watch. I promised not to, but the waves didn’t seem as big as they had been the day before, and promises are meant to be broken, aren’t they?

On the way back, I lost my way in the narrow maze of twisting streets with crumbling Ottoman mansions overhanging the road. Blundering through the backstreets without a map is one of my favourite ways to explore a new city…as I wrote in my Trieste review, it is far more enjoyable when you don’t know that an intricately carved doorway is lurking round the next corner. You can stumble into centuries old mosques, find hidden alleyways that lead into bustling souqs, discover a new coffeehouse.

Back at the hotel, Bahr was just about back in the land of the living. After a wake-up coffee, we flagged down a taxi and pointed at a stunning sandy beach pictured in our leaflet. The driver nodded, and claimed to know exactly where it was, so off we sped away from the city. As corniches go, Alexandria’s wasn’t bad…but if pressed to complain, I would say that I am not mad keen on 6-lane highways lined with 1960’s apartment blocks. It was also sad to notice that nowhere was more than a slow amble from a MacDonald’s, Pizza Hut or KFC. The beaches may well be sandy, but who can relax with a deafening motorway in the background?

We continued to speed along the coastline, and I remember thinking, “it can’t be that far!” We’d agreed on 15 Egyptian pounds, but when the driver pulled over in a nondescript backstreet to ask for directions, I could foresee a mild disagreement over the fare. And I was right…eventually, we were dropped off in Abu Qir, where the beach certainly did not look like the one in the brochure (things rarely do!). It was blatantly obvious that this wasn’t where we’d asked to be taken, and that the pictured beach was back in the direction of town. A heated discussion ensued, involving a handful of nosey locals, and we ended up paying rather more than 15 pounds.

Abu Qir did not appear to be the paradise we were hoping for, but there was a sandy beach, there were people swimming, and it did not have a motorway or a fast-food chain in sight. We rented an umbrella and chairs, and quickly disrobed for Bahr’s first ever dip in the sea. A crashing wave knocked me sideways, filling my ears with tiny stones and bits of seaweed. A second took Bahr off his feet, sending him bum over tum in the shallows…we felt like a couple of fools, and judging by the muffled laughter coming from the picnickers further down the beach, we looked like a couple of fools too. The waves were powerful, but once you’d got past the breakers, all was calm and amazingly clear. Unfortunately, Bahr was not as keen a swimmer as I was, and quickly retired to the shade of the umbrella, unable to be coaxed into the sea for a proper swim. Probably just as well…I’ve since heard that several holidaymakers drown every week during the summer, and that’s when the waters are calmer. This was an October afternoon!

You can’t come to Alexandria and not eat fish. Or at least, that’s what we were told. I would have been quite happy to feast on fuul and felafel, not being a lover of fish, but sometimes you have to compromise. We asked around, and the general consensus was that we had to buy fresh fish and take them to a little shop in Abu Qir’s small marketplace where they would be grilled in front of us for a modest fee. While the fish were being charred on the coals, I bought some freshly baked bread, and we took our meal back down to the beach, just in time for another spectacular Alexandria sunset. It looked as if we’d have to spend a second night in the city…a long day trip then!

The following morning, we returned to Anfushi for a second look at the fishing boats, this time with camera in hand, and investigated the area around the castle. Fort Qaitbey was built on the spot of the famous Pharos lighthouse, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. If you can dive, there is an underwater museum where traces of ancient Alexandria can be seen through a diving mask. If you can’t, you just have to try and imagine how Alexandria would have looked back then. Fort Qaitbey is now a naval museum, something that didn’t exactly inspire me to shell out for the tickets…we contented ourselves with the view from the recently regenerated Ra’s at-Teen corniche area where the city’s young and trendy pass their time cracking open sunflower seeds, eating popcorn and trying to impress members of the opposite sex.

The whole district had been spruced up for tourists, with newly surfaced promenades lest they should topple off into the sea, maps in foreign languages in case they should lose their way, caleches (horse-drawn carriages) for weary limbed sightseers. But where were the tourists? Aside from the coachloads at the library, I hadn’t seen a single other foreigner. OK, it was off-season, but Cairo was thronging with them. Why don’t they come here?

The answer probably lies in the fact that Alexandria hides its many attractions well. There are many nice aspects to this city, but an awful lot is quite ugly. If it is beaches you want, head to Marsa Matruh or Sinai. If it is ancient monuments, then you’ll be better served in Luxor, Aswan or Cairo. Alexandria just can’t compete, and has decided not to bother. Instead of forsaking tradition for tourists, swapping fuul for banana pancakes, Alexandria has remained a living, working city, and for me, it is all the more attractive for it. People seem genuinely friendly, not something I can say for places elsewhere in Egypt where the tourist dollar is craved for. It is probably not worth jetting out to visit just this one city, but if you’re in Egypt, save a couple of days at the end of your trip for Alexandria. After all, it is only two hours from Cairo.

All too soon, it was time to leave. My leaflet informed me that I still had plenty more to see, like the Anfushi Tombs, Pompey’s Pillar, Al-Shatby Necropolis, the Catacombs of Kom El-Shoqafa…the list goes on. Oh well, all that means is that I have many reasons to return to Alexandria for a second visit.

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