On to Alexandria

Trip Start Mar 07, 2006
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Trip End Jun 07, 2006


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Flag of Egypt  ,
Friday, March 10, 2006

We decided yesterday that we would get out of Cairo until beds became available at another Hotel that we checked out yesterday so jumped in a taxi to Ramses Station, the main train station in Cairo. It was Friday, which is the Islamic Holy Day and very early in the morning so not much traffic on the streets and relatively quiet at the station which was nice. Train to Alexandria 2 hours through the outer edge of the Nile Delta to the Mediterranean Coast. After leaving Cairo it was all farm land, green and small rural villages lining the waterways. Only saw a couple of small tractors, the donkey rules in this country!!

Alex was much colder and windy but nice to be near the sea again after the pollution of Cairo. We found people to be more relaxed and friendly and more than willing to help us if we needed it, which when it came to asking for directions was a lot! Bright painted wooden boats in Alexandria Harbour
Bright painted wooden boats in Alexandria Harbour
 !

We ended up spending two nights here and spent our time exploring and eating mostly. Fabulous food and very cheap. The best falafel we've had so far and cheap grilled meats a well.

The thing we wanted to see here was a place called Kom al Shaqaffra which is a series of Catacombs dating from the 2nd Century AD in the period when the Romans ruled Egypt and Alexandria was their capital. It descends 35m over 3 floors and housed over 300 corpses through a maze of passageways.

The main tomb was thought to have housed Roman Nobles, husband and wife and the antechambers are decorated with a strange mixture of Egyptian, Greek and Roman death icons.

We also visited Fort Quaitby which is a stone fort at the entrance to the harbour. It is supposed to be built on the site of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the 7 Ancient wonders of the world and which stood as a beacon of massive proportions for 17 centuries before finally being destroyed in 1303 by an earthquake.
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