Return to Cairo

Tuesday 3 January

Today we returned to Cairo travelling by mini-van. We left Hurghada at 10 and drove north along the Red Sea coast for 3 hours before stopping for a leg stretch and lunch at a roadside cafe. As we travelled I kept looking out at the deep blue of the sea expecting to see many ships lining up to enter the Suez Canal. For the most part I was disappointed because firstly the Red Sea is wider than I expected. We never saw any land on the other side, not even Sinai when we got far enough north. Secondly we didn't travel close enough to the entrance to the canal partly because the road that goes close to the canal is in bad condition and secondly because we turned off north easterly towards Cairo. I did see a couple of oil tankers riding high and empty and we also saw many oil rigs just off the coast.

The other interesting sight we saw was hundreds and hundreds of wind turbines turning. I've never seen so many wind turbines in one place. Back in Australia the farmers complain that the turbines make too much noise. Here with them sitting in the sandy desert there was no one to complain.

We entered Cairo from the north and got back to our hotel--The Oasis where it all started--about 4.30pm. Jade was very happy to see her pussy cat friends--the strays who live at the hotel. She is so fond of them that she has named them. One of her favourites is a tortoiseshell cat who has a bad left eye. She has named this one Shelly. It is hard to resist all of these cute kitties roaming all over the place and the more we see of them the more we get concerned about their welfare. Jade has decided she wants to do something for the stray cats of Egypt.

Because our eating options are limited when we're at the Oasis--there is absolutely nothing else around--we are a captive audience--we ate at their Italian restaurant up on the first floor. The food was plentiful and delicious and not expensive either.