On
the 30th of September, I was looking very forward to the next leg of
our survey, between
Alexandria and
Port Said
along Egypt's northern coast. This was new ground for me, as I had
never been along this coastal highway. Unfortunately, I was
expecting a bit more of a coastal highway, when in fact, the
Mediterranean Sea is mostly out of site, usually no more than a few
kilometers away, but rarely visible, except as one approaches Port
Said. To the south, several lakes border the road, but these too are
often just far enough away that they cannot be seen, though
occasionally one spies a ghostly sail seemingly growing from a
field. Sometimes we
pass
fish forms, and there is really a lot of water, but mostly these
appear to be mere ponds, though they might be attached to larger
bodies of water. At first, as we set out from Alexandria, there are
everywhere date palm groves, thick and lush, and this time of year
bearing fruit. Along with these forests of date palms, there are
flowers too colored in red, orange and white.
Our first stop, which finally brings us back to the water, is
Rasheed (Rashid),
often known as Rosetta on many maps, because it was here that the
famous Rosetta Stone was discovered. Rasheed is an interesting town;
a town seemingly
making
much of its living off the sea in one form or another, and of course
from the surrounding orchards. While we saw mostly date palms on our
way, other fruit crops must be grown nearby, for the markets were
loaded with dates, oranges and a variety of other produce. Here, we
also passed by commercial markets, were groups of men scramble to
bid on various produce.
However, Rasheed
also has a boatyard, and apparently a well known one at that. Ships
are built here, and not just commercial vessels, but fine yachts as
well. There is also a vast fleet of small
fishing
boats, evidenced at this point only by the huge number of small
docks set along the water way. It is hard to imagine anyone going
hungry in this city, with fish and fruit so plentiful.
We made our first stop at Rashid Duke, sometimes referred to as
Boghaz. This is actually where the
Nile meets the Mediterranean Sea, really just to the north of
the city proper. All about were fishing boats, along with some
people fishing from the banks. On the way back, I had to stop and
take a closer look
at
the yachts. I couldn't help wondering how much one might cost.
Someone seemed to think that about half a million pounds would do,
or less than one hundred thousand dollars. Thoughts of selling my
home played through my head, but then I could probably not afford
the gas to get very far in one of these, so I filed this information
back for later reflection.
There is a bit more to see in
Rasheed than most
people might imagine. Our next stop took us to Fort Qaitbey, known
by the French as Saint Julian, and yes, this complex was built by
the same ruler who also built the
more famous fortress
in
Alexandria.
However, this one has its own claim to fame, for it was here that
the Rosetta Stone was found, which eventually aided
Champollion in his efforts to decipher hieroglyphics. The
fortress itself is in good repair, apparently restored at some time
in the past, though I know not when. From its walls one also has an
excellent view of the
Nile and much of the city. If visiting the fortress, note the
columns jutting out of the lower walls. These are actually ancient
columns that were used to add structural strength to the walls of
the fortress.
These days, Rasheed's
best known tourist attractions are its old Ottoman era houses. There
are a number of these, located in easy walking distance from each
other. They date from the early to
mid
1700s, though a few of the signs are not clear on this matter. They
are indeed beautiful brick structures, well preserved with
wonderful, intricate Mashribiyya screens covering the windows.
Nearby, there is also a Turkish bath house, that is also
interesting. In fact, parts of this building, aged as it may be, are
absolutely gorgeous.
One of the things that I enjoyed most about this part of the
survey, which equally applied to
Rasheed, was the
lack of tourists. We pretty much had the city to ourselves, much as
we did at sites in the Delta. People do visit the city, often as
part of an Alexandrian tour, but there seemed
to
be no others here today. Before leaving the city, we sat for a while
and sipped on fruit drinks in front of the Rasheed International
Hotel, which might be of interest to some.
Alexandria itself
is somewhat expensive, but this hotel, near enough to Alexandria for
a tour, is extremely reasonable, and a very nice, clean three star
facility. Soon though, we were once more on our way
Now, and for most of the remainder of our journey, the landscape turned to beach; one great big beach, even when the sea could not be seen. Sometimes we passed fleets of boats and ships, more on Lake Burullus, which bordered the road to the south, than in the Mediterranean, before finally arriving in the small resort village of Baltim.
Along the northern coast between
Alexandria and
Port Said are
a number of small resorts such as this. They are often listed in
tour guides, but in fact they are mostly frequented only by locals.
I really saw no hotels here, though I am sure one could probably
rent a flat for a period of time. At this time of year (late
September), no one was really at home. Once again, we had the place
almost exclusively to ourselves. In reality, I doubt that many
foreign tourists would want to come here, even though the beach is
nice and it is
probably
very affordable. Doubtless, middle class Egyptians, which are
probably the ones who come to Baltim, would just as soon keep a few
of the resorts to themselves, rather than having foreign tourists
drive prices up on everything. Nevertheless, we were welcomed here,
and enjoyed a few minutes strolling about the beach.
The drive between Baltim and our next stop,
Damietta (Dumyat),
was thankfully not all that long, as the scenery mostly consisted of
sand and more sand. Today, after Cairo, the
Nile splits into two main branches as it winds its way to the
Mediterranean Sea. One branch empties into the sea at
Rasheed, while the
second one does so at Damietta. However, these two cities are very
different from one another. While Rosetta seems more agricultural
and fishing based, Damietta is known for manufacturing, and
specifically, the manufacturing of furniture. While I am sure that
much fishing takes place out of Damietta, as it does all along the
coast, Damietta has the reputation of producing the finest furniture
in Egypt.
And
while no one may ever go hungry in Rasheed, it is said that no one
is ever unemployed in Damietta.
We took the time to visit what one of the furniture factories that we were told was the best of the best, El Shamy Furniture. Indeed, their showroom was full of finely crafted pieces. Most of this furniture is made of imported wood, and frankly I was amazed when we took a peek into the manufacturing facility itself. I have a small shop at my house that probably contains nearly as much wood working equipment as this factory (well, not exactly), and yet, the pieces they turn out are very well done.
Soon,
we were back on the road for our final destination this day,
Port Said.
Port Said is, of course, the northern entrance to the
Suez Canal. Its
southern counterpart is the city of Suez. For the most part, the
Suez Canal is the main attraction at Port Said, though there is also
a national museum, a military museum and a Museum of Modern Art.
Port Said appears to be a relatively wealthy city, perhaps not surprisingly because of the canal. As could be expected, there was considerable traffic at the canal, with ships entering the locks one after the other. However, until very recently, it also enjoyed the status of a tax-free zone, where local residents could purchase most anything at considerably reduced prices. Some of this has changed, but the outward result is, for example, that the average car is a bit nicer than one might see elsewhere in Egypt.
Port
Said does enjoy some status as a resort, and it does receive a
fair number of foreign tourists, perhaps mostly because a number of
cruise ships dock here. It has some nice resort hotels to support
this business, including a Sonesta, who operate some of the best
hotels throughout Egypt.
After exploring the canal and taking in a bit of the city, we
retired to a two star hotel for the evening of our next to the last
day in the Delta. Ports Said is a bit expensive, similar to
Alexandria, and
my team, who were on a budget, had to keep their expenses down. To
preserve a certain spirit, I always stayed in the same hotels as my
team, though certainly I could afford a bit better than a two star
hotel for myself. Though I have
reviewed
budget hotels in Egypt, I had actually never stayed in a two star
hotel prior to this. I generally consider three star hotels to be
the lowest rating that most foreign tourists would accept, though
that is really not true, considering the number of back packers and
tourists from less affluent nations that visit Egypt.
Actually, this facility was not bad. It was actually a small resort, with a swimming pool, and my room had a good bed, an air conditioner, a phone and even a TV, though the picture was fuzzy. So what was the main difference between this and a normal three star hotel? No toilet paper, no towels and no soap. I actually thought this was a mistake, so I called reception, and managed to get some soap and one towel. Two towels seemed out of the question, as did toilet paper. Oh well, it had been a long day, it was late, there were electrical plugs to recharge all the batteries for my photographic equipment, and after downloading and backing up the day's shots, the night would be short and the wake-up call early, at 3:00 am, as usual.
See Also:
- Survey to Egypt: Part I: Safety in Egypt
- Survey of Egypt, Part II: Ramadan Kareem
- Survey of Egypt, Part III: Wadi el-Natrun to Tanta
- Survey of Egypt, Part IV: Tanta to Alexandria
- Survey of Egypt, Part V: Alexandria
- Survey of Egypt, Part VI: Alexandria Continued
- Survey of Egypt, Part VIII: Port Said to Cairo
- Survey of Egypt, Part IX: Cairo to El-Arish
- Survey of Egypt, Part X: El-Arish to Dahab
- Survey of Egypt, Part XI: The Southern Sinai Interior
- Survey of Egypt, Part XII: Mount Sinai and Sharm el-Sheikh
- Survey of Egypt, Part XIII: The Sinai West Coast
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Last Updated: 10/27/2006