Aimless wanderings in the Egyptian heartland. Part Four- Reaching El Arish
We reached Alexandria at midnight… I have been to Alexandria for five or six times during my stay and yet till I had not been able to gauge the expanse of the city. But today the city lights told me a different story
It is a huge city… and on the western parts of the city there is a huge Industrial complex that stretches for more than 10-12 kilometers. However… the urban squalor that is so very much evident in Cairo is missing in Alexandria. Alexandria is one of my favourite places in Egypt.
This time around… however we did not intend to stay in Alexandria… we wanted to move to Port Said… remember how it was supposed to be a wandering in those that I haven’t visited as yet. The only hitch however was that the bus service for the city had stopped for the day… we had to find some alternative mode to Port Said. And on a little questioning here and there, we did… a Microbus to Port Said.
We were feeling hungry and before the microbus moved… we needed to have something for our famished stomach. Juno pointed out towards a road side joint… equivalent of an Indian Dhaba… we rushed there… and had soul-full of Kushri… we were on our feet again… and raring to go.
In the microbus in which we were traveling… there sat two kids, unaccompanied… earlier there guardians in Alexandria spoke with the driver of the Microbus to leave them at a particular destination in Part Said. The Driver nodded… this act underlined something very beautiful about the Egyptian society. This society still reserves a lot of moral consciousness and sense of brotherhood… sometimes I argue that this may be due to Islam… which prescribes a strict set of moral dos and don'ts for its followers, unlike other religions that are a bit fuzzy when it comes to dos and don'ts. But then it has also something to do with the simplicity of life in this country… especially outside Cairo… similar moral uprightness can be seen in Uttaranchal in India… I was amazed at the simplicity of the people over there… and the sense of brotherhood and faith in each other.
We reached Port Said at 2 am… our first job was to search a place to sleep. We reached a place called Hotel Milano… a decent hotel… though my complain was about the small sized bathrooms in the hotel. Exhausted, we went to sleep.
Port Said is located at the northern end of Suez Canal… it is a Customs Free Zone and therefore a lot of people frequent the city to buy cheap electronics items and wares. It is a fairly large city…
However there is not much to be seen in this city. There is a small Military Museum displaying the Arab-Israel war that Egypt had a lot of success in. And then the Suez Canal itself… on the other side of the Suez Canal is Port Fouad… Suez's twin city… one can cross over from one side to another by free ferry service. And while crossing over one would be able to appreciate the beauty of it all… with birds flying all around… jumping at every morsel thrown by fellow mates… and their relentless noise.
When Juno started the journey… he was unsure whether he will be able to accompany me right till the end of it or not. There were certain pressing concerns that he was supposed to address and that were to decide his continuance with me on this journey. In Port Said, he decided to go back to Cairo and attend those pressing concerns. I felt a bit lost. In last few days I had developed a special relationship with Juno. It was fun traveling with him for last three days.
My next destination was supposed to be El Arish… a small Mediterranean town in the North Sinai… this town is otherwise famous for being close to Rafah… a border town with Gaza Strip… and whenever there is any problems in Gaza Strip… its reverberations are heard in Rafah and El Arish. I had always wanted to visit El Arish and see the place for myself… if possible visit Rafah and talk to some Palestinian refugees. However, somehow or the other… El Arish remained a distant dream.
There seems to be a road connecting Port Fouad and El Arish… I enquired and realized that there is a direct route between the two places… going through a place called Zerenike National Park… but that road is out of bounds for foreigners and there is absolutely no public transport on the road. Thus to reach El Arish I need to go to either Qantara or Ismailiya and then take a bus to El Arish. Qantara being closer, I chose it.
It was time to say goodbye… Juno left back to Cairo… we started the journey as acquaintance… and departed as friends… traveling has this unique ability to bring out the best or the worst of the relationship between fellow travelers.
The road to Qantara is picturesque… it meanders along a narrow canal and on the other side of the canal one can see vast expanse of green fields and small idyllic village. This area is an economic hub… for trade, for fishing and for agriculture… I was told by some people that the towns of Port Said, Ismailiya and Suez… are actually more metropolitan and in tune with times that even Cairo. The more I traveled in the region the more I realized… why is it so.
El Arish is poorly connected… there are not many bus services to it from either Qantara or Ismailiya… the deficit, however, is made up by a stream of microbuses connecting the two places… I was lucky to get one such microbus, as soon as I arrived at Qantara… therefore I did not get much time to see the place and form an opinion about the place.
And then when the bus started… I started dozing… till I saw the Mubarak Peace Bridge… connecting either side of the Suez Canal… it is a sight to watch… an engineering marvel. A cantilever Bridge that is given sufficient height to let the ships cross from underneath it… and thus is raised on pillars… it has a special architecture… and therefore would be a delight for any Civil Engineer to study. And when you reach atop you can see a panoramic view of entire canal and can see ships passing through it…. One of the most beautiful sights, I had ever seen.
I dozed off again… till the bus reached El Arish.
It is a huge city… and on the western parts of the city there is a huge Industrial complex that stretches for more than 10-12 kilometers. However… the urban squalor that is so very much evident in Cairo is missing in Alexandria. Alexandria is one of my favourite places in Egypt.
This time around… however we did not intend to stay in Alexandria… we wanted to move to Port Said… remember how it was supposed to be a wandering in those that I haven’t visited as yet. The only hitch however was that the bus service for the city had stopped for the day… we had to find some alternative mode to Port Said. And on a little questioning here and there, we did… a Microbus to Port Said.
We were feeling hungry and before the microbus moved… we needed to have something for our famished stomach. Juno pointed out towards a road side joint… equivalent of an Indian Dhaba… we rushed there… and had soul-full of Kushri… we were on our feet again… and raring to go.
In the microbus in which we were traveling… there sat two kids, unaccompanied… earlier there guardians in Alexandria spoke with the driver of the Microbus to leave them at a particular destination in Part Said. The Driver nodded… this act underlined something very beautiful about the Egyptian society. This society still reserves a lot of moral consciousness and sense of brotherhood… sometimes I argue that this may be due to Islam… which prescribes a strict set of moral dos and don'ts for its followers, unlike other religions that are a bit fuzzy when it comes to dos and don'ts. But then it has also something to do with the simplicity of life in this country… especially outside Cairo… similar moral uprightness can be seen in Uttaranchal in India… I was amazed at the simplicity of the people over there… and the sense of brotherhood and faith in each other.
We reached Port Said at 2 am… our first job was to search a place to sleep. We reached a place called Hotel Milano… a decent hotel… though my complain was about the small sized bathrooms in the hotel. Exhausted, we went to sleep.
Port Said is located at the northern end of Suez Canal… it is a Customs Free Zone and therefore a lot of people frequent the city to buy cheap electronics items and wares. It is a fairly large city…
However there is not much to be seen in this city. There is a small Military Museum displaying the Arab-Israel war that Egypt had a lot of success in. And then the Suez Canal itself… on the other side of the Suez Canal is Port Fouad… Suez's twin city… one can cross over from one side to another by free ferry service. And while crossing over one would be able to appreciate the beauty of it all… with birds flying all around… jumping at every morsel thrown by fellow mates… and their relentless noise.
When Juno started the journey… he was unsure whether he will be able to accompany me right till the end of it or not. There were certain pressing concerns that he was supposed to address and that were to decide his continuance with me on this journey. In Port Said, he decided to go back to Cairo and attend those pressing concerns. I felt a bit lost. In last few days I had developed a special relationship with Juno. It was fun traveling with him for last three days.
My next destination was supposed to be El Arish… a small Mediterranean town in the North Sinai… this town is otherwise famous for being close to Rafah… a border town with Gaza Strip… and whenever there is any problems in Gaza Strip… its reverberations are heard in Rafah and El Arish. I had always wanted to visit El Arish and see the place for myself… if possible visit Rafah and talk to some Palestinian refugees. However, somehow or the other… El Arish remained a distant dream.
There seems to be a road connecting Port Fouad and El Arish… I enquired and realized that there is a direct route between the two places… going through a place called Zerenike National Park… but that road is out of bounds for foreigners and there is absolutely no public transport on the road. Thus to reach El Arish I need to go to either Qantara or Ismailiya and then take a bus to El Arish. Qantara being closer, I chose it.
It was time to say goodbye… Juno left back to Cairo… we started the journey as acquaintance… and departed as friends… traveling has this unique ability to bring out the best or the worst of the relationship between fellow travelers.
The road to Qantara is picturesque… it meanders along a narrow canal and on the other side of the canal one can see vast expanse of green fields and small idyllic village. This area is an economic hub… for trade, for fishing and for agriculture… I was told by some people that the towns of Port Said, Ismailiya and Suez… are actually more metropolitan and in tune with times that even Cairo. The more I traveled in the region the more I realized… why is it so.
El Arish is poorly connected… there are not many bus services to it from either Qantara or Ismailiya… the deficit, however, is made up by a stream of microbuses connecting the two places… I was lucky to get one such microbus, as soon as I arrived at Qantara… therefore I did not get much time to see the place and form an opinion about the place.
And then when the bus started… I started dozing… till I saw the Mubarak Peace Bridge… connecting either side of the Suez Canal… it is a sight to watch… an engineering marvel. A cantilever Bridge that is given sufficient height to let the ships cross from underneath it… and thus is raised on pillars… it has a special architecture… and therefore would be a delight for any Civil Engineer to study. And when you reach atop you can see a panoramic view of entire canal and can see ships passing through it…. One of the most beautiful sights, I had ever seen.
I dozed off again… till the bus reached El Arish.
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