Marion's Egypt diary - 2011

Marion Bunnik was recently based in Cairo meeting our first lot of small groups on their Egypt tours. Below is a recount from Marion on her time in Cairo and the current state of the city.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Marion Bunnik travels to Egypt with the first small group tour

Today I travelled with our first group to arrive in Egypt after the revolution that started late January. Our tour was scheduled to travel to Sakkara the Step Pyramid, Memphis and Giza to visit the Pyramids and the Sphinx. I have travelled to Egypt many times, especially at this time of year, and this time it was very quiet. While March is generally one of the busiest months to visit Egypt, the recent events have definitely affected the number of tourists in the country. I have noticed a number of different nationalities in Cairo so far – many from Europe, some even from Korea.

Our partners in Cairo, Flywell Travel, were very happy that our small group tours had started heading back to Egypt. So happy that they had special gifts prepared for our March Bunnik Tours passengers including an Egyptian Flag, pins with our Australian Flag and an “I love Egypt” logo, as well as an “I love Egypt” cap. Needless to say, our passengers were all taken by their special gifts.

The small number of tourists in Egypt proved to be an advantage for our group as we only had to share the main sites with a few other tour groups. We even had some great photo opportunities without having to wait in line for the best position!

Everywhere we went, we were greeted with “Welcome to Egypt” banners and at the great Pyramids, we found a group of young people with large signs showing that they loved Egypt and that Egypt is welcoming tourists back. We all joined these young people for a photo and they then asked us to have our photos taken with them individually. They were so happy to see us in Egypt visiting their famous historical sites. It was touching to see how they welcomed us, as they weren’t even people in the tourism industry.

There is a real sense of freedom in Cairo at the moment. People are feeling free of the dictatorship and are looking forward to a “new Egypt”. The people I have spoken to are convinced it will be a long process that will take many years – and they’re happy to wait, as long as it gets done correctly. The most important thing is that people have jobs, education, health care and a better living standard, and above all, a roof above their heads and food on the table.

Our team in Egypt is the best team I have ever worked with, and I trust that they will look after you and give you the best Egypt experience. It's been nice travelling to Egypt during these quiet times whilst the tourist numbers are still low.

The Egyptian people will welcome you warmly with their kindness, and their hospitality will touch your heart. Your holiday to Egypt will live with you forever.

Thursday 17 March 2011

Marion joins the Egypt, Jordan and Israel group in Cairo

I met our next Bunnik Tours group of 7 during their welcome dinner at the Le Meridien Hotel. It was so nice meeting them first at dinner before the tour started.

On the first day of the tour, I joined them on a city tour. Everyone was so keen to see where all the action unfolded on the streets. Tahir Square is now world-famous as we have now all seen it so many times on our televisions. Our guide, Sherien, told us how she and the other family members had been demonstrating during the uprising, and the passionate ones were there for 18 days straight!

Just behind the Egyptian Museum, is the government building that was supposedly burnt down by protestors. Today we heard that it was actually lit by the supporters for the Mubarrak regime and the police to hide evidence of corruption.

It was an amazing feeling to be at this major square where so much had happened in the last 2 months. It was surreal to find Tahir Square like it should be, with people going on with their daily business.

I mentioned before that tourists had started coming back to Cairo. The Egyptian museum was even busier than the pyramids, however it is still very different to other years where there are hundreds of people lining up to see the Egyptian historical treasures.

Our next visit was to the El Khahill Bazaar, one of the great places to visit and to grab bargain souvenir. Many sellers were actively trying to sell their goods, especially now with such few tourists, they have to work harder. The stall holders were so pleased to see us, that we were greeted by most with “Welcome to Egypt”. There are all sorts of really interesting goods to buy from the bazaar, from silver lamps, copper lanterns and gold and silver jewellery, just to name a few.

We quickly moved on and braved the traffic of Cairo - for the people who have not experienced the traffic in Cairo, it is an organised chaos! Cars drive literally 6 wide on a 3 lane road. They go from one to the other lane without indicating or waiting. The traffic consists of cars, busses, motorbikes, bicycles as well as horse drawn carts pulling their loads of goods. It’s a very colourful and exciting traffic jam to say the least!

Friday 18 March 2011

Cairo to Zanzibar Group

Today I spent the day with our Cairo to Zanzibar Group and had a great time – they were such a fun bunch and all got on together very well.

As with the other groups, I was curious to find out what made them decide to travel with Bunnik Tours. In most cases, they were travelling with us for the first time and most of the time, choosing us came through recommendation. Also, one couple who live on the north coast of NSW told me they were recommended by 2 different friends to travel with us. Needless to say, I was very happy and proud to hear that. The comments I received from the service of our teams in both Adelaide and Melbourne would make you think I paid them to say all these compliments about our staff in both offices. Obviously, this made my day!

Today there was a real buzz about in Cairo, the atmosphere has been very relaxed and optimistic since I arrived. I clearly felt the change compared to my last stay in Egypt at the end of October last year, as if there was a heaviness that had been lifted. Today was even more special as 45 million people would vote in a referendum for constitutional change. The overall feeling was that this time their vote would actually make a difference and would count – this is not something the Egyptian people had experienced before and they were understandably excited and proud.

While we were driving back from a great day of sightseeing at Giza, Memphis and Sakkara, there were many people walking towards the places where they could lodge their votes. Families were everywhere, many young people amongst them all with big smiles on their faces waving at us contently. It was so invigorating to see all these people so happy to vote. All of us felt so special to be part of this unique experience and share the happiness of the Egyptian people.

Our day was just marvellous! I also received many compliments from this group on how knowledgeable our Egyptologist Guide was. For this group, it is Medhat and the excellent service of our local support staff (Amr’s team) who is assisting them with whatever they require. I am so proud of our team on the ground here in Egypt – throughout the crisis they have been nothing short of amazing and I have nothing but the highest admiration for them.

Saturday 19 March 2011

David and Susan Knight from Northgate, S.A., are currently in Egypt and have have recently emailed us some feedback

To the Bunnik Tours team,

When the Revolution began in January, we had just paid in full our proposed March trip to Egypt, so we decided to wait and see before cancelling, especially as rescheduling was not an option for us, due to fixed holidays. Dennis Bunnik’s immediate leaping on a plane to Egypt - turning back his own tour groups which were still en-route, and entering the country to ensure those already there got out safely, was perhaps the best testimony we could have that this was a company which took personal responsibility for the safety of its clients. Their website contained honest and helpful updates. It was clear that they had a long and stable association with their Egypt operators, who had been heroic in their assistance during the chaos.

Friends urged us not to go, but we kept in touch with Bunnik Tours as the situation stabilised. Their information was ‘on the ground’ and ours was only through major news reports. As a family business, Bunnik Tours had a lot to lose if they pushed a risky tour, so we decided that if they believed it was safe, then we would go. By the beginning of March, we were happy to hear that the tour would go ahead, and the fact that Marion Bunnik was prepared to base herself in Cairo during our tour, was another reassurance.

Not being very brave, especially about flying, I wondered how I would feel once I was in Egypt.

I feel perfectly safe, and as tourists we have been welcomed enthusiastically. It is clear that everyone is very excited about the hope for true democracy, and the mood is happy and positive. The people are proud of their country and of their army for supporting them.

Many tourists have cancelled, but we are extremely glad that we didn’t. We have had all the pyramids, historical monuments and attractions almost to ourselves in peak season, with not a queue in sight. We’ve also had the very best weather, prices are down, and with the Australian dollar so strong against the Egyptian pound, everything is working in our favour. It’s not good business for the Egyptians, but fantastic value for us.

Everywhere we have found people are polite and respectful to both male and female visitors, and a calm and cheerful temperament seems to prevail, even in the sardine crowds of the bazaar. Our tour bus is greeted in the madness of Cairo traffic jams with grins and blown kisses from adults and children alike. When they wave and smile and say, “welcome to our country!” and “You are welcome in Egypt!” we feel that they mean it above the dollar value, because it comes even from people who are not selling.

Some people at home may worry about visiting Egypt because of serious events in other Middle East countries, but when you are here, you realise that is like worrying about Sydney because there are bushfires in Tasmania.

We are so thrilled that we came - and we’re still only half way through our tour. Our Egyptologist guide, Eman, is brilliant, and we’re looking forward to seeing and learning many more amazing things.

Thanks Bunnik Tours, for the trip of a lifetime!
David & Susan Knight

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Dashsur and Coptic Cairo

Today I joined our Discover the Pharaohs group on a couple of optional tours to Dashsur and Coptic Cairo.

This group was being led by Eman, one of our longest serving and most popular Egyptologists. Her knowledge is incredible and her enthusiasm is infectious! As we left Cairo, Eman gave us some interesting information regarding a new irrigation scheme planned in the south of the country and a gold mining venture being undertaken by an Australian company.

On our way to Dashsur, we passed through many small villages where daily life was continuing as it has for many years, with horse drawn carts, busses and cars all staking their claim to the road while school children walked to classes. Every time they noticed us tourists, they would wave to us, welcome us to Egypt and even blow kisses.

The Pyramid at Dashsur, also known as the Red Pyramid, is the most perfect pyramid. It dates back to around 2550BC built by Snofru, the first ruler of the 4th Dynasty. It’s incredible! We were the only group there and the tourism police on camels made the sight even more spectacular. We entered the pyramid by climbing steep stairs then we walked down 65 meters and entered 2 chambers. This was a great bit of morning exercise for us and from the top of the stairs we had an amazing view of the desert.

The local Bedouin man sitting to protect the entrance, was kind enough to allow me to take his photo and happy with the small change I gave him. Also, the tourist police posed various times for us, even on the back of our group photo in front of the pyramid.

The Bent Pyramid, located approximately 2km from the Dashsur Pyramid, is very interesting as well. The shape is so different - the angle has been changed half way up. There are various theories about why this happened which make an interesting read. It’s definitely an unusual site.

Coptic Cairo
In the afternoon, we left the hotel for our Coptic Cairo excursion. In Egypt, 15% of the population are Coptic Christian. During one of my previous visits to Cairo, I visited several monasteries north of Cairo on the way to Alexandria which I thoroughly enjoyed. Eman, a devoted Muslim, has studied religion for 3 years at university, in addition to her Egyptology degree. She knows so much about the other religions, as well as her own, Islam.

Our first visit was the Hanging Church. This Coptic Church was built on top of the ruins of the Roman Fortress which was built 1AD, and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is also built on top of the Watergate of Babelon. The Nile use to flow here many years ago. This is no longer the case and the Nile is now very far from the Roman fortress and the church. This is still very much a working church and spiritual holy place. In the lead up to Easter, the Coptic Christians visit the church and pray every day.

Our next stop was the Church of Sergius and Saint Bagus. The story goes that during the time that Maria, Joseph and Jesus had to flee Palestine, they lived in an area under the church. The holy family lived in Egypt for 3 years at various places during the time of Herodus, when he use to order people to flee and order for all young Jewish males to be killed. When Herodus died, the Holy Family returned back to Palastine. We also visited the Synagogue of Ben Ezra - the oldest Synagogue in Egypt.

Despite visiting Egypt many times before, I had never actually visited the old part of Coptic Cairo so it was a real eye-opener to me. The sense of history and of spirituality is incredible and well worth the visit.

Saturday 26 March 2011

Farewell dinner with the Cairo to Zanzibar Group

I can’t believe I’ve been in Cairo for 10 days already. The time has flown and I’ve met so many lovely people. Over and over again, I’ve been hearing from our clients how lovely and welcoming the Egyptian people have been to them. I experienced it again today when my room attendant bought me 2 bunches of flowers to make my room a bit more homely – they had been in another room who had checked out this morning and he thought I would like them.

The rest of the Bunnik Tours passengers feel the same. They also do not feel threatened by the Libyan situation at all. They know Libya is so far from Cairo and the areas they visit on their tour is as far as the Pacific Islands or Papua New Guinea are from Australia. Although we are saddened by any situation that happens close to home, it has minimal impact on our daily life in Australia. The passengers are all happy that they continued with their original holiday plans and did not cancel.

The farewell dinner tonight was in the Egyptian Night tent in the garden of the Marriott Hotel. The Marriott Hotel is a beautiful palace where King Farouk used to live. The reception, function rooms and dining rooms are inside the palace, and the hotel lies in the 2 towers on each side. The location of the Marriott Hotel is excellent - it is in the upmarket Zamelek area on an island in the Nile.

It was great to see the people travelling on the Cairo to Zanzibar tour again. I had spent a wonderful day with them and their Egyptologist Medhat, visiting Dashsur and Coptic Cairo during their first stay in Cairo.

After lots of hugs, we sat down to talk about their experiences of upper Egypt. They all loved it! The weather was perfect and the sites were free of big crowds. They cruised from Luxor to Aswan on the beautiful Sonesta Sun Goddess cruise. The real highlights along the way for them were the temple of Abu Simbel, the Valley of the Kings and Karnak Temple at Luxor.

They were all really looking forward to the next part of their adventure – Kenya. No one could believe that in just a couple of days they would be looking at lions and elephants in the wild regions of Samburu and the Masai Mara.

All in all, it was a great night with some great entertainment put on by the Marriot – the perfect ending to their, and my stay, in Egypt.