When I was 21 in the mid '80's I did a 3 month overland trip from Botswana to Kenya in an old Bedford Army Truck. My Mum had suggested that at the end of the trip I should go to Egypt as it was so close and it might be some time before I ever get the chance to get there again. I really resisted at first because to me Egypt was only about history and monuments and I really struggled with history at school so didn't see the point. Though my Mum can be very persuasive when she wants to be so sure enough I found myself on a flight to Cairo arriving at 3am!
As luck would have it the girl sitting next to me on the plane was also an Aussie and staying in the same hotel so on arrival we arranged a taxi together. At the hotel there had been some mix-up with the rooms and they had only one so we decided to share and of course didn't sleep as we stayed up chatting about our recent travels.
At breakfast we met some other travelers who were heading out to the Pyramids for some horse riding. Now the Pyramids was one thing I really did want to see and I could ride so why not? The first shattered illusion is that the Pyramids are not miles out in the desert rather they were right smack back on the edge of Cairo. So the city looked out to the Pyramids and the Pyramids looked back at the city... hmm interesting.
We made our way to the horseman and discovered that most of his horses were quite wild an not really for the inexperienced rider. So the quiet horses were given to those that didn't really ride and the two wildest ones were given to the guide and me. That was cool. I am certainly not the best rider though I am happy to hold on tight and just go fast and anyway if I fell off I would be only falling into sand right? Actually no. Where we started and closer to the Pyramids there is a lot of rubble and I certainly wouldn't want to be falling off. So I guess holding on tight was all I could do.
As we headed out it was obvious my horse was not going to walk, it was either full speed or not at all for this one. Our guide suggested that he and I race around behind the pyramids and come around the front with an invisible finish line to the Sphinx. In my estimation that was about 3/4 of a kilometre and most of it was sand so why not? He headed out first to lead the way and I followed close behind, figuring I could catch him up once we got closer to the Pyramids! We were in full gallop and then in an instant he disappeared! He didn't fall off as both he and his horse disappeared. I was just about on the same spot not knowing what was there that made this happen and the next thing I know we are on the side of a sand dune and the horse is like sliding down the dune. It seemed to know what it was doing so I just held the mane tighter and hoped for the best.
As we approached the Pyramids a tourist group of about 30 people arrived right in front of our path. The guide started yelling and screaming for everyone to get out of the way. People started running everywhere, it was pretty chaotic and funny at the same time. However this all worked to my advantage as my guide was really breaking the path and I was able to sweep in behind up the cleared path to ride past the Sphinx. Another victory for the Aussies!
Certainly not what I imagined I would be doing in Egypt. However, this turned out to be the beginning of an amazing trip. My Mum was right, 18 years later I have not been back, so I am very grateful for the two weeks I did have experiencing this wonderful country.
