Shopping Trip to the Khan

Yesterday I had a very successful shopping trip to the Khan, so I thought I'd better blog about it. But then realised that I cannot publish the blog post until after Christmas otherwise everyone will read all about their presents!!!

So we had the day off work because it was Islamic New Year. I wanted to go to the Khan to buy a few things and we've just not had time this term as we've both been so busy, but also without any visitors coming over we've not really had an excuse. I wasn't sure if the Khan would be open because of the holiday, so I waited until after lunch before heading down. Scotty's foot has been hurting him for the last week or so and he had a lot of work to do, so I went solo.

I got the metro to Attaba as normal and headed out through the (tip-winning!) book market. I normally head to the right-hand side as this side has the old film posters and once also had some Tintin books. It's a crush as usual at the top of the stairs, but then I am walking along looking at the different stalls. I then notice that for only the second time they have Tintin books. This time I'm determined not to let the opportunity pass, so I pick them up and ask "bikam?" It's an arabic copy of Tintin and the Picaros and Tintin and the Shooting Star. Neither are in great condition, but that doesn't bother me. "hamzah w' hamzah" is the reply. I try "hamzah collo?" but he shakes his head and laughs "ahsra collo" "mesh" He asks "English?" and I reply "aywa" and he starts looking for other books, but I just point to the face of Tintin and say "like this?" He finds me an Asterix book, but it's hard to explain in broken arabic that for me Tintin is far superior to this little French guy. I pay and head off very satisfied with my first purchase; 10LE on two Tintin books.

I wind my way around the theatre that's still being renovated and make my way up Mohamed Ali street. I have fun looking in the shops and just observing life. Half-way up the street I go to make the left-hand turn to wards Bab Zuweyla but before crossing the road decide to pop into the apparently now open Museum of Islamic Art. the first door I try is very sparse and the guy directs me around the corner. Popping my head in the door I see that it is done up beautifully and very well ordered. The sign outside states that it is open 9am-5pm and costs 50LE for foreigners. We'll have to go when we next have visitors over.

Now up to Bab Zuweyla and I pass the small herbs and spices shop that we first stopped in with Aaron and Laura.  It was a good discovery as they sell at proper prices, not tourist prices, and have a decent range of stuff here. I've decided to get some more dried hibiscus as we recently used our last supplies up to make a sweet (but not as syrup-like as we'd hoped) cordial that now stands in our fridge and we get out when we fancy something different to water. "lahsemat? mumkin karkedey?" he replies with a mumble that I cannot make out, but I assume is asking me how much I want. Luckily Mr Ayman our arabic teacher taught us the time in our last lesson, so I know the word for a quarter! "robha kilo" He obliges and then looks at me quizzically to see if I'm after anything else "shukran, hallas" (thanks, that's it/finished) "mesh, tamanya ginea" and I hand over my 8LE

We pass by this store every time we go this way and have always enjoyed the aromas coming out, but never had a reason to go in. It's the coffee place, that roasts and grinds its own beans and we've never had a coffee maker so have only used 3-in-1. Now we have the amazing Aeropress brought back from Canada and we need ground coffee. The first packet we bought in Saveway was far too fine and clogged the filter, so we spent ages finding another coffee that wasn't as fine as the Egyptian standard (and it took them almost as long to find the price of this never-bought coffee in the shop!). I look towards the coffee place now and the guy catches my eye and gestures for me to come in. He asks if I want coffee and shows me an open clear bag with freshly ground coffee. It smells amazing. I touch it between my fingers and try to say I need it bigger. He understands and he gives me a seat. He comes back with some other and I again say I need it bigger as I know it will be too fine for our filter. He says he can make me some, but I must come back in 20 minutes. I say this is no problem and although he offers for me to stay and sit at the shop I know I have a few more things to buy near-by so I promise him to come back again in a bit.

I'm into the tent-makers market now and off to see our favourite man there. He recognises me straight away and we share pleasantries when he says he hasn't seen me for a long time and asks how my friends are. I'm here on a mission. When Jane and Graham first come to visit us they bought a pair of cushions from here, then we bought an additional pair, based on the colour description from them, for Jane's birthday so that their newly painted living room would have four matching cushions. Last year for Christmas though we found a fun pair of Santa cushion covers in the Recycling Shop of Mokattam, so for the holiday Jane changed the covers. However when packing up the Christmas decorations she wasn't able to find the old covers and so the living room has been Santa-themed for nearly a year! I get out my mobile phone and find the photo I took this summer of the two remaining patterned cushions. "Yes, I have!" our man exclaims and he immediately finds two that match perfectly! 50LE job done

I'm also in the market for some calligraphy, but our man doesn't have that great a range, so I pop next door and meet Ashraf who shows me his work. I spy a mini-version of the oud calligraphy that we have in our living room. We've been after one for some time and it's the perfect gift for a muso we know. I know which one I want, but Ashraf insists on showing me every different colour combination and lots of fish calligraphy too. I also manage to get a sufi dancer hanging with lovely colours and movement too that will do as a birthday present for a friend who I'll see over Christmas. 115LE job done

Now I scarper back to my coffee man. It's been more like 30 minutes than 20 and I hope he hasn't forgotten or given up on me. I retrace my steps and see him as I approach the store. He waves me in and has a clear plastic bag of ground coffee - it looks good. He gets me to touch it to see the gind and it looks just right, so he then bags some up for me. They have their own bags and he gives me a little over the "robha kilo" that I asked for. Then when he gives it to me I ask "bikam?" and he says "ghali". I'm confused because ghali means expensive, I'm sure. I look at the board at the back of the shop and it has prices there for half, quarter and another fraction of a kilo. It should be around 10LE I think. "we says ghali - free" he says. "free? no!" and I try to pay, but he refuses. "shukran awi ustaz" I say and shake his hand. I ask his name and it is Tarek, so I make a mental note so that I can speak to him again when we come by this way with our next visitors and will probably need more coffee!

I head off back towards Bab Zuweyla but head through the gate itself now and towards the main market. I can feel through the small plastic bag holding the coffee that it is still warm!
I browse the stalls as I walk along to Midan Hussein. One thing we're after for our NYE fancy dress outfits is some material - it needs to be brown and furry as Scotty is dressing as a monkey. When I get to the main road I walk slowly along some of the fabric shops here before crossing over. I find a little loop if I keep going left on myself and end up under the mosque in a warren of high rolls of fabric. It's good stuff, but not what I'm after.

Over the bridge and I want to buy a Cleopatra-style beaded head piece. I know some stalls will sell it, but we normally see loads being sold by the hawkers who come into Fishawi's as we drink our tea, so I decide to head there. I'm by myself, but this doesn't matter as I get a seat inside and order a cold karkady. My motivation is that I want to see if mine can compare! Mine is nearly there, but still not quite as sweet and strong. I text Scotty and he reminds me that my winter drink is sahleb, and I'm a little disappointed to have forgotten about this. Despite my willingness to buy no one comes in trying to sell a beaded head piece, so I'm back on the streets. I see in two stores close to Midan Hussein they have a metal crown - the type worn by the Pharaoh's of Egypt. It's pretty cool, but a little pricey too. I haggle away and manage to get both for 60LE one each for Emi and Alex so they can play Ancient Egyptians.

This is most of my shopping done now so I start to think about heading back. As I head towards the main road to walk to the Metro I have a brain wave about Scotty's monkey costume. There are so many naff tracksuits here that maybe if I could get a tracksuit of the right material this would do the job. Instead of walking down the main road I decide to take the shopping street of Muski. This street becomes more local once you get just 50m down it away from the Khan and it narrows as it continues (or maybe the shops are spreading more onto the street). There are lots of places along here with potential and so I keep my eye out for something that could fit the bill. I find one tracksuit in brown velour that looks just great. It's 80LE and I phone Scott for confirmation that this is a viable idea. He approves and says that if it doesn't work out we haven't lost too much money. This tracksuit is a great colour, but the logos on it are bigger than I'd like, so I keep going.

I then pass a shop that has something familiar hanging outside it; a dress-up Egyptian police uniform! We've seen and bought one of these before the other side of the road towards bab Zuweyla as we just thought it was too cute to pass up. The one we have already is in white; the summer uniform. But this store has one in balck too! I just cannot resist and ask how much he wants for it. He asks for 80LE and I laugh and say "La-a. I have like this and I pay 30" He does the line about this being better material, but I say "La, same-same" I get him down to 50LE and don't think he'll go any further, so I pay up. Very happy that we now have fancy dress for all seasons.

Further on I finally find a tracksuit that looks really good and has far smaller logos. It's a three-piece with a t-shirt in brown too. The shop-owners are very excited and ask me questions about the training I will do in it! At 110LE and I can't get them down to 100, but settle for it.

I final purchase is a bit of fun. I see an arabic rubix cube and think this will do nicely for Scotty's table present on Christmas Day - something to help us practice!

I'm laden with bags now and have to push my way through the crowds passing the naff Christmas decorations and dangerous fireworks towards the Metro. I get there just before it gets dark which was my aim and jump on. I don't get a seat on the way back, but do once I'm home and enjoy showing Scotty all my new purchases over a G&T.

Merry Christmas! It's time for Sandy Claus!

Merry Christmas!

Yes, we've been planning handmade presents for quite a while this year, and by now those lucky recipients should have found their bottles of the exclusive Sandy Claus beer from the Grand Malt Brewery!

Here's a bit of the background to the beer in two parts.  The first is when we bottled it, the second is when we were nearly denied entry to Cairo airport in October for trying to bring it back to the UK.

And, finally, the tasting...

UKNova Awards

So, we won.  Yay!  Twice!  YAY!

Firstly, the Felukuleles won Best Sitting Duck for the Old Bazaar In Cairo video.  Alice and I also won the prize for the best cultural video, and receive a limited edition (i.e. limited to only one having been made) UKNova Mug.

It's not quite a Guardian Top Tip, nor a meal for two at a 5-star hotel restaurant, but I'm still pleased that hours of hard work paid off :-)

Double winner!

I posted a few weeks ago saying that my ivebeenthere book shop tip had been shortlisted but didn't win. that post though was still 12 hours before the paper was published and when I checked the following day I found that actually I DID win the competition - top tipper!!
I was really chuffed as my Alexandria tip was highlighted before but they weren't giving prizes then. Also the top tip is selected by a writer for the Lonely Planet which is pretty cool. So the prize I've won is a digital camera from Jessops. It looks to be about the same size as my current one which is cool as I like having a small camera that is easy to carry around, but I've had mine for at least 5 years and I think the focus is going a bit dodgey on it (or I use it too much when I'm a bit tipsy). It arrived at MVR earlier this week along with a letter saying I've also got a code for a free photo book. Awesome - because we want to make a 2010 photo book to go with the beautiful 2009 one that Scotty did for me last year.
So we were pretty pleased with being a winner, but then we won again!
Last night was the BCA Ball which was a blast as usual (free bar with proper booze!). They always have a raffle with prizes from various big companies in Egypt with the biggest prize being a return flight BMI between London and Cairo and then another prize being hotel stays in Sharm or the like. The last two years they have sold raffle tickets when you're there, but this year we all had two numbers on the back of our tickets that would be in the draw. It's a notorious fix as we never win anything, or our friend Frenchie wins everything (she won three prizes in her first year). Sometimes they even have consecutive numbers drawn out, so we sit at our table yeklling "fix, fix! Mix the tickets up! Take one from the bottom instead!" etcetc. They draw the four big prizes and then everyone loses interest and patience, so start talking and going to the bar. So they then just put a board up near the bar after a while with the other winning tickets and their prizes for people to check themselves.
I see that the board is up and Scotty starts talking to Mike from the BCA in a joking way about what a fix it is. But then I take a look and think I recognise one of the numbers, so I go back to our table and grab our tickets to check. Get in! We are winners! Our prize is dinner for two at the Grand Hyatt in Chingari, their Indian Restaurant.

















Winners!

Delivery - Egypt Today

In September we bought a copy of this magazine from SaveWay as it looked like it could be interesting. It's called Egypt Today and is a monthly glossy with interesting looking articles on the front.
Inside there are a fair number of adverts and random advertising features, but most of the pages are relevent and interesting stories and opinion pieces. It's refreshing to have a more western outlook on what is happening where we live, rather than reading the distance of the BBC or the overly close government papers. The opinion pieces aren't always the top story in the news, but are topical and definitely bring new light for us.
Not many places stock the magazine and in November we visited three shops before we could find our third issue. Inside the magazine it had a little note about subscribing, so we decided to do that.
I emailed the company - based in Degla - and said we'd like to subscribe. They got straight back and said they'd send a man the next day! Our gas and electricity bill is collected monthly from our door and it seems that this would be the same! He came round and spoke no English, but had an envelope with my name on it and inside a receipt for the subscription price. I paid him the price and took the receipt - job done!
We're in the first week of the month and Scotty comes home and hears our bowab shouting "ya meester, meester!" and running towards his home in the underground car park of our building. He comes out clutching our copy of Egypt Today. Our first piece of mail delivered! (although probably delivered by hand by the company themselves).
I was excited and wanted to share with everyone the label - and hence our address - in Arabic.

Garbage Dreams

It's been a busy time, but I thought I'd get a quick post up about something I've been doing at work.
Part of my new job this year is encouraging community/service work amongst students at school.  At the end of last year I received an email about a film that had been released and was looking to do screenings in schools/organisations around Cairo. It sounded amazing as I was immediately trying to find out more.
The film is called Garbage  Dreams and is a documentary filmed over two-to-three years in the Mansheeyet Nasr (Garbage City) area of Cairo. This is where all the rubbish from the city goes and the community of Copts living there sort the garbage by hand, then compost or recycle it. We've blogged about Garbage City before when we visited the recycling project there. The film follows three boys/young men as they grow up in the "trash trade", trying to make a living, but also facing the same pressures of being a teenager that anyone feels. The film also shows how the Zebeleen community is having their business taken away from them by foreign garbage companies, and so their livelihood is under threat.
It's a truly brilliant film and more can be found out about it on their website www.garbagedreams.com and on the PBS website which also has extra making-of footage, a game and lesson ideas.
The Zebaleen currently manage to recycle 80% of what they receive (compared to 20% in the UK) but he told me that up to 20% of the paper they receive, for example, cannot be recycled as it has been contaminated by organics. So they are now trying to encourage people to sought their rubbish into into "organic" and "non-organic" which makes recycling easier. Thee is also a Recycling School for boys which is an amazing project, sponsored by P&G and kids from garbage city are paid to come to the school and learn about numeracy, literacy, computers and finance - all in the context of their garbage collecting/recycling. For example they are paid by P&G for every branded shampoo bottle they collect (this is in P&G's interests, because otherwise bootleg products are resold in bottles), and this means that their parents can get money to help them compensate for the fact that the kids cannot earn money from garbage collecting when they are in class. All very clever!
So after hearing about this film I was totally enthused and felt we had to do something at school. Since September I have organised a themed Environment Day (aka Green Day!) and managed to rearrange the school timetable to get 800 students into a 300-seater theater (three back-to-back sittings, with only a half our break) to watch the film. I also arranged for a speaker from the NGO Spirit of Youth to come in and he brought with him three representatives from the Source Segregation team that are trying to encourage people to separate their rubbish and two boys from The Recycling School. They visited our break time and advised us on sorting our rubbish and this gave our kids the chance to ask them questions (as the students had just watched the film). Afterwards they did a Q&A with the 6th-formers which went really well.
After school there was another showing of the film for staff and another Q&A.
A very busy day with lots going on (and lots of other people involved too!) but afterwards it was great to have so many comments from other staff that although they normally don't like all the disruption to the school day, when they saw the film they thought it was really worthwhile. Others also said that when they spoke to their students about it they were really interested and there was a real buzz.
Fundraising during the day has so far raised 4000LE that I know about about I suspect another 7000LE but I'm not sure of that other total yet. I have pledged that all this money will go to The Recycling School and I'm hoping that I can arrange a visit to give the donation to them. I really hope that I can continue the work on this project with the buzz and the links that have been created.
Anyway! Enough about work!!! Posts coming soon from Scotty about the two gigs played last night by Mostly Vegas and One For The Road - a great start to the Christmas part season!

One For The Road - Rebooted!

So last night was the first One For The Road Re-booted gig and my band debut.

Scotty joined "the Irish band" when we first arrived in Cairo following a fortuitious bus conversation about playing guitar in a Star Wars themed punk band, and the band played a number of times in our first year here with everyone loving it!  Last year they only actually played one gig for one reason or another, but kept jamming once a month.  At the end of the year though the accordian player left Cairo and so they weren't too sure where to take the band.  They wanted to get going again but needed a bit of a new sound and some new musicians.

So, this September, One For The Road was rebooted.  I first mused the idea with Scotty at the start of October that as don't have a bass in the band anymore, would Jona be interested in having a bassoon play? Scotty approach Jona and he was keen to try the idea so when we came back from visiting the UK in October I bought my bassoon back with me.

It was two weeks before the gig that I first went along to a rehersal. Scotty and Jona had worked out all the arrangements of songs for the band - this bit takes the longest and requires the greatest amount of beer - and then at home Scotty wrote out bass parts for me. Scotty is very used to playing in a band and responding to what he hears and jamming away if something sounds right, but I'm more used to just playing music from a score. So the first rehersal was a difficult for me as I had to really follow what was written for me, but also work out what was going on for the rest of them! Also Scotty and jona knew the songs and their structure very well and it was a real muddle for me at first to follow and find where we were in pieces that invovled up to eight repeats! But both Scotty and jona liked the sound of the bassoon in the band so we kept going with it. A week before the gig Matt came along to join as drummer and his wife Nic was going to sing with a couple of the songs. The day of the gig and we have a run through at jona's before heading to the venue to set up and sound checked.

Scotty has a headset mic that I'll use on my bassoon. Using an elastic band around the top we thread the mic through and then let the thin wire trail down to the mic pack that I'll keep in my back pocket. Sound checked and things are sounding OK - it's hard to tell with no one in the room and the set up isn't really what the band would like, but it will work for the night.

First band on are the covers band Mostly Vegas, then another band and One For The Road Rebooted are on last; headlining. We play well and the crowd loves the set; dancing and cheering us on. A great gig and the band hope there'll be many more this year.

UKNova Film Competition

The UK TV and radio site we are members of (and for whom we present a weekly radio show) is running a competition for people to put together films or A/V presentations about the place they live.

We have hours of blog videos, but have never used them as anything other than discrete 'episodes' in our life out here.  Therefore, we used the competition as an opportunity to create a 'best of' video that describes life out here.

The results are expected on 12th December.

10th 100km Pharoanic Run - Team Fast or Furious

Where to start? At the start?

When we first moved to Cairo we heard about this mental race that took place in November. Teams would run in relay over a 100km course between the pyramids. Crazy. Some even crazier people would run it as individuals. I'd done a bit of running when living in London, and raced a few 10km's but they were hard and running that distance out here in the heat would be harder....and I'd need to do it twice in a day (team size of five people).  So we let the crazy and crazier do their thing and kept going with ours.

In about March 2010 though two friends came up with a plan - why don't we try and enter a team for the Pharonic - it would be "fun" they said. So, team "Two Allsops, Two Sarahs and a Gibbon" was born and we started training.

Sarah (one of two) had discovered something called PodRunner which was a series on interval training mixes you could download. The dance music varied between fast and slow, when you would run or walk and gradually increase the time and distance you were running. By the end of term in June I had managed to finish the series to run 5km. All going good I bought a pair of trainers in the summer (after having my gait analysed on a treadmill - very exciting) all set to keep training ready for the November race.

Scotty's training was hampered by his knee - he twisted his knee cap badly in the summer of 2009 and, after various MRI and physio appointments, all they could do was give him a few exercises to strenghten the tendons and warn him that it could easily happen again. Not great news. We bought a few different knee supports which would help for a while, but after a week of training he found he had to rest for at least a week to allow his knee to recover. But Scotty is determined to train and to race. It turns out this is why the Gibbon suggested the race team, because he "knew Scotty loved a project".  Determined to see it through, Scotty also bought new trainers over the summer in preparation for a return to training.  We did some intervals training on the steep hills of Buxton, which got us back into the swing of things, but we knew it would be much tougher in the heat of Cairo.

New trainers in hand we returned to Cairo in September ready for training to 10km and training in heat again - as although we knew it will have cooled down by November, it would still be Egypt! Training started well after Scotty had an ingenious plan to create IndieRunner - mixed Indie songs for the same lenghts / bpm as PodRunner so that interval training is more interesting and fun than repetitive house music. Scotty was, however, still hampered by his knee and I joined the gym instead of training on the track at work, as it was too hot to train outside (30C still at 4.30pm).

By late September people were starting to get their race entries in and suddenly our team which aimed to "get round and have fun" had quadrupled in size and we were told that there were nearly 20 of us in the team.  We tried to split the team up, but as we did and entry forms were being completed people started dropping out. Our two Sarahs and a Gibbon decide that they're not going to race and we are unsure what to do for a while.

Then the team was formed: us two, Nicola (who joined school last year and we know really well through music stuff), Fay (who joined school this year, is a keen runner and has said she will organise the team) and David (who joined our Dept at school this year and is hard as nails - so hard that he contemplated doing the race solo!).  We will be team "Fast or Furious"

So race day comes and our alarm is set for 2.15am We get up and dressed into our running gear, plus tracksuits and jumpers, as it is cool out at this time in the morning. We breakfast on a slice of toast and jam as we walk to the meeting point in Maadi. Our team and four other teams are collected by cars someone from school arranged and taken to the hotel the other side of the Cairo from where the race is organised. Here we get our race numbers and pins and a not-to-scale map of the course. Part of our entry fee goes on a team mini-bus and we are bus 10. We have the bus and driver for the day with a box of water and half a tree of bananas to keep us going.

We're meant to leave the hotel at 4am to get to Fayoum where the race starts. Just after 4am our bus pulls out of the hotel, only to pull up outside along the curb. All 100 buses do this until everyone is along the curb and then the convoy sets off. In true Egyptian-style we get 1km down the road and then all do a U-turn to get ourselves in the right direction. Slight mayhem ensues when 100+ minibuses try to do the U-turn. As we head down the Agricultural Road to Fayoum more confusion and delays occur when the convoy manages to stop as half a dozen drivers get out at a road-side cafe to get their coffee fix. No one is really sure what is going on, but after 10 minutes we are on our way again.

It is 6am now, the time the race is due to start, and we are still on the road. Finally we turn off and a few single-track roads later we reach a bit of desert where two step-ladders have been put up and a banner strung between them. The Start.

We get out and the sun is just coming up. It's cold and misty, but we can tell that this mist isn't of the natural kind. In the air we can smell that they have been burning the fields out here. We think we've excaped the pollution of Cairo and find this - great! David heads off to warm up and the rest of us stand about with our arms hugged to our chest - gosh it can get cold out in the desert!

We're glad for our jumpers and are hopeful that the say will stay cool as it will really help in the later miles, but we know at least that David will have a good first leg in this cooler weather. As both the mist and sun rise we see a strange looking mound in the distance behind the start line. With a bit of squinting we make out that it's our first pyramid of the day. As we wander around the starting area we see a few people who look like race officials, then someone with a white coat and a stethascope around his neck (we guess the race Medic) but also a large group of bedouin...with guns. These guys are in gallebeyas with Egyptian pashimas thrown over the shoulders or around their heads to keep warm. They all then have a rifle slung over a shoulder. They are the equivalent of the metal crash barrier for the London Marathon, protecting the route for randoms along the way.

The starters are lined up (the fast, the keen and the nervous) and plugged in, but before they can get going the race organiser is asking for a runner from Team 18. It turns out they got lost on their way here and so after 10 minutes they show up and the race can get underway. Forty minutes behind schedule, the race starts. Bang!

0km David gets off to a good start and is going at pace. We jump in our bus and head up the road following the runners. The road is double track with sand either side and so all of the minibuses are driving alongside the runners - not great conditions for the runners especially as the buses try to overtake each other to get in position alongside their runner. We pass David and yell encouragement out of the window. We decide to pull up at the 5km mark and we jump out to offer him some water. He grabs it and keeps running while he takes a sip. Then comes the flaw in our plan as he runs back to us to give us the bottle back! We'll think this through better next stop!

We head up the road to the 10km mark and this time manage to execute a faultless water stop. Sarah hands him the open bottle of water, Scotty, Fay and I stand and cheer while Nicola is 40m away ready to take water off David when he's done and give him a peeled banana. Good work team!

The next bend takes the race into its first town. We skirt around the edge of this one between the rubbish piles and a deserted railway line. A few kids have come to the ends of the road and look on with interest. Some shout and cheer the runners on. David says it wasn't that pleasent a section because of the burning rubbish encroaching on the road.

We pull up just before 15km ready for another water stop. We're ahead of David and have the routine ready, so are sat in the bus. Nicola heads out to go to the loo and literally bumps into David. "Hello, how are you doing?" he asks as he runs past. We burst into laughter, shocked that we managed to miss our own runner! Some support team we are! We jump into the bus and head 500m in front of him to execute the water stop. He is in good spirits and still laughing at us. He's going well.

We head up to 20km as this will be the end of David's run and where Nicola will take over. She starts warming up and psyching up - getting her MP3 player to start on the right tracks to set her pace. David finishes and Nicola sets off. David's feeling good and we've got 20km under our belt in just over an hour and a half which is what David was aiming for.

He grabs some water and towels down as it's starting to get hot even though it's just 8am. After a break by the bus we head off to catch Nicola up and check she's doing OK. As we drive we see that this section of the route is just a long straight road. It's a dull and draining section for Nicola to have to run as the road continues straight to the horizon and is flanked by desert on either side. We stop after around 2.5km and offer Nic support, encouragement and water. She's doing well and just keeps going at her pace.

At 25km we're pulled up in the bus and Fay is preparing to take over, but we know that Nicola wanted to try and finish 10km in her first run. When Nicola comes up to the bus, though, she says she's done what she can and can't make it to 10km - the punishingly straight road has got her. It also seems that the section markers are out a bit, because it feels a lot longer than 5km between the start and end of Nic's sections. Fay gets her music queued up and is off.

Fay doesn't take water with her and so we stop for her after a bit too. She's in a rhythm and thinks she'll make a 10km. When we get to 30km I get myself ready just in case. I warm up and get my music queued. Scotty has put together a 1 hour 30 mins mix of IndieRunner that should keep us running at a steady 9km an hour. Fay is running well, though, and keeps going through 30km - she's got a good pace and takes on some water. There are gun-toting bedouine every few hundred meters know. They are really policing the route, just there to be sure there aren't any problems. We wonder whether they have these guns all the time, or whether they've just been given them for today (and whether they have any ammunition in at all).

We drive up ahead of her ready to give out more water before she finishes her 10km leg and we go through our second village. Rather than just circling the edge of the village as David's leg of the route did, this time the road takes us through the middle. It's very small - maybe only two deep in houses on either side of the road, but a few children and familes are out to see what all the fuss is about. We think Fay will enjoy this section and so head up to the change-over point.

I need the loo before getting ready to take over. There are no loos on route, so we have to "get our trainers wet". I head off and slide down the side of the road to get slightly out of view of everyone. Done, I climb the bank and hear Sarah say "What's that?" pointing to where I've just come from. We look up and in the distance is a pyramid! It's come from nowhere and I didn't even notice it! It's Meidum Pyramid and it's more straight sided than the pyramids you typically think of, but its height is impressive.

At 35km I get ready to take over. Fay is coming up the road and I wait by the sign with my music started and ready to plug in. She's still smiling. We tag and I set off. The music is set to pace and I soon find my mark. We're on the edge of this village still, but suddenly there are loads of kids in the street - maybe they have come from the village, or villages near by, or farms that line the road up ahead. I'm in my pace and they are excited - holding their hands out for High Fives. I give a few and say hello while they run alongside for a bit, but try to keep focused on my pace.

I'm on my own as there's no runners I can see ahead of me and am running out of the town. Some of the boys have bikes and so follow. Then some get a bit over-excited and I feel something against my back; one of them has a dried palm leaf that hits me and maybe some small stones. I turn around whilst running: "bas!" I tell them to stop and keep going. They hold back for a bit and then a feel a few hits on my bum "bas!" again I shout and they stop. A few keep with me on their bikes, but a bit further back. We've gone past the edge of the village and some follow me out of town, but after a short while they grow tired and turn back round - presumably to find the next runner. I'm on my own now and try to keep pace, but the heat is strong. I'm hoping that the bus comes past soon and I'll be able to get some water.

After 10 minutes I see Scotty up ahead. I need to walk while I drink as otherwise I'll splash everywhere and Scotty walks with me. I ask for more water again soon and say that I don't think I'll be able to do the 10km I was hoping. I really wanted to be able to do a 10km as I've done one before and have been training, but know that as I didn't quite finish my training schedule I'll be relying on adrenaline to get me to the finish.  The thing is, with the heat I don't think even that will take me though. I feel I can't take on as much water as I need and my head is hot, but I keep going and only stop for a few walking paces along the solo road. I see the next marker in the distance and keep myself going at pace to get there. I can see Scott ready to take over; plugged in like we all are for running and taking on a last drink of water. We hold hands as we change over and I tell him my tips; good luck, run to pace, it's hot so take on lots of water.

40km and I'm thankful to finish and take on more water and a banana that Sarah has peeled for me. I tell the team that I think it's really getting hot now and we need to increase our water stops for the runners. I wanted to take my hat off to run as I could feel my head overheating, but knew I needed to keep the sun off my head.

Scotty here, taking over the commentary.  As mentioned above, the biggest barrier to my training has been my knee.  As a result, the most I've ever managed ot do in training is 4km as part of 30-minute intervals training.  I know from the off that I'm the weak link in the team, but everyone has been really supportive that I should only do as much as I can manage: they're fully prepared to take on any extra distance that I'm unable to complete.  I say that I'm aiming for 5km on this stretch, but ask them to stop at 2.5km an 4km just in case I can't make it.

I complete the 2.5km stretch and am really pleased that I've managed to keep running for a solid 15 minutes - that's 3 times as long as I've ever done solidly before.  I find an amazing burst of excitement as I run this leg as it's through a few villages and small farms with lots of people at the side of the road.  I make a conscious effort to greet everyone as I run by, and they're incredibly supportive and cheer me on - "Yalla!"  One guy on a donkey cart pats the back of his cart and encourages me to sit down.  I reply, "Ana eyes!" (I want!) but make it clear that I'd be in trouble with the team and the race organisers if I accepted his offer!  We laugh, and I carry on past him.

I keep looking behind me, expecting to see the team bus come by at any minute but it doesn't.  I feel the need to walk for a bit, but being overtaken by a another runner spurs me on to keep going for the team.  It's at this point that the bus passes me and they jump out with water.  I keep running, and further up the course, meet the team bus again.  I've needed to do another walking stretch as I'm so incredibly hot, and the team check that I'm okay to keep going.  At this point I see the 5km marker in the distance.  I can't believe I'm so close, and so say I'm determined to finish the leg.  They speed ahead to allow David time to get ready, and I manage to run to the end.  I'm exhausted - it's the furthest distance I've ever completed, and checkign my watch and iPod I see I've been going for bang-on 29 minutes: that's 5km in a faster time than I normally do 4km.  I'm ecstatic, but know I've got another stretch to come and my knee is playing up.  I take time to stretch out and elevate my knee while David takes over.

45km and it's David taking over from Scotty now. We've decided to keep going with 5km sections now because of the heat. Other teams have been doing 5km - or less, apparently - from the start, so we don't feel bad switching down. The team philosophy has always been "we're going to do this....somehow" and the how is now in 5kms. We've been running alongside the canal now for about 10km. It's a nice road as on our left are fields, then to the right the canal and beyond it more fields. Date palms and cacti scatter the road-side but aren't in the position to offer any shade.

50km and David tags Nicola who takes off. David agrees that it's hot out and even though he's tough as nails he agrees it is hard going. We've got another 30km on this straight until we get to the Dashur pyramids loop. There's due to be a pyramid around this section of the run; Elleshet Pyramid. We're looking around but can't see it. It's still hazy beyond the fields to our left, so maybe's it's there.

We over-take Nicola to offer her some water, but she's still got some in her Pocari Sweat bottle (smaller and easier to carry, but she's changed its contents to the more palatable water). Nicola is still smiling but finding it tough, she says's she can keep going, but it will be slow.  Her pace is still good, though, and soon enough she's finished her leg at 55km and Fay takes over.

I warm up again and stretch out at 60km getting set for my second leg. This stretch begins through a village, and once again we notice a few guns on display.

I've got my hand-held water bottle ready and full for the leg. I know I'm going to need it. Fay tags me and off I go. It takes a song or so to get into the rhythm and for my body to loosen up. I negotiate one of the few "directions" in the route plan "turn right, 50m turn left" and am on a stretch of road that snakes into the distance following the open canal on my right. I'm thankful when the bus pulls up and I can get some more water.

Scotty fills up my bottle as the bus drives alongside me as I run. When they're gone I keep going, but sucking on my water as much as I can as the heat is still relentless for me. After a few slow sections I finally spy the white sandwhich board that marks the end of my section. I finish my water and plough on to tag Scotty at 65km.

I feel like the support I had on my knee in the first leg did more harm than good, and so try this one without.  I'm not feeling quite as 'in the zone' for this stretch, and within the first 100 metres feel a tightening in my right thigh.  I shorten my pace a little bit, and fortunately it works out, but before long a stitch gets hold of me.  I'm not the kind of person with huge physical stamina, and so haven't ever developed the mental attitude to fight through.  The locals on route, though, continue their encouragement which drives me forward.  This is countered, though, by a song in the mix.  "Two More Years" it says - "This pain is never ending."  Great.

By now it's midday and the temperature is soaring.  I criss-cross the road to take advantage of what shade there is, but it's clear that it makes little difference in the grand scheme of things.  The heat really takes its toll, and I find myself walking after just a couple of kilometres.  Fortunately the bus is ahead and I manage to grab a Pocari Sweat and pick up the pace again.  However, the team realise that I'm struggling and pull up another kilometre ahead.  I walk for a bit with Alice but then decide to plough on round corner.  I tell them I need to change in the next 5 minutes, but within this time I see the 5km marker.  I really want to finish the distance, but a couple of stumbles 200m from the line scare me as I don't want to go over and complete knacker my knee.  I come to a spluttering halt and David, in true paratrooper style, jumps out of the open door of the bus and takes over.  I'm devastated.  I feel a physical wreck, and even worse feel like I've let the team down.  David has already run 25km and I've not quite finished 10 yet he's taken over from me because I'm just not up to it.  Frustrated, I rest for a couple of minutes and then walk the remaining distance to the 5k marker - including all the stops I make it in 36 minutes but am still disappointed with myself for not having the mental stamina to just do that in the first place and instead passed the responsibility for covering the distance on to David.

70km and David takes over from Scotty. David's very stiff now and starts off at a slow laboured pace. We don't let him go long before catching him up to see how he is doing. He says he's totally seized up, but will run it out. As he heads into the distance we see how tight his running is, but when we catch him up after another 10 minutes he has been able to run it off and is moving with a bit more ease. This third (or fourth in David's case!) run is going to be a toughie now that we have worked so hard during the day.

We ask our driver Mostafa to pull over so that we can give David some more water. While we're stopped he speaks to Scotty. He doesn't speak any English, but this hasn't been too much of a problem so far; mumkin allatool (please go straight ahead), bas henna (stop here), allatool shweya (straight on for a little bit). But now he seems to be saying that he clocks off at 3pm which worries us as it's 2pm now and we're not going to finish in an hour. He's looking grumpy, but we're not sure if we've understood properly what he's saying - and what we're saying back to him. So Fay phones the Race Director to ask him to translate and find out what's going on. This adds to the confusion as now the Race Director thinks we want to stop running now. We tell him that, on the contrary, we want to finish and that we expect to be at Saqqara around 5pm (this gives us an hour for each 10km left). He says he'll be there until 5pm no problem and he speaks to our driver. Our driver doesn't say much, but we think he's understood. It's a little unsettling because we've paid a fair amount of money to enter the race and part of the deal was getting a driver for the day. We thought the limitations would be ourselves, not the driver!

75km and Nicola takes over from David. We stop for a bit here to let Nicola go ahead and give David a chance to stretch off. we've caught up with a few other buses and so go and check with them about the 3pm versus anytime finish and they agree that everyone should have the bus for the day. Our driver seems a little happier now though as he can chat with a few other drivers as we take a break. There is a medic team at this stop too and one guy is lying down wrapped in a silver blanket. We don't recognise him but assume it was someone who did a little too much. We've already passed a van where one girl got them to pull over to be sick, but these are the only injuries we've seen.

80km and Fay takes over from Nicola as we're passing through a town. She's got 2km on the road and then will run through Dashour village. The gun-wielding locals have changed to official Police who now line the route, and we just hope that there is someone on the corner to tell her where to take the left-hand turn into Dashur. We catch up with Fay jsut after the village where there is a stretch of farming land before the desert and pyramid starts. We see the gate and for a moment wonder if they are going to try and charge us and Fay to get in! They see the Pharaonic Race posters that adorn our bus and let us through. The track is very rough here and so the bus stops half-way and I use the rest of the climb as a warm up ready to take over.
The track is a fair climb up to the pyramid base and Fay struggles on the very last bit, so I head down and tag her and start off at 85km.

I use the climb as an excuse to ease my body into its final 5km push so take the pace nice and steady. It feels like it has cooled a lost since my first two runs and so even though my body is stiff and tired in many ways this feels the easiest of runs. My work up the slope pays off and I get a wonderful view of both Dashur pyramid (the first true pyramid) and the Bent Pyramid in the distance. They are stunning and I count myself lucky to have drawn this leg. There is a loop at the top and for the first time in the whole race someone checks my number. We assume they are checking here as teams might otherwise miss out this 6km loop and head straight down the main road to the finish. He takes my number as I take my first sip of water and then I slowly descend back to the bus. I thought that would be it for stunning views on this stretch but as I turn around I get a beautiful view of the Nile Valley, so green in front of me.

Passing the bus I continue on the rough track until it becomes road again outside the pyramid complex. Here I am tailed by a policeman on a motorcycle for a while - assuring my safety, or watching me run? I only get annoyed at him when he decides to pull in front of me and so find myself running in his fumes. I pass a lot of runners who have still yet to complete the loop, which gives me confidence that we are going to finish. There are about six runners who are on their way to the pyramid, so must be around 10-15 minutes behind us. I keep going through Dashur village where a wedding car pulls past with its horns blaring. I get to the left-turn back to the canal road and am really pleased that I haven't needed to slow to a walk once. When I make the turn, though, Scotty is there with some water and I walk for a bit with him to ease my muscles and take on some liquid. I get back to a run and finish my section very pleased with this final run.

The end is very much in sight now as we have just 10km to go. Scotty picks it up at 90km and our plan now is to have runners run ahead for 12 minutes, then we drive and catch them up and have a new runner start every 15 minutes.

Knowing that the changeover will come at 15 minutes, I'm feeling much more 'ready' for this run.  I start off well, and manage to get into pace easily.  The only off-putting thing is that, as we get closer to city, the road gets busier.  Trucks and minibuses scream past, pushing me onto the sand verge at the side of the road, which is covered with litter.  It's hard going but I maintain my rhythm.  The team bus stops, and I feel ready to drop, but I've only 10 minutes.  After the disappointment of my previous leg I'm determined to see this one through so power on ahead.  However, on crossing a railway line I find that there's a big queue of traffic backed up in the direction I'm going - the team bus too will get caught in this, and so I realise I may need to keep going for longer than planned.  However, the bus does indeed catch up with me after I've run just over 15 minutes in total, and David takes over.

As the bus turns the corner behind David we see the 95km mark, so it's not long to go. He manages a 15 minute stretch with ease, but when Nicola takes over we're presented with a problem as the road is now one-way and so we cannot follow Nicola.  Instead we must cross to the over side of the canal and meet her at the top of the road. We all jump out here at the final turn that will take us into Saqqara.  Fay is ready to go and Nicola has done more than the planned 15 minutes, so it's a really good effort to finish. The turning means we've just over 3km to go.

We catch Fay up along the road and she's going strong so we don't need to swap runners yet.  We are accosted by two Japanese runners who have lost their team mate it seems and so hop on our bus for a lift - ironic since earlier in the day we thought it would be us needing to hitch a lift if our driver deserted us. We find their runner and they swap runners so we have have someone else in our bus as we head to the gate of Saqqara. When we get to the gate though there is some confusion. It is 5pm and they don't want to let the bus in, but want us to turn around on a single track road. Fay runs past all this confusion and into the complex. Finally we get the bus through for our finish. The Race Director is there and he's got our medals and certificates.

It's taken us just under 10 hours and 30 minutes but team Fast or Furious has done it. We're dead chuffed that we made it, and it was a true team effort to get here. It's 5pm so Saqqara is closing and the sun is setting. We bundle into the bus and head back to the hotel and then Maadi. A celebratory fish and chips in the BCA and then we are ready for our beds!

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Fayoum

Last weekend I organised a trip to Fayoumwhich despite being "work" was relaly fun.
Fayoum is a town that sits on a lake to the West of the Nile about 1 1/2 hours drive South from Cario. We were staying in a small village called Tunis on the Southern end of the town and lake. We've diven through small villages before and walked through "real" parts in Cairo, but for me it was lovely to stay in a real village for a few days and I can't wait to share it with Scotty.
We stayed in an Eco-Lodge (read - very simple accommodation i.e. mud brick walls and no air-con) and spent most of our time in an Arts Centre.
Zad Al Mosafa was a good place to stay as it was dead cheap (double room using communal bathroom was 50LE a night, triple room with bathroom was 100LE a night and family room, five beds in two rooms with a bathroom was 160LE a night) and there was a communal grass area with chairs to hang out in, as well as a few bedouin tents too. Their restaurant was good too; sometimes you wonder if a restaurant is jut an add-on, but here the chef produced tasty grills for us two nights in a row and  a range of things for breakfast (including my first taste of fuul and of fiteer).
This Arts Centre was set up by an Egyptian artist and as well as hosting various art-y events it also houses the Cartoon Museum or political / news cartoons over Egypt's history. The cartoons are great and you get the idea of some of them even without the translations.
From the hotel there was also a pottery workshop and a stables. It was tempting to go horseriding around the lake which is apparently stunning, but I'll save that for another visit. The pottery workshops have grown up around the village of Tunis over the last few decades and ceramics from the town are often imported into Cairo (you can buy them on Road 9 for example!). In the few days were we visited three workshops and shops which had some beautifully light but large bowls all decorated with concentric patterns.
One nice thing about the weekend was simply walking through the village itself - everyone was friendly and it was a great way to see real Egypt as well as feel part of it, staying there for the weekend.