Stephen Codrington

 

Middle East Travel Diary 2010

The initial catalyst to undertake this Middle Eastern trip was a planned meeting – the first ever – of the United World College Selection Committees for the Middle East and North African Region near Amman in Jordan. The meeting will start first thing tomorrow morning, and therefore my main task today was travelling from Aswan to Amman.

I woke at 6:30 am, took in the magnificent view outside my window (see photo to the right), caught up on the amazing political news in Australia (Julia Gillard replacing Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister overnight while I was sleeping), had a quick breakfast and then had yet another somewhat worrying phone call with my mother.

The phone conversation took longer than expected, so with seconds to spare, I checked out of the hotel and dashed down to the wharf to catch the ferry to the east bank of the river. In the still morning air, the surface of the River takes on a mirror-like quality, and this morning was no exception. As always, the river was a scene of slow tranquility that was in stark contrast to the pace of Egyptian towns and cities. Having reached the east bank, I was able to get a taxi to the airport and catch my flight to Cairo.

The flight took just an hour and a quarter, and without doubt the highlight was not the tiny glass of mango juice we were served as refreshment, but the views of Cairo as the plane approached the airport. Our flight did an east-west transect of the city, starting in the west by flying over the Pyramids at Giza and then crossing the Nile River above the Central Business District before descending over the crowded residential areas of the east bank. With a population of about 18 million people, Cairo is truly one of the world’s megacities, and to get a bird’s eye perspective on the density of the older parts of the city was sensational.

I was a bit sad to leave Egypt, as I had the sense that there was much more to be seen and experienced in this wonderful land. One thing I will not miss, however, is the ‘baksheesh’ mentality. It does become draining to be constantly approached by people, given a line of useless information, and then be asked for ‘baksheesh’ (a tip). The guards at the temples, the policemen, storekeepers, workers at the airport – everyone seems to have this baksheesh mentality.

The other frustrating thing about travel in Egypt is that having negotiated a price for something, there is almost always a later renegotiation based on an alleged ‘misunderstanding’ – “yes, that was the agreed price, but it was a price per hour, not a total price”, or “but it is customary here to pay double the agreed price”. However, my experiences of the baksheesh culture in Egypt do illuminate some of the more ‘interesting’ ‘negotiations’ I have had in recent years with a few of the UWC National Committees from this region.

My flight from Cairo to Amman was about 45 minutes late, unfortunately, “due to the late arrival of the inbound aircraft” into Cairo. I say “unfortunately” because I had arranged to meet Andrew (my son for those who don’t know him!) at Amman Airport where he had been waiting all day after having arrived from Australia before dawn. I felt sorry for him having to wait the extra time, but it was great to see him again. We also met with Heather Gross, the Admissions Officer for Pearson UWC in Canada. Together, the three of us took a taxi to the venue of the meetings, King’s Academy near Madaba.

King’s Academy is an impressive and extensive ensemble of buildings built on expansive grounds located about an hour’s drive to the south-west of Amman, Jordan’s capital city. After passing through very tight security at the school’s entrance, we were transported in one of the school’s electric golf buggies to the building that contained our rooms.

The difference in temperature after Egypt was remarkable. It was a fresh 32°C when my plane landed at Amman, and upon reaching the College at Madaba, it had fallen further to just 23°C with a brisk breeze. After being in Egypt for the past few days, the air felt positively cold and I wished I had brought a pullover or jacket.

Andrew had not eaten all day, so it was a joy for both of us to join many of the other UWC participants over dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Madaba, a short 10 minute taxi ride away. As often happens at these conferences, dinner was quite a prolonged affair, and we returned to the school at about 11 pm.

We are staying in student’s dormitory accommodation, which at this school means small single rooms with shared bathrooms. Sadly, one consequence of this is that we are bound by the school’s very strict policy on internet access which bars us from obtaining any access, at least for the time being – hopefully I can obtain a necessary password and upload this diary entry tomorrow; better late than never. I understand, however, that sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Google Images will still be banned. It will be just like being in Mainland China again.

As a footnote, I should point out that my flight from Cairo to Amman did not follow the route shown (which is the great circle shortest route). Flights between Egypt and Jordan do not enter Israeli air space, and therefore the flight began by flying east across Sinai before turning north and flying just to the east of the Israel-Jordanian border.