Holy Family Trip - 8 Jun 2002

 020608 – Holy Family Trip and Dahab

Another epistle in the lives of N&M or rather a not-so-common weekend in the life of N&M...

One Friday recently, we went up to the Delta to see a Coptic Monastery and a Coptic church, on a tour organised by a guy from our local Church. There were 24 on board the bus and it was part of a series organised by him throughout the year. We had been promising ourselves that we would go on one of his trips, as they came highly recommended and especially as the places he gets into, are not available for the average Joe-Bloe tourist. Most of this country is a closed-shop as far as foreigners are concerned and the only places that you can travel freely to are Alexandria to the north, the Red Sea to the east and Aswan and Luxor to the south. There are a few other places as well, but not too many. As I think we have mentioned before, you can't just go to the railway station and buy a ticket to anywhere, and nor can you get on just any old train or bus! You are very restricted and limited in these choices.

Anyway, our day had dawned and we decided to take advantage of this one-day trip that he had organised.

The Delta is great, whether by bus or train, as it is so green and fertile. Rice was the main crop where we went this time. Paddy fields everywhere. The Monastery of Saint Demiana and the Forty Virgins is dedicated to Demiana, a lady, who, born to wealthy parents (her father was Governor of the region), became a Christian and in the face of persecution by the Emperor  Diocletian, was tortured and beheaded for her faith, along with forty other virgins who shared the faith with her. This monastery is known for its fine icon work, which is on sale from the Monastery. Needless to say several were purchased by the people on our bus. Our "tour leader" has a wealth of knowledge on Coptic history and has co-authored more than one book. If and when you come to visit us and there is one of these trips scheduled, do yourselves a favour and go on it.He specialises in Holy family tours into rural Egypt. They are eye openers and give you first hand knowledge of Coptic history. Yes, we bought a small icon as well. Couldn't resist one of the Flight to Egypt. We had lunch at the Monastery and what a sumptuous feast was spread before us. Meats, soups and dishes of all kinds and so much of it. Hospitality here is so generous. To top it off, we were also invited back to a villa in Giza by one of the Egyptians on board for dinner that evening. There, in absolute wealth and opulence among 9 villas set amidst finely manicured lawns, we enjoyed yet another huge meal put on by a very generous Egyptian [Christian] business family. We were even treated to Black Label Johnny Walker Scotch, which one person was heard to describe as "black baraka". "Baraka" is the Arabic word for "blessing" and is also the brand of a bottled water which is readily available on the streets. I must say that it is hard enough to eat one Egyptian meal in a day, and almost impossible to eat two. We felt like we didn't need to eat for a week afterwards.

The Coptic church at Sakha, the other destination on this day trip, is famous for several miracles, but more so for the footprint of Jesus they have found in a rock, which is on display there. The rock was hidden for many years (since the 13th Century) to prevent its destruction. The location of the rock was lost and was only found a few years ago when digging for a new sewerage trench. There are ways and means of confirming the authenticity of such claims and this piece of rock seems to have passed all the tests and has been assessed as being the genuine article.

Because we were a large party and had US Embassy staff on board, the security was unbelievable. Car loads of police in one Governate, both back and front, then a motorcycle back and front in another, in yet another Governate, two cars in front, army in flack jackets in one and police in the other, with two more police cars and a fire engine bringing up the rear. All the way there and back, the combination changed as we went through each Governate, but one thing was consistent: they all sounded their sirens to clear a path for us and announce that foreigners were coming. We all had a really good laugh at the various combinations, once we got used to the sirens. I have been told in Upper Egypt buses have been escorted by troop carriers and even a tank once. One thing is for sure the Egyptian Government is serious about being seen to be protecting tourists. The official security count of people on board the bus were 6 Americans and 18 others. Some of these "others" included their own country-men. It left us "others" in no doubt as to who the people were who were being most protected!!! Also on board the bus was a famous Egyptian archeologist/egyptologist who was invited to share with us some of his knowledge of the ancient history of the area into which we travelled. I must admit that much of what he shared went over the top of my head [it was a tad academic and unless you also shared his passion and especially at the same level, it left you for dead]. But in saying that, I still knew we were a privileged group for having him share a portion of his knowledge and first hand experiences with us.

On the next day, we boarded yet another bus, organised by an expat friend of ours, for a “do it yourself” tour of St Antony's Monastery and then St Paul's Monastery, both of which are in the desert near the Red Sea, but on the Cairo side, about 200+ kms south of Suez. (Note: minus any police, army or fire brigade escorts). What a great experience visiting and being shown around by the monks. So much history, so many stories. We are going back to hear more as it was absolutely wonderful. We travelled for about 3 hours to get to the first Monastery of St Antony, and immediately set off for a very stiff climb (1149 steps) to St Antony's cave, set high in the cliffs overlooking the vast desert beyond. He was a hermit. What a climb and even at 11.00am, it was very hot and even hotter by 1.00pm when we arrived back at the Monastery. The views on the climb were magnificent of high hills and desert. At the bottom we were met by a wonderful monk, with a great sense of God and humor. He gave us lunch, even though we had brought our own. This time a simple lunch of rice and sauted vegetables with bread to accompany it. Perfect, as I think Victoria and I were still digesting the food from the previous evening. Unfortunately, none of the others had been on the Friday adventure, so may have tucked into their own supply later. St Antony's was and still is the best Coptic Monastery we have visited so far (St Katherine's is Greek Orthodox), as so much of the old ways are still evident and being preserved - another "must-do" on your trip to visit us. St Paul's was very interesting also, but we didn't get to see a lot of it and nor hear many of its stories, as it was late when we arrived. Both St Paul and St Antony met just before St Paul died, as both were hermits (Circa 313 AD), living about 100kms apart, in rugged inhospitable surroundings. A dream lead St Antony to seek out St Paul, as he did not know of the others' existence.

For once neither of us had to work on the weekend and we made the most of it. Tiring but oh so good for the soul.

The guy who runs these trips has just one more planned before the summer break and we've signed up for it! This time there are only 6 people able to go as it is to tiny village which cannot accommodate any more than 6 in their guest house! We are led to believe this will be a trip to remember and will be held over the weekend 28/29 June [Friday and Saturday are the weekend in this part of the world]. It will be a one-nighter, so hang in there for the low-down on this one...