A love letter TO EGYPT

In the wake of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, Sue Wallace falls in love with magical and mystical Egypt, a splendid feast for all the senses with warm-hearted people, who beckon her to return.

Dip your hand in the river Nile and one day you will come back,” is an old Egyptian saying that I hope rings true, as my love affair with Egypt, its welcoming characters and breathtaking treasures, deepens.

I am sitting with my new friend Ahmed, a restaurateur, dressed in a traditional galabeya, a flowing, long-sleeved robe, sipping strong mint tea at his restaurant in Cairo’s busy Khan el-Khalili bazaar.

“This is a country that gets under your skin and when you discover its magic, you realise there is no other place like it in the world; it’s the mother of civilisation on one hand that has a pretty cool edge to it – the past and the present collide here in the nicest way and we love showing it off,” he says.

I have returned to thank him after he called me a taxi when my phone crashed and asked after my trip; I drop in and recount my adventures.

The country’s lifeblood My story starts with a cruise aboard Uniworld’s elegant SS Sphinx on the River Nile, known as the superhighway of the ancient world which remains the country’s lifeblood.

I close my eyes and paint pictures of what I love. It’s those vivid cerise sunsets that tint the sky, while traditional wooden feluccas with white triangular sails flap in the wind and dance across the rippled blue satin water.

It’s the lofty palm trees that stand sentinel along the lush grassy shore that gives way to a rust-coloured unforgiving desert.

And it’s the colourful personalities I meet at every port, from those guarding priceless antiquities in tombs and temples to over-enthusiastic street vendors selling Cleopatra-style jewellery and T-shirts emblazoned with camels and the pyramids.

I recall the aroma of freshly baked aish baladi (Egyptian flatbread) as we pass a bakery and the pungent smell of a spice shop lined with colourful jars, which are eagerly opened.