Life Trove: Tour leading in the Middle East (Cairo to Istanbul)

My experiences as a tour leading in the Middle East in 2002 will forever remain amongst the most special of my life. No job has ever helped build my confidence more - and by the time I returned, there was little I felt I couldn't do.

Getting young Aussies and Kiwis safely from Istanbul to Cairo (I led three 5 week trips in total with 30 passengers per trip) was a big responsibility - but also tons of fun. Favourite memories include white river rafting and mud wrestling in Saklikent Gorge (Turkey), sailing by Felucca from Aswan to Luxor along the Nile , exploring ancient castles in Syria, sleeping under the stars in the deserts of Jordan, swimming in the emerald blue waters of Olympos, paragliding off Turkish mountains and snorkeling in the Red Sea.

Being forced to bribe border officials, getting our truck horribly stuck in the mud (took a whole day to get us out), tending to very sick passengers (one person got dyssentry, another cut his foot very badly) - none of these things could dampen the trip; in fact they added a whole lot of flavour.

Highlights

Phone up all overland companies. Interviews at Drogoman but would require 6 months of training. Sudden opportunity comes up at Oasis Overland. Meet Chris and Steve out in the country side. 1 week to get ready.
Fly to Istanbul and meet Kerin (tour leader) and Ryan (the driver). Idea is I will be trained for first 5 week trip, then lead next two trips, training up new tour leaders on the 3 rd.
Kerin, highly strung but fun english girl, nerves fraught after a little too much tour leading. Ryan is a young Aussie bloke, beer loving, fed up to the teetch with egyptians
First introduction to the huge yellow truck. Huge amounts of food under floor boards – 40 packets of spagetti, 20 packets rice, 30 tubs jam etc.
“Punters” start arriving – 25 mostly Aussies and Kiwis. Orgy of money collecting (local payments) and passport photocopying and name writing.
Predeparture breakfast and pre-departure talk including what to wear, cooking rosters, health considerations etc.
First stop is Gallipoli where stay in very basic camp site with almost no facilities. Loud music at night, lots of booze and breaking the ice.
Tour of Gallipoli – very moving for Aussies and Kiwis. Whole day afair with TJ, a great guide. We get all the names together to create a list for Syrian border visas that are organised ahead.
Early morning ferry, then quick stop at Troy (not much there) to . Stay at Solomon’s hostel. Carpet demo and prepared food on the roof. Also quick swim at sea. Excellent tour of Ephesus Roman ruins. Fantastic pig spit on 3 rd trip. Go fishing.
Next stop is Oludinez. Fantastic place. Dancing at camp site till 11 pm. Boozing and drinking in town. People get allowance for food so cooking is easy; just breakfasts to worry about. Boat trip next day with lots of swimming and bomb diving off boat. Pit stops at Butterfly valley. Jump off sea cliffs. Throw captain off boat. Pulled behind boat on a banana. Paragliding on the third trip.
Then night in Saklikent Gorge. Sleep in tree houses or on patoons by the river. Nice swimming pool. Table tennis. Great barbecue prepared. Nice staff, including “Happy” Go tubing down the river. Keep bumping our backsides. Have a mud fight in thick, thick mu and I cover myself from head to toe and get nude. Great way to break the ice – my party trick from then on… Walk along the gorge itself, amazing formations
Olympos. Stay with local family. Swim at beautiful beach. Visit the “Eternal Flames” Laze out in chill out areas. Sleep in tree houses. Hide and seek with kids. Letter to gramps.
Cappadocia . Sleep in “The Cave”. Swimming pool. Day tour of the rock formations, ancient underground cities etc. Carpet demo. Visit to the Turkish baths.
On first trip, we bush camp close to the border. Choose a field that then fills up with water during night and we get very horribly stuck. Takes the full day to get unstuck.
Meet the Syrian agent (Agmed) at the border. He’s a frienly chap but really needs more deoderant. He stays with us through most of Syria.
Stay night in Alleppo. Very traditional people – we get lots of waves and oggles. Tourism not that established yet in Syria. Eat at nice roof top restaurant – great treat after doing our own cooking. Visit Alleppo markets to buy food.
Then to the Castle. Epitome of Crusaer Castle. Secret passage ways. Great views. Nice food in restaurant at top.
Stay at camp site. Great pool. Braai chicken. On some trips, we buy live chickens and have to watch them being beheaded and prepared. Punch night– very festive. All get totally hammered.
Palmyra on 3rd trip. Ancient Roman city in the desert. Free camp and best ever punch party in the desert.
Next step is Damascus. Prepare camel steaks. Visit the huge markets. Fantastic local icecream with pistachio nuts. Go shopping for fruit and veg at local stalls. Peppers, onions, aubergines, garlic, fruit. Ali, the taxi driver, is a great help with haggling and interpretting. Visit very holy mosque and view crying pilgrims.
Day trip to Lebanon. Temple. Fantastic lunch. War memorial. Afternoon in Beirut, seeing “The Mile”, shelled out buildings, explore the very modern city, waterfront
Through Jordan border, shop at Amman (very modern, but expensive shopping centre), then free camp overlooking the dead sea. Difficult to get the truck up but so worth it! Careful of scorpions. Sleep out on the tarpaulin.
Next morning, go down for a swim in the Dead Sea. Throw the ball around. Wash off under very strong waterfall. Locals congregate to watch the girls. Very salty and hot but novel. Group shot of everyone in circle holding hands.
Petra next. Nice hotel. Explain to everyone why Petra so expensive. Watch Indiana Jones and Last Crusade and Lawrence of Arabia. Drop everyone off at Petra and relax a bit. Buffet on last night.
Night in Wadi Rum. Go out in 4 wheel jeeps. Amazing rock formations and sun set. Eat Bedouin meal. Festive sleeping under stars. On first trip, too windy to go. Ryan takes us for a bit of a drive and goes off road. We get horribly, horribly stuck and we have to go on ahead without truck in local transport. He catches us up in Dahab having managed to dig truck out.
Town on border. Very basic camp. Get prepared for ferry journey ahead.
Ferry. Takes 6 hours or so. Eat on boat. Organise passports to be processed. On Egypt side, lick all the stamps and run around with the agent. Two hours at least, haning around. Lose my PSION notes at border on 3 rd trip – but manage to remember most.
Next stop is Dahab. Stay at Seven Heaven. Briefing. Organise diving. Blue Hole . New Blue Moon thick shakes and fruit pancakes. Huge meals at Sharks. Dancing at Toto’s.
Overnight at Hurgadas. Late arival.
Early (5 am) leave to catch the Escourt. Ridiculous system – actually increased risk.
Arrive in Luxor. Jumps from balconies into pool. Valley of the Kings and Queens. Very early get up an rush to get limited tickets. Oversleep one day. Tomb of Nefertiti – amazing.
Aswan . Kitchener’s Island. Elephant Island, seeing local village. Porn in hotel room! Pool on top of hotel. Very hot. Orgsanise day trip to Abu Simbel. Group night out at local restaurant. Buffet and local dancing on roof.
Felluca from Aswan to Luxor with Mohammed. Rolling down the dunes. Organise grass. Overnighting on the boat. Swimming in the Nile. Simple but delicious food. Pick up in truck. Temple of Edfu.
Night over in Luxor. Then catch train to Cairo.
Chaotic hustle and bustle of Cairo. Pyramids and camels. Egyptian museum. Slow lift in hotel. Leave notes up for next group. Saying hellos and goodbyes. Final dinner at Chineese place.
Memorable people: Nicky the Kiwi, Shona the chi gong massager, Paul (with his photos of New Zealand and sheep stories, great guy), Tiny & his mate, Fran, Jezza and Ryan, Gus, Garry & Launa
Numbers: 25 passengers first trip, 13 passengers 2 nd trip plus Donna and Dionne, 30 pax on third trip
Cooking – 3 water basins, cooking rostas, yogurt and fruit for breakfast, big pots, chicken and mince favourite dishes, laying out of cooking utensils, settin gup of cooking rostas. Huge shopping trip in Istanbul with Donna.
Learning to keep the football up with Fran, Australian football with Ryan’s mates
All of us getting sick in Cappadocia
PSION – trying to get one that worked. Setting up my systems for notes and keeping track of expenses