Egypt

Back in the 1990s, we went with a few friends— some American, some Egyptian— on a trek across a bit of the Sahara between Cairo and the oasis of Al Faiyum. This is the pyramid at Meidum, where we camped for a night on our way.

We began in Nazlet El-Samaan on the Giza plateau, where a year earlier we had met Omar and ridden some of his camels.

Fergany with Cheri, Deni's sister, a year earlier on Omar's mounts.

Omar and friends

Our friend Fergany El-Komaty with a couple of Omar's camels at Giza. Fergany organized our desert trek. He's a city guy by inclination, but he's a villager by birth, and is perfectly comfortable with horses and camels.

This is our group and crew at one of our camps. The crew had two chase vehicles, and we would rendezvous with them each afternoon at the end of our day's ride.

Hell for leather, somewhere near el-Lisht. Right to left: Fergany, Deni, Bill Hartley, and Kemal. The horses belonged to Kemal, and he was always exhorting us to "Trot, no run." But his horses were youngsters bred for racing: any time you put them side by side (because you wanted to talk, for instance), they thought it was the starting line, and they were off!

Our friend Alex Lidow helps Will get his tall, sweaty boots off. Will still owes him.

Rest break. I was too tired to stand; the horses were too tired to step on me.

Grooming was a bit challenging, but the tent offered some privacy and a refuge from the glare outside.

Fergany told us that at least one of our tents had formerly belonged to the late deposed King Farouk. The colors are all appliquéd fabric pieces, not dye or paint.

Meidum was the most romantic of all our camps, because we had the fabulous pyramid and miles of the surrounding country to completely to ourselves— except for the very well-informed guide who gave us a pyramid tour and answered all our questions, then disappeared like a mirage.

Taking a rubbing from a sarcophagus at Meidum: we didn't bring the materials to do it right, but our godson Nicholai Lidow wanted to try. I still have the result in a notebook somewhere.

Desert privy: the guys probably wouldn't have bothered, if there hadn't been women in our party.

Camping by a rural police station (the police's idea, not ours), our friend Janet Hart and I took advantage of the water supply to wash our hair.

When we made pictures of daily life in the oasis town of Al Faiyum, local kids wondered what we found so interesting.

These rural women were probably shocked by my riding breeches, but they were more friendly and curious than judgmental.

A photogenic villager

At the Al Faiyum oasis, everybody works— adults, animals, and children. This was not a plastic jug.

The colors of the oasis were wonderful to us after several days in the desert.

These boys scrambled up the date palm as if they had cleats on their bare feet.

Mohammed is Fergany's son.

Fergany's son Mohammed has a snack at the base of Cheops.

The Mena House in Giza is one of our favorite hotels in the world.

The step pyramid at Saqqara is an easy ride from Nazlet El-Samaan.

Kemal's brother Tarek trains a horse.

At village weddings in Nazlet El-Samaan, local men show their skill on dancing horses to the accompaniment of live music.

The boys in the band

One morning before dawn, Fergany took Will, Bill, and me climbing up the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Alas, when we arrived at the top it was so hazy that we couldn't see anything. On the other hand, it was probably a good thing that nobody could see us, as climbing the pyramids is technically illegal.

An Egyptian Air Force colonel flew us over the city and the Giza plateau to shoot pictures. At first he didn't want to take off the door of the plane, but ultimately he obliged us and we got some good shots— and a breeze.

The pyramid Cheffren from the air

This boy was one of those funny, fast-talking kids you find hawking things or services in developing countries. He was pitching camel rides to tourists. We bantered with him, but after eight days in the desert on horses, our appetite for riding was pretty well satisfied.

Thanks to the desert dust (and city air pollution, probably), Cairo has lovely sunsets.

Islamic classical architecture has beautiful details as well as graphic lines.

The Citadel in Cairo was fortified by Saladin in the twelfth century to protect it from Crusaders.

A doorway at the Citadel