On the road to Beni Hassan

Left El Minya at 8am with one of our policemen aboard and the rest following us in their vehicle. The fog/smog was right down to the ground as usual.

Rami says that President Mubarak's wife Susan, is known as the mother of the nation. M has been President for 28 years and at 87 (I think) plans to go on for a long time. His brother and sister both lived to 100!

We crossed the Nile and headed south. Saw a man wearing a crash helmet - our first in Egypt. People are so friendly and helpful. Sarah went looking for a bank last night. It was shut but they opened the door to tell her they were shut. Everybody smiles and says hello and wherever we go in our bus, people smile and wave as we slow down slightly driving through the mud hut villages. We saw a cemetery with domed tombs - that means Moslems are buried there. All the tombs are rooms, big enough to house several people.

Something new today is the use of the colour turquoise. Quite a few houses have some turquoise paint - remember that up to now we haven't seen any painted houses in the villages. And one of the modes of transport is turquoise Chevrolet vehicles made in Japan which are like a ute with a cloth roof over the top. People just hop on when they need a ride and pay when they get off. It's common to find the vehicle full and four or five people riding on the step at the back. There are lots of motorbikes, some called Dayun.

In this area the houses are made of 'chalk bricks' which seems to mean they are cut out of some sort of limestone. So the houses are white instead of ordinary brick and concrete. Often there are animals in front of them, donkeys, a couple of cattle beasts, or half a dozen goats and some chickens. We have realised that the people live in the village and walk to the fields each morning, taking the animals with them. We have seen thousands of donkeys, often weighed down with burdens, or dragging overloaded carts. I really understand the poem 'The Donkey' which we learned at school. A woman is walking with a crate on her head. Another carries a gas cylinder likewise, yet another a large tray with Egyptian bread on it. A third is in black; on her head is a massive load of the greenery they cut to feed the donkeys. But actually you can't see her head at all, just this pile of greenery with a black robe below!