WELCOME TO EGYPT
But you have to have the right voice to say that in true oriental style. For the past week I have been looking like something from the Decathlon camping department; a mix between a walking tent, a sleeping bag, and whatever you would throw over the washing line. It is called being culturally sensitive, I think. So I covered up from head to toe and kept convincing myself that “it is all in the circulation of air” – through the layers of clothes – as I approached boiling point on several occasions. That said, even in full flowy apparel, I still felt quite naked when confronted with the Soudis who had flocked in for their annual holiday in Egypt. An eye opener was to discover how women in burka actually eat. Shove the food down from the eye slits? And how they manage to manoeuvre huge plates of food without getting their very long sleeves coated in food – long wrist bones? Breakfast in the Flamenco Hotel in Zamalek gave me ample time to study (“Your hotel is very strange”, said Omeima Kamel, from the TV and Egyptian high society, on a variety of occasions. I think she may have been right…)

Not my picture, but lunch at the Oberoi Mena House with the Pyramids looking down over the table was extraordinary.

The very strange Flamenco hotel - maybe Flamenco means Faulty Towers in Arabic??