The One Pound Falafel Sandwich

El Alamein would be the perfect vacation spot for many persons seeking the sapphire clear waters of Egypt’s Mediterranean. It had been recommended to us by two different English speaking people we encountered, both of whom we had clearly articulated a desire to spend time in Egyptian communities away from the usual tourist path. We got our usual information on buses and made our way there without a hitch; (1.50 L) for two taxis to Muharambek Station and right onto the minibus to El Alamein (11 L).

The buses make record time along the flat coastal highway and an hour later the first 80 km were completed including Alexandria traffic. However, only 25 km out we began to wonder if the view of the sea was ever going to appear from behind the curtain of master planned communities, condos, and resorts lining the beaches.

Upon arrival in El Alamein our worst fears were realized. El Alamein, historic for its enormous foreign graveyards, is like an oversized truck stop on the wrong side of the highway. We were faced with a dilemma - go on with hope that the resort blockade would eventually end, or turn back and return to our lovely sea view and Hotel Normandie in Alexandria.

We didn’t want to give up too easily. So, we took a walk circling the town. It was fruitless; that is except for seeing a departure of the afternoon train which we would have run to catch for some variety if it had been a few steps closer and a little bit slower (a good thing too, as we never saw tracks again and now assume it was either direct to Cairo or to some oasis in the heart of the Sahara Desert).

When we got round to the minibus stand we immediately commandeered a front seat on the first bus heading back. Knowing the bus could fill up quickly, we went off to grab a quick lunch of falafel sandwiches and a delicious eggplant, tomato, french fry and onion sandwich. The sandwiches are always accompanied by a variety of spicy pickled vegetables which are too spicy for Brittany (carrots, pickles, hot peppers, cauliflower, etc.)

Ok, so the whole trip there and back was four hours, four bucks (US), and an interesting experience (especially for an urban planner/hotel operator totally opposed to sprawl, unsustainable development, and privatization of public spaces). We certainly would have chosen to spend our day differently had we known better.

Lonely Planet or Footprint Guidebooks would have really helped here. We had maps of the coast, information from locals, a sense that El Alamein was far enough from Alexandria; and, the place had been described as having only old foreigner graveyards of interest; but, a quick Google search (we were on the internet posting blogs this morning in preparation for getting away from civilization) would have probably given us all the information we needed not to go.

So going guidebook-less has its costs. An adventure in the sprawling overdevelopment of the Egyptian deserts spilling into the lapping crystal waters and sunshine of the Mediterranean. Now, we just have to find a local avenue (trolley anyone?), to dip our toes in those alluring silky waters here in Alexandria. There is another hidden cost also, we are trying to green our travels. We took two seats on the local minibus that would have been filled by others. So, we need to use our carbon cost calculator to figure out how many extra trees we need to plant to offset our misadventure.

Moral to the story: People will not make exceptions for their perception of what they think you like even when you explicitly think you are telling them you’re not interested in tourist things. Do your research.