For most people arriving in Egypt is like a huge shock, they call it planet Egypt for a reason, it’s of another world. Firstly it’s sooo hot & everything is dusty & the shrubs & trees are more brown than green. Secondly the culture is so very different & the poverty & living conditions of the average Egyptian is hard to comprehend. I have tried to live there, but I found it stifling & very oppressive.
BUT, I did find a place that will stay with me forever; I went there regularly to think. By day this place seems dry & dull, but at night it takes on a new perspective. I found it by accident, I was cutting through the famous old Winter Palace hotel grounds to go home after work & as I stepped out of the hotel foyer into the garden I was greeted with the sweet smell of night flowering Jasmine. This stopped me in my tracks, I looked around & I was alone there, I thought what harm for me to sit for a while by the pool. So I walked on through to the pool & lay down on a sun bed, closed my eyes & drank in the heady scent of the jasmine. When I opened my eyes the garden had taken on a surreal quality I had not seen by day, it was quiet for a start, all the noise of the city had disappeared, just a few crickets singing in the trees. Small lights to guide the guests were now lighting up the palms which seem to reach so high up into the night sky, they almost seem to touch the stars, creating a cathedral like cavern over me. The jasmine bushes around me seemed to be alight with the bright white of their blooms, their scent making my body feel alive & sensual. The sky was clear & the stars appeared to be changing colours as they twinkled. I lay there for a long time just seeing, & I felt at peace for the first time since I had moved to Egypt, after that I went there often & especially when I was troubled & I always left with a feeling of peace. I wonder who sits there now, has anyone since discovered this place of tranquilly? What a find, more precious than any ancient tomb. 
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