REMINISCENCES OF A PRIZED TRIP TO EGYPT

This is a sequel to the first instalment which appeared on the 2nd of December 2019.  It is not directly related to our batch (apart from Ronald being related to Batch mate Zita!). But the time of occurrence is of interest. When Ronald took off to Egypt from Ratmalana airport in December 1964, it was in its last years as Sri Lanka's premier airport with the opening of Katunayake International Airport in 1967. I think we can all recall how we waved goodbye as people left the airport building and we stood on the balcony. We would have been in our 3rd MBBS year, getting to grips with our subjects and forming new relationships. Ronald's experience of taking parcels abroad, shortage of foreign currency, personages such as Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike and President Gamal Abdel Nasser will resonate with our own. And of course Mignone and The Jetliners! Ronald has added a lot of personal touches which brings his account to life. I have added a few pictures to his script.

Mahendra "Speedy" Gonsalkorale

Zita Perera Subasinghe

By Ronald Perera (Second Installment) December 2019

It’s December 10, 2019. Come December, we all look forward to this magical time of the year. With the dust settling down after the Presidential Elections and the Schools already on vacation, the young and the not so young, are all agog with anticipation of peace and the festive season. Sounds of Sir Cliff’s (Richards) “Christmas Time, Mistletoe and Wine …..”.

 
Start of the journey
 

Today, I go down memory lane, exactly fifty-five years ago, when I, at 21 years of age, embarked on my adventure on a “Prized Trip to Egypt”. The Flight was on or around 14^th December 1964. My prize included a Jet Flight from Bombay (now Mumbai) on United Arab Airlines (UAA). As UAA Jets were not landing in Ceylon, I had to take the connecting Flight of Air Ceylon from Ratmalana Airport, where my Uncle Noel who was at that time the Signals Officer at the Airport, was there to

welcome me and see me off. An Executive of the Travel Agency handed over to me a parcel said to be a gift of cakes from the wife of one of the executives of the travel agency to be taken in my hand luggage and to be handed over to her daughter who was an important person at the Ceylon Embassy in Cairo. Accompanying me to the airport to say ‘farewell’ were my mum, Mildred and sister Zita both dressed in white as it was three months after the death of my father.

Soon after the plane took off, a travel official handed me a note which happened to be from my uncle Noel wishing me a safe flight. The travel agency handed me a parcel from the sister of an official in the Sri Lankan embassy in Egypt. It was a sign of the difficulty in sending things freely to friends and family abroad during that era. After opening and seeing it was a piece of cake, the official proceeded to break it make sure that’s all it was!

Stops in Madras and Bombay

The first touchdown was at Madras (now Chennai) Airport. Being the first port of call on this flight, I had to go through the Madras Customs, whose courtesy left something to be improved upon. Their attention focused on the gift parcel I was carrying. The Officer said, “I want to open this”. I was not worried and said, “This is a gift of cakes I am carrying. You can open this, but wrap it back as it is wrapped”

The next stop was at Santa Cruz airport in Bombay. It was busier and pretty young girls in Western attire were ‘hanging out’. No wonder MignoneRatnam with the Jetliners, in their hit of the 1960s, sang their praises -

“Ladies are nice; gents are full of spice

BomBomBomBom, Bom, BomBombay hurray!”.

I was checked in to a nice hotel in Bombay and the next day, a Sunday, found me going to church with an employee, one Mr Pereira who, when he found I wished to go to Church, admitted he was a Catholic from Madras and accompanied me to church and back.

From Bombay to the Emirates

The next morning, I had to take the flight from Santa Cruz airport in Bombay on United Arab Airlines to the Emirates. The flight stopped at Doha, a city I had not heard of at that time, and the airport was small and nothing compared to our Ratmalana airport. Middle Eastern Cities and Countries really took off and developed after the International fuel crisis in 1973. Cairo Airport was massive and hectic. At the airport, a man was waving a placard with my name. He welcomed me and cleared me from Immigration and Customs without any checking and I was the first to be out. Then he showed me a Bank Counter and said, “You can change your money here”, I told him “I have nothing to change”.

Very surprised he asked, “You didn’t bring anything?” Of course, I had brought the Sun with me, (a Reggie Michael pun) but it was like carrying coal to Newcastle!

Arrival at Cairo

He took me to the Lobby and asked me to wait there till the others are cleared and then a bus would take us to the City. It was a long wait and I felt ‘insolitude among a multitude’. For the first time, I felt a little homesick. In the City of Cairo, I was put up at ‘Hotel Continental’ as a Guest of the Egyptian Government. A representative of the Information Department, who happened to be the Brother-in-Law of the Press Attaché of the Egyptian Embassy in Colombo, met me and apprised me of the itinerary. The next day was spent in getting money from the bank, as I had arranged it with the Press attaché’. The next port of call was the Ceylon Embassy in Cairo to meet a lady for whom I was carrying a parcel from her brother in Ceylon(then)! She was very nice, just as I expected. They say, “A Diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to ‘hell’ in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip”. Wherever I went, when the Egyptians heard that I was from Ceylon, the first thing they used to say was “Oh! Sailon, we like Sailon Tea and Mrs Ban-da-ra-na-ka”. For the first time I learnt that our own First Woman Prime Minister was so popular in this part of the world.

My time in Cairo

My itinerary and the logistics had been meticulously prepared by the Information Department. The Brother-in-Law of their Press Attaché in Colombo, let’s called him Mr Mohamed, was my chaperon on the tour. He took me to all the places of interest in Cairo and around Cairo, including the Great Pyramid, the Great Sphinx of Giza, the Museum, the Palace of King Farouk, Temple of Karnak, Nile Hilton Hotel, etc. The Pyramids considered the oldest of the Ancient Wonders of the World, were a wonder in every sense of the word. Constructed between 2,500 to 3,500 years ago, from granite stones brought from Aswan about 600km away through boats along the river Nile. They used slaves for the construction and we can guess how ‘enslaved’ they were. The Great Sphinx (like the head of a man on a lion) is said to be constructed over 4,500 years ago. The most important items in the Museum are the Mummies as old as the Pyramids. The bodies of King Ramses II, Tutankhamen, Queen Nefertiti, etc. that we have learnt in history are all there still intact. The opulence of King Farook’s Palace with all the glittering gold (even the frame-work of beds are in gold) explains the overthrow of the monarchy around 1952 by Nasser, more than any book.

My Chaperon wanted me to visit the Great Pyramid area for a popular show styled ‘Son et Lumiere’ (sound and light in French) which was on a Sunday. I declined to go as it was a Sunday and I had to go to Church. He told me, “You can go to Church any day. If you do not go for this show today, you may not see it forever”. I could not refuse the offer and glad that I took it. It was an impressive representation of ancient Egyptian history through a combination of sound and light with the narrative in the voice of Gregory Peck, the well-known Hollywood Actor of the 1950s and 60s. This spectacle was a must for the tourists.

Later, I used to think why Sri Lanka cannot have shows like this at locations with Sagas of Great historical importance such as the Sigiriya Rock Fortress (a UN Heritage Site), Ruwanweliseya Chaitya, etc. I learnt later that the three famous Chaityas in Sri Lanka namely, Ruwanweliseya, Mirisawetiya and Abeyagiri have all been constructed with exactly the same angles and gradients of the Pyramids! Our ancestors used high tech in their constructions and irrigation works.

A key item in my itinerary was a visit to the Aswan High Dam about 600km away from Cairo, the largest Dam in the world at that time and under construction. I went alone by train, which was an overnight trip. I stopped at Luxor and was told that the Director of the Tourist Bureau would me meet at the Railway Station.If I miss him, I was advised to book into the Hotel Winter Palace. As no one met me at the Railway Station, I took a cab by way of a horse carriage to the Hotel. The Receptionist at the Hotel received me warmly and said, “I am pleased to meet you. I am one of your neighbours”. When I asked him from where he was, he said, Pakistan! As I went up to my room, the telephone rang and I was informed to come down to meet a visitor, who was at the Reception. When I came down I found it was the Director of the Tourist Bureau in Luxor.

In Luxor, I was taken with a group of tourists to the valley of the Kings,Valley of the Queens and valley of the Nobles where the famous Tombs are still there. They are very deep and long and how they were constructed at that time shows their high technology.

The Mummies which were laid there and later discovered were transferred to the Cairo Museum. Space does not permit me to go into detail of what I learnt about these great historical monuments.

The National Day of Egypt came up during my stay there. It was celebrated in Port Said, with Chief Guest being, of course, the well-loved President Nasser. To enable me to get into the thick of the business, I was given a badge as a Journalist from Ceylon. I travelled with other Journalists to Port Said. When I said that I was from Ceylon, one of them asked me, “Where is Ceylon?” I explained that it was right below India. He was not satisfied. I added, “If you show me a World Map, I will show you Ceylon”. One Journalist produced a World Map and I looked and to my utter dismay found that, there was no Ceylon. I quickly recovered and said, “When I left Ceylon one week ago, it was right under India. Now it looks as if it is right under the Indian Ocean!” we all laughed.

One Journalist introduced himself as from Rumania. I asked him, “From which principality, Moldavia or Wallachia?” “From Moldavia” he replied surprised and asked, “Have you been to Rumania?” “Not yet” I answered (I still haven’t) “But I know a bit about Rumania”.

 Another Journalist was from Chili. When I asked him for his name, he quipped “There is no point telling my name because you will never remember it”. “Never mind,” I said, “I have a fairly good memory”. He replied, “Ferdinand Fernando”. I remarked “I am Perera, we have enough Ferdinands, Fernandos and Pereras in Ceylon”. “How come” he inquired? “A relic of the same Portuguese influence” I responded.

At Port Said, the National Day celebrations were done on a grand scale. Along with the Journalists  

I was introduced to President Nasser. The popularity of President Nasser had to be seen to be believed. Whenever he passes by the crowed keep chanting hysterically -“Ab-dulga-mal  Nasser,   Ab-dulga-mal  Nasser”. He was Egypt’s “cometh the hour, cometh the man”. His popularity and hero worship can be gauged by the following incident.When I asked a fellow Egyptian traveller“What would happen to Egypt when President Nasser dies?” What I really meant was who will succeed President Nasser? He gave me a stern look and remarked, “I wish that I die, you die and everyone else dies, and President Nasser lives on forever”! However, “Man proposes and God disposes”. Less than two years later Israel in the “six-day war” vanquished Egypt and its allies. President Nasser claimed responsibility for the defeat on himself and resigned or offered to resign; as they say in military parlance “a strategic withdrawal”. He knew that no one would take it up and the people asked him to stay on, which he did. But he was no longer the same power he was. He died in September 1970. Our Madam Prime Minister lost her office less than one year after my Egyptian visit but came back to power in 1970.

At the end of my visit, I thanked my Chaperon, Mr Mohamed, who was so helpful during my travels. He told me that he would like to visit Ceylon. I asked him “When are you planning?” He replied, “I want to marry an Air Hostess so that I can travel free.” As Mr Mohamed was in his early 30s, I inquired “Are you not married?” He responded, “You see, we can marry four wives!”

I must say that I was delighted to have won this wonderful trip to exotic Egypt, of which I had learnt a bit from history books, not forgetting the Bible. The near VIP treatment, they extended to me reflected the regard and respect they had for Ceylon and particularly for Mrs Bandaranaike. My heartfelt thanks to the Egyptian Government and Ceylon Daily Mirror for this prized opportunity which one may not get even once in your lifetime! Lastly, I must not forget Cricket, lover-ly Cricket, for taking me free of any cost to as far as Egypt, even before Ceylon had not even dreamt of being a Member of the International Cricket Arena. “The glorious uncertainties of cricket”.