I have still not been into Cairo again as we have been on duty for a week or so but I am hoping to see some of the places of interest this coming weekend. We have only been here three weeks yet it seems ages. Things we did in final leave seem hard to recall. Fiji seems like a dream almost. This is a strange land Dear. Standing on a ridge of ageless rock and sand, one looks out over the Nile towards Cairo with its mosques, palaces and minarets rearing up above flat-roofed houses through a shimmering haze. Distance is hard to judge and seems limitless, nothing stands out clear cut. It all seems unreal like a faded picture. Hardest of all to realize is that the three cone-shaped shadows beyond the city are the pyramids. One thing that surprises me is the way the barren desert runs right down to the Nile. I thought the banks of the Nile would be all in gardens and plantation for miles on either side but evidently there is no seepage and the only growth must be got by irrigation. The river is used for transportation on a large scale. Scows are used and in some places the tall bamboo masts of these picturesque craft are as 'thick as hairs on a cat's back' to quote one we know. They are heavy cumbersome open boats propelled by a huge triangular sail and guided by a large clumsy looking rudder. Looking away behind the camp is nothing but ridges and waadis and expanses of dusty stony sand.