The Haunted Hilton

The Ramses Hilton was built in the seventies, a result of the late genius Dr. William Hanna's efforts. It has now become a constant feature in Cairo's landscape, featuring in photos of the city as a landmark in it's own right. Standing at 110 meters talls, with 36 floors, it is one of the tallest buildings in Cairo.

The Ramses Hilton in the mid seventies

Even though many rival hotels have since appeared, many guests, especially from the Arabian Gulf , are attracted to the distinguished service they provide. I had the chance to experience this service myself when I was invited out to dinner at one of it's classic restaurants. The waiter was chatty and candid, joking and laughing with us, telling us stories of the past and present. Even when I requested a more traditional cup of tea, with the leaves at the bottom, I was promptly served, with no delay, despite it not being available on the menu. He called it Staff's tea with a wide grin on his face. It was an enjoyable night.

There was something about it though. The hotel in general. An arcane feel. My friend only heightened that feeling, with her new found fascination with it. I felt that countless skeletons were hidden in the closets of the countless rooms of this impressive place. The veils of mystery were craving for someone to transverse them...

I believe I know why.

A few years back I read a story in the news that I associated with this hotel whenever I saw it. It was the story of Princess Hind.

Princess Hind Al-Fasi was the wife of the Saudi Prince Turki Bin Abdul Aziz. According to the waiter, the prince himself was a timid and peaceful man, who liked to keep to himself. The princess however had a completely different pesona. She was wild and stormy, who enjoyed the extravagant lifestyle she led. They lived in self-imposed exile in Egypt for more than 30 years, occuping the top floors of the Ramses Hilton. They had a multinational security task-force, keeping them shielded from the rest of the world in this hotel. The security teams moved ahead of them, behind them and alongside them, with security dogs even accompanying them to the classy restaurants they ate in.

Princess Hind was not a new face in the news. She was constantly summoned to court for law violations, including walking out of a store with more than one million dollars worth of jewelry. Another incident involved three servants trying to escape from the top floors of the hotel by tying bedsheets together when they couldn't take the torture anymore. Her servants were kept in two hotel rooms, with six in each room. The princess merely ignored the court summons, and went about her lavish life without paying any attention to these issues.

Gary Ogaick,  a former employee of the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh, decided to investigate the princess himself. He bribed some of the guards to keep tabs on her, and the people who visited her. He seemed more interested in knowing whether she was involved in extramarital affairs, of which the guards provided him with information about. He also managed to find out that the princess kept tabs on her own husband, with hidden cameras placed by her guards whereever prince Turki frequented.

Other information he managed to aquire from the guards included beatings performed on both her servants and guards, usually involving handcuffs and metal wires.

Before I went to dine at the Ramses Hilton, I told my friend about her story. She looked her up online and to my surprise, found out that she had passed away recently - at the age of 52. The death itself was surrounded by controversy, and that had our minds running wild. I admit I never gave the hotel and it's princess that much thought before. But when my friend looked up at the hotel and took notice at how the last few floors were dark, I saw how the stories have captivated her. Her eyes were transfixed on Princess Hind's palace of secrets.

Gary Ogaick never talked about his discoveries again. The pressure reporters placed on him was not enough for him to give way. His last words to one of the reporters were "I'm not going to tell you anything about anything."

Cairo's Phone Frenzy

It was the winter of 1999 when a bright-eyed boy who was about to turn 15 was given a new toy. That boy was me. That toy was the Ericsson A1018.

Long gone are the days when we were easily fascinated and amused by what is now labeled obsolete. This hefty phone, which came with a blue face, a thick antenna, and a monochrome display had placed me under it's spell. Exploring its options (which could be counted on the fingers of one hand) was a source of joy for me, and it's weight in my pocket made me feel nervous yet excited at the same time. It was cherished dearly.

I have seen this happen over and over again. I've seen it happen even before I got my first cell phone. My first transistor radio. My first walkman. My first CD player. My first computer. My first ipod. The list can go on forever. Right now, I've got a Sony Ericsson smart-phone. But it just isn't as smart anymore. People are popping up left and right with new models, blackberries, iphones, ipads, and gadgetry I have never even heard of before.

Suddenly I feel so out of it.

Now I look at my smart-phone and feel that it might be of better use as a paper-weight. Or maybe a doorstop. It's heavy, looks like a brick, and would do the job well. I could use its stylus to pick out the crumbs between the letters of my keyboard every now and again. If I had my old Ericsson phone on me, I might consider using it again. Perhaps I could start a retro phone fad going. That way I could always have an excuse for not buying a pricey space age phone every two to three months.

 My phone in action as a paper-weight

When I go out with friends to have a meal, it wouldn't be strange for me to feel alone. I would push the food around the plate with my fork, with an elbow on the table, and my face leaning against my fist. When I look up from my plate, I sigh at the sight of my friends' faces, reflecting the glow from their phone displays. Even when I quip a blackberry joke, I would receive a chorus of grunts, 'huh?'s and the occasional 'sorry' before they fall back into their trance-like stupors.

Maybe you can drop that blackberry for one day in the weekend, and start a new fad with me. Find an old phone that's been collecting dust for a few years now, and power it up again. Let's go retro. Are you in?

'Huh?'

The Cairo Eruption

I don't know what it is about Cairo that keep people interested in visiting it or living in it. One of my close friends abroad has once coined an interesting term for the tourists that come here - 'sh**-in-a-hole tourists'. He was particularly referring to those who live in comfortable conditions but like to visit relatively underdeveloped areas to taste a bit of life on the other side.

You don't have to be a backpacker to come here though. Just the other night I was invited out to a restaurant where most Egyptians would have to sacrifice a month's salary to have a meal at - that's if they ever thought of actually doing it. It was located in a five star hotel, and had impeccable service and cuisine - the atmosphere was so different to what most people are used to around here. Nevertheless, the hotel was teaming with tourists. Obviously, creature comforts to some tourists involve marble walls and Egyptian cotton, while to others could just be a hole in the ground.

A hotel surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Cairo, on the 26th of July Street

Some hotels in Cairo are severely lacking in service and facilities, but make up in terms of prices and general realism. You could find yourself in the heart of Cairo, amidst the crowds and noises, marvelling at how people live here, and at the same time cursing the fact you can't get a proper night's sleep. For Cairenes, bedtime is often associated with sunrise.

Cairo is swelling by the minute. I have the constant fear (or hope) that at some point I will have to abandon my car in traffic because it had nowhere to go. Immigration from rural areas is a contributing factor, but I have a feeling it's mostly due to the young generation. Probably with myself included. The population boom is obvious, with more young people out on the streets than ever before, with older generations starting to dissolve in the crowds. Walk into any office in Cairo, and it's highly likely that even the bosses and managers are barely over 30, with most of the fresh-faced workforce looking like they've barely left university.

Perhaps this would be the kind of scene you would see when traffic comes to an eternal halt in Cairo

Until the day comes when Cairo erupts, rupturing with traffic and people spewing out onto surrounding provinces, I will just have to wait, alternating between pedals every few seconds, crawling along, hoping to spot an empty stretch of asphalt to take me home.