The Idiot plans to resume the MedTrek early next year at the Gaza Strip and stroll across the 185-kilometer Mediterranean coast of the ISIS-frequented Sinai Peninsula to Port Said, Egypt. And then walk beyond that along the seaside towards Alexandria.

The Sinai, of course, is the scene of the recent bombing of a Russian passenger jet and numerous attacks on Egyptian security force by ISIS jihadi groups.

The Idiot points to the Gaza border where he’ll begin MedTrekking in 2016. (Photo: Sara Stratte)

Will The Idiot be deterred by the presence of ISIS and concerned by other security concerns in Egypt?

Maybe. After all, he might be an Idiot but he’s not stupid.

Fortunately Sara Stratte, The Idiot’s 21-year-old niece who recently MedTrekked with him in Israel and just completed an archeological dig an hour from Cairo, has formulated a possible alternative approach after visiting numerous historical sites in the country.

The Idiot and his 21-year-old niece Sara Stratte on the MedTrek in Israel in October 2015.
(Photo: Michael Knipe)

“Instead of literally following in Alexander the Great’s footsteps to Egypt you should simply walk to and through the many historical sites where he hung out back in the day,” said Sara, referring to Alexander’s campaign in Egypt in 332-331 BC which took him to the pyramids in Giza, Heliopolis, Memphis, Amun and numerous other well-known contemporary tourist destinations, including Alexandria which he founded.

Kom Ombo, a Graeco-Roman temple that features one of the few known images in Egypt of Alexander the Great.
(Photo: Sara Stratte)

“It’s not that I mean to dissuade The Idiot from his usual Homeric meanderings,” Sara continued. “But you’ve got to realize the logistical limitations to your quest in post-revolutionary Egypt. Security when traveling in Egypt is a weighty determinant of where you can travel. Foreign tourists who travel outside of common zones like Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, or Alexandria typically require their own police detail. The out of the way areas are simply not equipped with the same level of police patrol as the more metropolitan areas and can be very dangerous. I can’t see someone, even The Idiot, surviving a walk alone along rural Sinai seashores.”

Sara’s security detail during her archeological dig at Maidom. (Photo: Sara Stratte)

“And there are so many beautiful, awe-inspiring and historically interesting things to see that will look the same to you as they did to Alexander,” she added. “Chill out at the Pyramids, decipher the reverential graffiti that litter the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Luxor, and pay homage to Alexander wherever you go.”

Sara encouraged The Idiot to join tourists of all nationalities and walk, in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, through Cairo to the Giza Pyramids.
(Photo: Sara Stratte)

Will The Idiot take Sara’s advice?

He’ll think about it.

After all, the third book in “The Idiot and the Odyssey” trilogy is currently subtitled “Alexander the Great Walks The Mediterranean” not “Confronting ISIS And Cheating Death On The Sinai Peninsula.”

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."