There’s nothing better than MedTrekking on empty winter-dormant beaches after a busy week on the trail of Alexander the Great in the library, museums, monuments, memorials and alleyways of frenetic Alexandria, Egypt.
The Idiot relished walking alone and barefoot on beaches west of Alexandria, Eygpt.
A beached boat, long shadows and a few fishermen were considered exciting while The Idiot casually walked towards Libya.
It was truly a thrill when The Idiot saw a splendid double rainbow and a spectacular turquoise Mediterranean Sea after walking in the first rain of a month-long MedTrek outing on December 1.
This stretch of the Mediterranean coast is packed with vacationing Egyptians during the summer but, except for security guards at various resorts and the omnipresent military, is virtually dead during the winter.
Beaches in places like El Hamam are untended,…
…resorts are completely empty and…
…everything’s for rent for almost nothing.
That’s why The Idiot was stunned when he approached El Alamein, a village known for the key role it played during back-and-forth battles between Axis and Allied troops during World War II, to run into Las Vegas on the Mediterreanean where he became one of three customers at the 340-room hotel in the Porto Marina Resort and Spa, which also has over 1,000 apartments and numerous restaurants and boutiques.
Stumbling upon the open Porto Marina Resort and Spa just before El Alamein was like walking into Oz.
The Idiot had the entire Porto Marina Resort and Spa to himself. Room cost: $30.00.
The Idiot MedTrekked through El Alamein, paying his respects at the numerous cemeteries and memorials for over 50,000 solders who gave their lives during the 1941-43 engagement, towards Marsa Martuh.
The memorial for “the Greeks fallen in the battle of El Alamein.”
The El Alamein War Cemetery contains over 7,200 Commonwealth graves, including 800 which are unidentified.
The German war graves and memorial are on the Mediterranean seaside west of El Alamein.
The Idiot continued MedTrekking past the Italian memorial on the coast into the village of Sidi Abd El-Rahman. He’ll resume the MedTrek to Marsa Matruh, 240 kilometers west of Alexandria and 222 kilometers from the Libya border, in March.
The Idiot points west on the beach at the Marassi Resort in Sidi Abd El-Rahman towards Marsa Matruh and the Siwa Oasis in the Sahara Desert. He’ll recommence the MedTrek here in March 2017.
Why March?
After completing the MedTrek to Marsa Matruh, The Idiot has an important date with the Oracle of Ammon at the Siwa Oasis on the Ides of March.
Alexander the Great’s visit and consultation with the Oracle in 331 B.C. was one of the most important and most publicized events of his reign.
And The Idiot expects to get guidance from the Oracle regarding the conclusion of his 20-year MedTrek and answers to some very key questions, including the long-time mystery concerning where Alexander the Great is now buried.
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