artist on a quest in the middle east

proposed route

proposed itinerary

28th May -                 leave UK, arrive in Cairo, Egypt, 7.10 pm. Let the Quest begin!
29th May-18th June:  explore Khan al Khalili, Pyramids, Coptic Cairo and get lost lots.
18th- 22nd June -      Luxor - vast temples and tombs of ancient egypt...
22nd-27th June -       More Cairo Chaos, and hectic sketching
27th June -               Leave Cairo for the desert. Try and stay in ancient monastery of St Anthony (Coptic) and the very first monastery- the beginning of it all!!
29th June -               travel to St Katherine's monastery in Sinai.
30th June -               climb Mt Sinai for dawn

1st July -                  travel to Jordan across land and ferry. Arrive in Aqaba. Get a ride up into the Wadi Rum desert. Stay overnight in the desert.
2nd July -                 travel to Petra.
4th July (my birthday!) travel to Madaba, a small Jordanian village near Christ's baptism site.
8th July -                  move on to Amman, Jordan's modern Capital City.

11th July -               Cross the border into Syria, and on to Damascus. Hopefully. Hang out in the Umayyad mosque for a few days.
18th july -               Visit the Monastery Deir Mar Musa. Very isolated. Very cool.
20th July -               travel to Palmyra - vast roman ruins in the desert.
22nd July -              move on to Aleppo, and my first kind of decent hotel. Mmmm!
29th July -                Leave Aleppo, try and cross the border, and get into south east Turkey.

29th July -              SanliUrfa, Turkey. The birthplace of Abraham.
31st July -               Mardin, South Eastern Turkey. Check out some very old monasteries. For a change.
3rd Aug -               Epic day of travel - stay in kharamanmaras. No idea what this is like.
4th Aug -               Another long haul day, on to Goreme, in capadoccia, mountainous central turkey
5th Aug -               Hot Air Ballon trip. Very essential.
6th Aug -               Travel to Konya, for a visit to a Sufi Shrine.
7th Aug -               Istanbul. Collapse.
7th Aug-2nd September- stay in Istanbul.

2nd Sep -              Istanbul to Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
5th Sep -               Veliko Tarnovo, a beautiful bulgarian town embedded in the mountains.
8th Sep -              Sofia. Capital of Bulgaria, and supposedly pretty grim. Lovely.

14th Sep -             Travel into Croatia. Dubrovnic, and the quiet coast.

21st Sep -              Budapest, Hungary.

16th October.        Return to Edinburgh. Just in time for winter!

So at last, we begin...

Cairo is amazing! Huge, boisterous, hectic, hilarious... I arrived here 2 days ago , and have spent all my time just wandering, trying to get aquainted... not taking any photos; just looking. There is so much here- I wandered up a street yesterday, in a very traditionally Islamic part of Cairo, known as Street of the Tentmakers, and felt i could do my whole project just on this street alone - a breathtaking tumble of people of so many different kinds, colours, smells, modern concrete dilapidation and ancient, perfect structures..  I stand out here like a sore thumb - i can't seem to see any other tourists- i thought i was going kind of low-key- but there's no hiding from these guys... mind you- they're cool- the Egyptians have a pretty good sense of humour (they keep laughing and pointing wherever i go..) and they all like my hat. 'Nice hat' I hear about every hour.

I spent time in the Al Azhar Mosque yesterday, just sitting and chilling. It is over 1000 years old, and is incredible- serene, and yet buzzing. It's amazing how many different kinds of people coexist here side by side. It shows how narrow our society and culture is, and how much we all conform. Here there is so much more variety, in dress, and i guess, in lifestyle. There is a real sense of reverence and respect here too for the difference.

A few things about Cairo- It is completely falling apart- It is so big and crammed it makes London and Paris seem like quaint little towns- The traffic... I can't believe the traffic! Crossing the road is like the most amazing thing ever! Just to survive is a blessing, Baraka from God. Cars don't obey the lights, people just walk straight out into streams of traffic... don't tell my mum, but it's definitely the scariest thing i've ever seen!! Where's the Green Cross Code Man when you need him?!- Food is very good- being on my own is very good; lots of time to think and take it all in - people are friendly- sheesha is very good too!

Not seen the pyramids yet. Maybe there i will find my tourist people!

I miss you all already, my friends, and i hope you are all coping without me. Hard I know!

"In the Footsteps of Hermes Trismegistus"

Some background to my project:

Hermes Trismegistus is very hard to pin down. He is supposed to have been the original teacher of the Ancient Art of Alchemy- the Art of Transforming the World (crudely diluted within popular culture to the art of turning dirt into Gold). He is perhaps divine; definitely immortal, and very elusive.

He is first written of in the Ptolemaic Dynasty (Egyptian dynasty, of which Cleopatra was a Queen) - Started by Alexander the Great a few centuries before the time of Christ. At this time, Alexander brought ideas of ancient Greece together with those of ancient Egypt. Hermes Trismegistus is reckoned to be a syncretism, a combination of the Greek Hermes, the god of journeys and thresholds, andthe Egyptian Thoth, the god of Writing and hieroglyphics. And Secrets.

When the Ptolenaic dynasty fell to the Romans, the centre of it's power, Alexandria, in Egypt began its decline. Eventually the great library was burned by marauding fanatical Christians, angry at the mystical content of much of the Alchemical manuscripts and magic books. From that time on, Alchemy was passed on only to a select few, the Initiates. The knowledge was passed on by word, from Master to Apprentice and was a fiercely guarded secret.

The Apprentice, in order to complete his training had to leave his Master, and go on a quest. On this quest it was hoped he would come to complete knowledge of the Art.  (This quest, like many aspects of alchemy, was often used as a metaphor for the process of transformation of the Prima Materia, the dirt, the stuff of the earth, into the Philosopher's Stone. The substance that transforms all matter into something eternal.

From this point, Hermes Trismegistus becomes a Rumour. A Myth. A Shifting Shadow, The centre of Alchemical study was burned to the ground, and now the learning and ideas migrate. The first place they take hold of is the Arab Civilisations that dramatically transform into the cult of Mohammed centred in the Arabian peninsula, and the Levant (modern-day Syria, Jordan and Palestine.) Then, afwith Christendom's renewed interest in the 'Holy Lands' it seems that the rumour of Hermes Trismegistus infiltrates into the Christian Empire, and its massive centre of learning, Constantinople. With the fall of Constantinople in the 15th Century to the Turks, the great libraries and educated Christians flee and disperse into eastern Europe, carrying the knowlege of Hermes trismegistus with them, all the way to the Renaissance of central Europe.

I want to trace his journey, in the hope that i can see something of his passing. Something of the deep timeless transformation of the world, from dirt, matter, chaos, into something approaching the eternal.

First of all...dirt

I find myself in places where  there are no roads. No paving, just dirt. My bright red Pumas are the colour of ash. My steps send up clouds of dust. The dirt-track here used to be the 2nd most important thoroughfare in Medieval Cairo. Now it is ground down to mounds of sand and dust. Everywhere dust. But i cant help the spring in my step. The dirt is unnoticed by everyone here. They are concerned with other things. There is so much beauty here, and i feel that in all this disintegration, i am on to something...

My first kidnapping

Don't draw in mosques. Why does nobody tell me this before it's too late? I sit down, tired after lunch in one of the greatest mosues in Egypt; The Mosque of Al Azhar. The doorman offers me a tour and is delighted when i say i am returning, just to sit, to take in the atmosphere. I don't tell him i am armed with a sketchbook and pencil.

'Photo okay!" I hear the mosque guides say. So far i feel safe. Mosques are very tolerant places. You can sit, lounge around, caper about (as many egyptian lads love to do) while people sing the Qu'ran to each other (that's how it is recited) and pray.

So i start to draw. I start to draw a few curious onlookers. Before i know it, I have aroused the curiosity of all these young geezers. They are suprememly enthusiastic about my drawing. In a strange flashback my mind flicks full of images of demonstrations to bored looking dundee students consistently unimpressed with my attempts at drawing. But here- i am the man! The two most enthusiastic, Mohammed (sporting a thin wispy whiskers that spell trouble for the infidel) and Amr, whose winning smile spells trouble for ladies everywhere, insist that there is a bigger, better mosque where i should draw...

Before I know it I'm being whisked in a taxi and driven (at breakneck speed of course) out of town. My control freak nature cant quite handle this. It is not hellped by the fact that my two new friends dont really speak english, so  i have no idea what is going on...

Then we arrive at this Mega-Mosque, called the Amr Ibn el As Mosque... and off we rush, hand in hand (Egyptian Guys like to hold hands- not quite sure how i'm handling this..) and. it is big. And Miles out of any part of cairo i have a map for. Cairo is mad. And the madness just keeps on going. Vast miles of madness. So anyway, I draw. Amr decides to sing the Qu'ran at me. I am a bit unsure how to respond. Do I dance? Clap along? Sing 'As the Deer Pants for Water' or whatever it is as a kind of exchange?- Maybe my dundonian 'Rapper's Delight' Hip Hop might work... well, when all else fails, ... draw. As I draw Amr, he is loving it, and i do this fairly reasonable sketch. A noise behind me makes me turn and i start as i realise i'm surrounded by another bunch of geezers.. I seem to be getting away with this, when the Muezzin (call to prayer singer person) starts blasting through the tannoy. Suddenly they all run off. Amr turns to me and says "Blair" I say "Tony??" and he says" Blayer. No?" Then runs off really fast to join what i realise is a huge bunch of men all lined up to pray. They always pray facing Mecca. And Mecca is always indicated by a recess in the far wall of the mosque called a mihrab. So where am i sitting? Yes, in front of the Mihrab. So about 200 men pray at me for about 10 minutes. Lots of prostartation and standing and kneeling. There's nowhere for me to run, and no-one else anywhere near. The rows of men are about 20 metres away. I contemplate hiding behind a pillar, but feel this may be wrong. So, not sure what to do, I draw. Of course. The international language for the confused. And clueless. Mohammed and Amr think my drawing is hilarious (much laughter- is this good?) And they take me out for juice (tasty!) (They won't "cheers" me - "Moslems no cheers" boo- i love cheersing... and we jump on a bus (exciting) and jump off. While the bus is still moving. That's what you do it seems. I manage not to disgrace myself and with a few skips and bounces keep my balance, and they take me to dinner, in a sort of Arab greasy spoon. Sung Qu'ran blasts from the speakers and my stomach starts to murmer...

and the thing is, these gents paid for everything. Wouldn't take a penny. So i gave 'em the drawing of Amr. And i slunk off into a dirty alley. These Egyptians are great. Al Hamdu L'illah. God be Praised!

Two whole days on the toilet

'nuff said. Looks like those darn kidnappers got me after all...

what doesn't kill you makes you stronger...

oop, gotta run

Agent of Change

I can see this isn't going to be so simple.

took my sketchbook out to the 'Street of the Tentmakers' today.

How on earth can i pick up the scent of this elusive Hermes Trismegistus in a city that reeks of a plethora of smells? No matter where I go my senses are overwhelmed. From the stomach-churning hot odour of a huge pile of ambigu-meat sizzling on the streetside booth, to the engulfing haze wafting from a sheesha den; the metallic taste of fumes farting from the angry swarms of honking black and white taxis, to the intoxicating aroma of perfume as a group of headscarves glide by; cripples as the make their way down the busy streets swing censors of incense as they seek alms, only to be be turned by a fresh tang of coriander or cumin from a spice souq, simply to lose it completely on turning the corner and stumbling around a house-sized pile of rotting trash......

..it's almost as if Cairo's disorientating effect is in some way deliberate...

Just when you begin to focus, to realise that you may have found a clue, and you stop to look a little closer... Just then the rabid honking of traffic explodes all around you, suddenly a gaggle of tack-selling street hustlers are flapping in your face "Welcome to Egypt! Welcome to Egypt! Where you from! Yes! Come this way! I have good prices !American?" and you're caught in the surging crowd-tide, oblivious to your hesitations, moving you on, away from the moment...

The idea of picking up the scent of Hermes Trismegistus in Cairo seems a hopelessly optimistic one. However, if i manage to keep ducking out the way, and learn to see beyond the supposed 'otherness' of the oriental dress, language and custom, and seek that which has stayed the same for countless generations; buildings that have fulfilled the same rituals for 1000 years,markets, roads still travelled,  monasteries which have observed the same rhythms of the day and year for 1750 years, and yet are still living, and now beginning to feel a new change coming, turning, under the surface...      there i will find trace of the Agent of Change

Falling for Cairo

I'm not the most 'balanced' person at the best of times, but this huge bonkers city seems especially bent upon my downfall....

3 things i have fallen over in Cairo:

1.A sleeping body in the middle of the pavement about 1am. Having been out late at night a few times now I am amazed by how many people sleep on the streets, tucked into corners, gutters, and tiny spaces in between the buildings. I presume this one was sleeping, and not dead.

2. Cairo has no concept of Health and Safety. This means that if they dig a hole in the road or pavement, they don't mark it or put a barrier around it. I have eluded several gaping manholes so far, but the other night, walking back to my Pension in the dark, (no streetlights just for fun) i, stupidly, took my eyes off the pavement- assuming pavements to be relatively flat things - and was completely taken by surprise as i was attacked by a random concrete protuberance sticking 12 inches up from the pavement. I clattered in a heap, all bag and hat and water-bottle flying, and lay, quite unable to grasp what had happened, like a rather unkempt offering upon a mini altar. Eventually i tucked my splintered shin bone back into my leg and got up. I was now the colour of a cairo pavement. That is the colour of dirt. I have bonded with this city.

3. Cairenes wear their piety proudly upon their baggy sleeves. It is common to see men praying in the street on any day, doing their usual combo of standing kneeling and prostration. But on Fridays, all muslims should pray at 1pm if they can, so vast numbers pile into the mosques. But there are too many for the mosques to hold so they spill out onto the street, and you can have a busy downtown road, normally 4 lanes of traffic, and the green prayermats are just laid out as far as they are needed, right into the middle of the road, so as they pray the traffic has to drive round them. And the pedestrians have to take a wide berth. If they notice in time. Which i didn't, and stumbled right into a group of prostrate gents. Oh dear. They were cool though.

Take your eye off the road for a second here and you're asking for trouble! 

Drawn to People

Egypt is still doing my head in with its wonderfulness. Bundles of some of the most amazing man-made buildings and monuments are strewn carelessly here and there, from the dynasties of the Pharaohs, to the mosques and mausoleums of the great Islamic empires of the 11th, 14th and 19th centuries, to churches that date back to the 5th and 6th centuries. This is mad enough, but even more so when, (with the exception perhaps of the Ancient Egyptian stuff,) loads of them are still thriving, still alive. What's even more amazing is that cairo, the crazy conurbation of uncontrolled craziness just seems to crackle and pop and grow all around them, a bit like a huge, sort of benign swarm of friendly, slightly bonkers ants around a much older forest of minarets and domes, while they look demurely on, unfazed by all the frantic action.

What amazes me even more, is that above and beyond even that, it is the people here that make me catch my breath.  Colour, livliness, humour and energy are what I see. A vibrant cacophany of so many different kinds of people all in it together, and I want more than anything to be able to explore the magical story of the transforming cultures here through this...