St Tawadros El Muhareb

A totally bonkers of a morning, completely threw me for the rest of the day (It happens like that sometimes/most of the time here!)
I just couldn't settle and so I went for a cycle. I had no idea where I was going, it's normally the case, but I headed towards the Qurna Mountain, where there is always peace, solitude and stillness.

The Valley of the Queens, is not too far after the ticket office, the heat of the baron desert, drew me towards a little spot that overlooks the Temple of Medinet Habu. There I absorbed the serenity and admired the beauty around me.

I decided to visit the El Muhareb Monastery, it wasn't too far and I had been planning to visit for a couple of months.

The old wooden doors were closed, but by chance, I had cycled past Mafouz, he worked in the cemetery there and soon arrived at the door. He pressed long and hard on the bell, until we could hear one of the sisters inside coming to let us in. I pulled my cardigan on, to cover my shoulders.

The El Tawadros Monastery is having some much needed renovation work done, parts of the building are 1700 years old, not as old as the tombs of the Pharoahs, but the structure has been well used in those 1700 years!

I asked about a friend of mine, Karin, who passed away a little over 2 months ago and was buried in the cemetery here. Mafouz knew where she was and led me beyond the walls of the Monastery to a rocky and dusty landscape. I was initially saddened, as the bunches of flowers were brown and crisp, a sign that no one had visited for a while. I looked down at the unmarked grave, looked around and looked at the mountain, we were not far from it and that is one of the reasons she wanted to be here.

As I said goodbye to the sisters, they enquired as to where I lived etc and soon ended up where most conversations end up here - marriage! I confidently told them I was not married (It's always frowned upon here) but of course, the sisters gave me a big thumbs up and agreed with my take on the whole ethos of marriage!

God bless Karin xx