Sunday drive: Scorpio(n) king in mummy land!
For the first time ever, an Indian made car was shot with the Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza as a backdrop; the hefty $2,000 fee was entirely worth it
The car in front of me has a boy sticking his head out of the sunroof, breathing exhaust fumes and completely oblivious to the gnarl of traffic around him. There’s honking from aggressive drivers trying to muscle past my Mahindra Scorpio whilst helmetless bikers with two or more pillions (also without helmets) weave in and out of small gaps that momentarily open up in the bumper-to-bumper crawl. A scene out of a crowded Indian city? Not quite.
I’m in Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, on the Mediterranean coast. It’s the start point of a drive across the land of Pharaohs. Our chariot for this road trip is a pair of Mahindra Scorpios and a Getaway pick-up that have just been driven from Cape Town to Cairo by a group of young artists from around the world. Our adventure is a lot gentler than their 240-day traipse across the entire length of the African continent but, judging from my first day behind the wheel of the Scorpio, it’s no less exciting.
Alexandria reminds me a bit of Mumbai with the chaotic traffic, some shabby buildings, even shabbier taxis (mostly Ladas) and the sea on one side. But, Alexandria’s ‘Marine Drive’ or corniche is around 20km long with the historical 15th century Citadel of Qaitbay (built on the ruins of the lighthouse that was once a wonder of the world) at one end and the last king’s fabulous impressive Montazah Palace, at the other. The waterfront promenade in between offers some great views of the spectacularly blue Mediterranean Sea and I can now understand where the term ‘Mediterranean blue’ comes from.
Desi vibes
Apart from this handful of touristy sights there’s not much to see in Alexandria, so the next day we jump into our Scorpios and head east to Port Said. We get our first taste of Egyptian highways, which again feels similar to India. The roads are wide and flat but a bit uneven, which exposes the wallowy and bumpy ride of the Scorpio. The good thing is that the Scorpio’s tall seating position gives me a commanding view of the road, which is useful whilst keeping an eye on aggressive drivers darting between lanes. I’ll never forget the sight of a bunch of Bajaj autorickshaws (all imported from India) racing each other five-abreast like the chariots in Ben-Hur. Mad!
Driving a right-hand-drive car on the right side of the road does initially require a degree of concentration especially whilst overtaking but once you’re used to it, highway cruising is quite effortless thanks to the Scorpio’s strong pulling power.
The road from Port Said to Cairo runs alongside the Suez Canal and the sight of massive container ships towering above the high walls that guard this sliver of water, which is Egypt’s biggest money spinner, is quite humbling. It takes an entire day for a ship to thread through the 193km canal whilst in our Scorpios, we hit the outskirts of Cairo in around three hours from Port Said.
Not-so-small wonders
Cairo traffic is crazy, chaotic and we reach our hotel in the centre of town, opposite Tahrir Square, pretty knackered. The next day is a big tick on my bucket list with a visit to the Pyramids of Giza, which amazingly is just a 45-minute drive from the centre of the capital. At first, the pyramids don’t look that impressive but when you get up-close to them you can understand why they are a wonder of the world. The inch-perfect symmetry with which over two million blocks of limestone weighing on average 2.3 tons each have been precisely arranged to form a perfectly proportioned pyramid 4,500 years ago defies belief. In fact, there are enough theories suggesting aliens had a hand in building them.
For our Scorpios there was no better photo op than the pyramids and that’s something the authorities knew only too well. We were charged a hefty US$2,000 for a two-hour shoot around the Giza complex, which also has the iconic Sphinx. Well worth it when you consider that this was the first time ever that an Indian made car was shot against possibly the most famous wonder of the world as a backdrop, thus making a bit of history in the process.
South of Cairo there’s much more to see in a country with such a rich history but as they say, you have to leave something for next time or you’ll never come back.
Hormazd Sorabjee is one of the most senior and much loved auto journalists in India, and is editor of Autocar India
Sunday Drive appears every fortnight
From HT Brunch, May 19, 2019
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