Missing in Egypt (5 page)

4.
The Ransom

Two days later Kareem and I went to
Western Union
and collected the money.
 
I had begged Kareem to go to the local police but the kidnappers had insisted that there be no police involved if we wanted to see Ramy alive.
 
“Besides” Kareem pointed out “the local police are often very corrupt and they may relieve me of the money before I can pay the ransom!”
 
I was very jumpy as we walked back from the
Western Union
office to the hotel with
the equivalent of
$A250,000 in a bag!

Kareem rang his uncle.
 
The kidnappers had contacted Kareem’s mother again and told him to be at the
Temple
of
Luxor
at 8.15 am the next day with the money. He was, of course, to go alone and to proceed towards the back of the
Temple
.
 
He would see his brother behind one of the columns and a man in traditional clothing would take the bag with the money in exchange for Ramy.
 
Unfortunately, the Australian police told his mother, the call was not long enough for it to be traced.

I was so nervous as Kareem set off.
 
I begged him to let me go with him – at least as far as the
Temple
entrance, but he was adamant he would not jeopardise his brother’s life by taking any chances.

By 10.30 am I was very anxious.
 
He should have been back by now – where was he?
 
11 am came and went and by now I was pacing the small reception area.
 
Surely it couldn’t take that long.
 
Even if Ramy was ill and they had gone straight to the hospital, I would have expected a call from Kareem by now.
 
I forced myself to be

calm.
 
There would be a very good reason – maybe there was a bomb threat and the
Temple
had opened late.
 
Maybe Ramy was so ill Kareem had taken him straight to a hospital and hadn’t thought to ring me.
 
By mid-afternoon I could contain my fears no longer.
 
I put a call through to Kareem’s uncle.
 
He wasn’t there, of course, he was at work.
 
His wife said she would contact him and get him to ring me straight back.
 
More waiting.
 
But within 15 minutes his Uncle was on the phone.
 
“Something must be wrong Anna” he said.
 
“I have a bad feeling.
 
Wait another hour and then go to the police”.

That hour was the longest of my life.
 
I kept going over and over Kareem’s last words.
 
“I will take a taxi to the
Temple
and find my brother.
 
We will come back in a taxi and ring my mother.
 
Then we will go out and have a big celebratory lunch.
 
I will not be long”.

At 4 pm I went downstairs again.
 
Hamadi was at Reception.
 
I told him what had happened and he straight away said he would take me to the police station - I would probably need an interpreter. I was very glad of his company; by now I was starting to feel very much alone.

The police station was about 10 minutes away in the taxi and Hamadi pushed through the throng of people waiting to talk to someone.
 
He said something to the policeman on the desk and in a couple of minutes we were ushered into a room.
 
The policeman who seemed to be in charge came in to talk to us.
 
Hamadi explained that my friend’s brother had been kidnapped and my friend had gone to pay the ransom money and not returned.
 
Through Hamadi I told him what had happened to date.
 
He spoke some English but he was very hard to understand and I was glad of Hamadi’s help.
 
“We will look into it” he assured me and then we were back out in the sunshine and the heat and on our way back to the hotel.

The rest of that day and the next day I waited at the hotel, not wanting to be absent if Kareem turned up and not wanting to miss any contact from the police. In the meantime I put a call through to the Australian Embassy and arranged an appointment for Thursday. It couldn’t come quick enough.

Next morning Hamadi arranged a taxi for me from the hotel to
Luxor
Temple
.
 
Hamadi had warned me not to go out on the street on my own and not to catch a taxi off the street.
 
“Make sure you get the hotel to book you a taxi and then wherever you go get them to call you one back to the hotel.
 
Just like
Cairo
, it is not safe to for tourists, especially women on their own.” I wanted to see where Kareem had disappeared. I knew I wasn’t going to find him there but I needed to see where he had gone to meet his brother’s kidnappers, believing he would be returning with Ramy.
 
I wanted, I suppose, to feel closer to him, to look for clues, just to see if there was anything that would give me an idea as to what had happened.
 
I had a photo of the two of us taken in
Aswan
and I showed it at the ticket office and to the guards, but no-one remembered seeing Kareem.
 
Seeing the throng of people swarming over the temple, I wasn’t really surprised.
 

The
Temple
itself was amazing – even though I was not there to sightsee I could not help but be impressed by its size and beauty.
 
Unlike
Greece
or
Italy
, where many of the ruins are incomplete and leave an enormous amount to your imagination, in
Egypt
they are very well preserved and large parts of them are intact.
 
The entrance is flanked by 2 large statues of Pharaohs (over 15 metres high) and I walked through an avenue lined with huge engraved columns and statues.
 
I saw the sitting Ramses II statue, huge and imposing and the red granite obelisk, covered in carvings and towering against the blue sky.
 
Covering 260 sq metres in length the
Temple
of
Luxor
is truly breathtaking.
 
I took in the avenue of sphinxes with rams’ heads which apparently become human heads as you approach the
Temple
of
Karnak
about 3 kilometres further on.
 
For a while I was totally entranced by the height and size of these amazing images, still in such wonderful original condition. It was fascinating to see part of a way of life from so many years ago.
 
The
Temple
weaved a sort of magic and for the first time since Kareem went missing I was able to forget the pain and the stress of this horrible ordeal.
 
However, eventually my mind pulled itself out of this make-believe world and back to the present.
 
I wandered amongst the columns and imagined where I thought the exchange would have taken place.
 
I passed another guard and showed him the photo of Kareem, but he just shook his head.
 
I wasn’t sure how much English he understood but he obviously didn’t recognise the photo.
 
Eventually, hot, tired and exhausted, I gave up and returned to the hotel.

Late that afternoon I flew back to
Cairo
, to the sanctuary of the Marriott.
 
I couldn’t help but remember where Kareem and I had sat and enjoyed drinks overlooking the gardens, how we swam in the pool before breakfast and ate dinner in the garden under the stars.

My appointment was with a John Turner at 10 am the next day and I caught a taxi from the hotel. I liked John as soon as I met him.
 
A typical tanned, blue-eyed Aussie he was very friendly and easy to talk to.
 
He had a diplomat’s voice, very well-spoken - he could have had a job with the ABC.
 
Apparently he had been with Foreign Affairs all his life and had been in
Egypt
for nearly two years.
 
He didn’t try to fob me off but listened whilst I told him about Kareem’s meeting with the kidnappers and how he hadn’t returned.
 
He had the file on Ramy in front of him and was familiar with the actions taken to try and trace him.
 
John promised to make some further inquiries and get back to me.
 
I told him I was returning to the hotel at
Luxor
, I felt comfortable there and had Hamadi to help me as an interpreter.
 
Also it was a lot cheaper than the Marriott!
 
Before I left he gave me access to the phone to ring Jim.
 
I didn’t think I’d have much chance of catching him - when Parliament was not sitting he was either at a meeting or attending an opening or other electorate event.
 
However, my luck was in and I was able to fill him in on what had happened.
 
“I’m so sorry” he said.
 
“I’ll contact the Ambassador myself and ask him to give you every assistance.
 
If I can help in any way let me know, and don’t worry about work”.
 
I replaced the phone and said goodbye to John. His blue eyes looked deeply into mine and I felt reassured that he would do everything in his power to help me.

I flew back to
Luxor
that afternoon and Hamadi greeted me warmly.
 
But what was I to do now?
 
I couldn’t just sit around the hotel, but it didn’t make sense to be in
Cairo
.
 
I lay awake most of the night, reliving the events of the past few days and trying to make some sense of it all.
 
Why had the kidnappers waited so long to make contact and where was Kareem?
 
Had they kidnapped him too?
 
Had he been killed?
 
Was Ramy still alive or already dead when they made the ransom call?
 
I resolved to stay put for a couple of days and wait and see if the Embassy could find anything out for me or (a long shot I knew) maybe Kareem would suddenly turn up at the hotel.
 
In the meantime, tomorrow I would go and see the
Temple
of
Karnak
– there is plenty to see in
Egypt
to pass the time.
 
Of one thing I was sure - I would go mad if I just sat around the hotel waiting!

When I awoke it was late – I had finally dropped off to sleep and made up for it the next morning.
 
After breakfast I found Hamadi and told him I was going to
Karnak
and asked him to call me a taxi.
 
“I’ll come with you” he said.
 
“I need a break and I can show you around”.

Karnak
was also amazing.
 
Hamadi was a good guide – he gave me information on the
Temple
without going overboard as they tend to do on a tour.
 
 

“Although badly ruined” he explained “no site in
Egypt
is more impressive than
Karnak
.
 
It is the largest temple complex ever built by man.
 
It is actually three temples, enclosed by these enormous brick walls.
 
Only the largest, Amun-Re is open to the public.
 
Luxor
Temple
, which you saw the other day, is outside these enclosed walls, joined to
Karnak
by the avenues of the sphinxes.”

I found myself marvelling again at the incredible size and accuracy of the statues and columns.
 
All those years ago, man had been able to make such huge, perfect and beautiful works of art that we were still enjoying today.
 
Everywhere you looked there were hieroglyphics depicting stories – Ramses II, the Queen Nefertari with her servants bearing gifts of food and wine, depictions of fighting with dying enemies surrounding the King, Gods Horus, Isis, Rae all featured with offerings of servants and food. Hamadi gave me a short history on each of the main players
in these scenes in front of me
.
 
It was fascinating and I found myself drawn into the mystery of this world of long ago.
 
To think that these people had walked amongst these same columns all those years before!
 
They had worked, loved, had families and lost loved ones, no doubt had mortgages and debts, just as we do today.
 
And yet this huge, strong civilisation was no more. It was very humbling and made me realise just how unimportant we are in the general scheme of things.