Thom Reilly » Deputy Ambassador, Cairo

During the Revolution last year, the UK was the only country not to change its travel advice to South Sinai, and throughout that whole period, 20,000 British tourists a week continued to fly into South Sinai to enjoy the amazing scenery and generous hospitality of Egypt.  It was absolutely the right call to make and was a vital economic life-line to the region during that difficult phase. However, after kidnappings … Read more »A Visit to Saint Catherine’s

I remember when England played Argentina in the 2002 World Cup.  England won.  I think it was 1-0 or some other highly stimulating result.  It was some measure of revenge for the drubbing that England had received at the hands of the Argentine team in the 1986 World Cup, inspired by Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ moment.  The tension between England and Argentina obviously has its roots in the 1982 Falklands … Read more »What’s in a Game?

One year ago, I walked through Tahrir with two friends and colleagues.  We looked at the torn up paving stones and the detritus in the road and we ran away from an advancing line of police and dodged a few projectiles hurled in their direction.  It was clear that something unusual had happened and we held our breath, waiting for what the Friday would bring. The Friday brought the full … Read more »The Revolution Rolls on

It’s funny the things you notice when you get back home after a long stretch away. Christmas in the UK was the longest period I’d been out of Egypt since I went home in November 2010 for the birth of our second daughter – 17 days felt like an age.  And when I got back I noticed a lot of little things had changed. For a start, transit through the … Read more »Changes Worth Noticing

The beginning of this week saw 200 days to go before the Olympics begin in the UK.  The coincidence of that date with the New Year set me thinking. Though it is artificial to see it this way, I can’t but help view each New Year as an unsullied blank piece of paper on which new resolutions can be lovingly drawn; on which dreams and hopes can be sketched: it … Read more »Two Hundred Days of hope

3 December was the International Day for Persons with Disabilities. And by pure coincidence as I cycled into work the following day, reflecting that the only thing more difficult to understand than the Egyptian traffic system is the Egyptian electoral system, my train of thought was abruptly disrupted by the sight of a man at the traffic lights.  He had no legs and propelled himself around on his hands, with … Read more »International Day for Persons with Disabilities

She was old, bent and wizened.  But her spirit was strong.  Leaning heavily on her walking stick she shuffled up to the closed gate of the polling station and lifted her stick to beat on its iron gate, ignoring completely the soldiers and police standing guard.  In a creaking voice she declared “I am 93 years old.  I have come from hospital to vote.  I have waited all my life … Read more »The Old Lady and the Vote

Over the weekend, I caught the tube down to Ma’adi.  I like catching the tube in Cairo – no mad car driving, no car horns.  It’s quick, efficient and cheap.  As I got onto my carriage, I became aware that a young man with an enormous bag was following close behind me.  We got on together and he sat on his bag on the floor, just as I have done … Read more »Thoughts From Tahrir

In January this year, I went to Aswan with my mother and oldest daughter.  As we walked around, I was struck by how the kerb stones were beautifully painted in gold and black and how the bases of the trees were too, how the lines in the middle of the roads were new and how little rubbish there was littering the streets.  The roads themselves seemed empty of cars and … Read more »Life in a Bubble