Upon arrival in Sydney it seemed like a good idea to go for a drink with Zoe, the charming young lady with whom I’d been chatting on the plane. But as a result I missed the last shuttle to the International Terminal and had to leg it to the train station… The load I was carrying helped clarify that Contingency Number 1 was under way… Albeit no fault of Egypt’s, this sweat was all self inflicted.

By the time I reached International check-in I heard “final boarding call for Etihad flight 455 to Abu Dhabi, would the last passenger please get his tardy arse to Gate 61 Asap” it was there I began to wonder if I’m late…

At the Etihad counter, as I started to ask a question, the three anxious check-in staff asked me “are you Mr Avedissian?” I nodded dumbly as they quickly ushered me to run to the gate immediately. Doh! I realised I was really late. But as I ran the lengthy corridors I suddenly remembered I hadn’t cashed up yet, with no ATM nearby, I had to race off in the complete opposite direction to find one, urged on by continued final boarding calls which by now, to me, sounded like Daleks!!!

By the time I got to my seat in the plane, sweat was trickling down my face and I quietly berated myself for once again not arriving in a timely fashion. I guess I’m still a ‘last-minute-specialist’ as my mate Falkiner used to call me. As the plane quickly taxied off it suddenly dawned on me, I hadn’t cancelled my mobile phone account nor changed the message to one that stated I’d be o.s. for the next several months. Ever tried to make a quick call to Telstra? Let alone one while taxiing down the runway when all phones should be off? Massive fail.

To be honest I wasn’t much looking forward to 25 hours of air travel so was happy to discover Etihad’s service was excellent, possibly the best airline I’ve flown. Great food, that Lamb Biryani dinner was goood, movies galore to watch and the seat seemed for once to have ergonomics that make sense.

Before I knew it I was in Abu Dhabi going through customs where I had to empty my computer bag which had laptop, office and a host of other electronic gear and stuff, but it was my rack of harmonicas which caught the suspicion of the stern looking customs agent to whom I had to play an impromtu blues riff to show it was an instrument of music not war. Didn’t get the vibe he dug the blues…

Having hand-held the camera since leaving the Gold Coast, it wasn’t until Cairo Customs that it was scrutinised for the first time with interest. Two officers came over to inspect and discussed between themselves as they peered into my bags full of portable drives, microphones & stuff, poking through my gear like shoppers at a garage sale.

Customs officers inspect my camera

“Professional?” one of them asked of my camera.

“Nah not fully” I replied.

“What you do for work?” he asked.

“I run a website” I said.

“You can’t have that here” he said of the camera, “put it in bag” which he commandeered as he spoke.

“What’s this” he asked as he presented me my toilet kit.

“Toothbrush, soap” I replied as I unzipped it …. He seemed disappointed by its insignificance.

”Here you can’t have camera” he said finally, “put in bag”. I thought oh shit, here we go, they’re gonna confiscate it. But once I stowed it in the bag he and his colleague turned their backs to me, continuing the conversation they were having before I got there. I realised he meant I couldn’t have the camera in my hand, it had to be in the bag.

Without further ado I made a bee line for the exit doors which were flanked on each side by crowds of people, some holding signs with names on them and others scouting for customers to offer their wares and services to… I readied myself to meet Egyptian culture for the first time and strode forth…

Previous episode:

1. From Tweed Heads to Egypt

This’ll be my first departure from Australia since repatriating nearly a decade ago. After spending 20 years based in Verbier, Switzerland, I’ve been rediscovering Australian culture, from Sydney to Yamba, Sandy Beach to Tamworth, to Newcastle, to Auburn in Sydney, before moving north again to Byron Bay. It seems settling down is not to be a quick and easy process for me.

I met comedian Akmal Saleh one night in a service station outside Tweed Heads. I was returning from the Gold Coast having watched the ‘crew screening’ of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when who did I see filling up petrol in front of me? Akmal Saleh no less.

Being a fan, and knowing he’s a resident of the Byron Shire I thought I’d go say g’day and see if he’d do a comedy piece for my www.byronvibe.com website. With a flash of his brooding eyes and a shrug of his shoulders, his inimitable pursed grin replied “yeah, sure”.

A couple weeks later, we were wandering down main street in Byron, vox popping with Frank and some other randoms, having a laugh. (View clips here

After several months passed I get a call from Akmal asking if I’d be interested in going to Egypt to shoot a story. I had to think for all of a micro second before responding with an emphatic YES.

Of course the project had a low probability of coming off, as every project seems to at first in the film biz, so I didn’t get too excited as it was february and the trip was scheduled for August. There was a while to go and any number of factors could cancel the project, the instability of the new military government but one of note.

But we had good advice on that matter from an expert on Egyptian affairs who had recently returned from Egypt as well as another friend of Akmal’s who’d been a solicitor in Egypt for many years, and that seemed good enough for me.

Months rolled by. A couple of meetings at Lulu’s in Mullum. Phone calls from Akmal and I’m thinking, “this guy’s serious! Maybe it will happen!”

Sam has been a solicitor in Egypt for many years

Mitigating circumstances meant Akmal had to go in August or he couldn’t go at all… We tried to get a couple of production companies on board, but really time had run out and we had to make a decision: Go it alone or cancel the trip. But Akmal was keen, so with a month left he said “let’s go!”

New passport and visas had to be sorted. Camera equipment had to be sourced. The desire to shoot with Sony’s latest F3 rig had to give way to the reality of running gun in a place like the streets of Egypt and we decided on Sony’s less cumbersome and more discreet EX1, a compact yet high def solution from the friendly guys at Pro Cam in Brisbane.

With a week to go, packing down my gypsy abode should have been an easy process, but a spent tension pulley in the fan belt config meant I had to tow it to the Gold Coast at a cost which would have been better spent on the trip to Europe (yes, Europe, after Egypt, but that’s another story). The damn plastic spindle cost 90 bucks but the replacement of it cost $800 as they had to pull the front end off…

This setback could only be looked at one way. As a preparation to the many contigencies that I knew Egypt was going to throw at me once we were on the ground. Like a war of attrition I began to cross tasks off my list of things to do, before finally cramming tripod, audio gear, cameras and lenses, clothes, laptop and mobile-office kit into two backpacks and a ready-to-shoot bag. About a 50kg load all up.

Parking the ‘Hotel Benz’ at Karin’s (thanks Karin) I loaded my gear into Catie’s Van (Akmal’s wife and the production’s Line Producer) before we proceeded to the Gold Coast airport. The plan was for me to go two weeks prior to them to film the Abu El Haggag religious festival in Luxor which was advertised as being on the 17th and 18th July. This festival is a coming together of Muslims and Christians in a two day parade through the streets of Luxor around the ancient mosque of Abu El Haggag.

Abu El Haggag Mosque and Temple

Nothing like getting thrown in the deep end, on my own in a country I’ve never been to, don’t speak the language of (hoping my french will get me by if English doesn’t), with some expensive camera kit in tow, much to the consternation of family and friends who see the evening news regarding instability in the region…

But I was on my way to the airport, the one sure sign a project is on and the only time one allows oneself to get excited about the journey ahead, because today, I’m off to Egypt.