You had to leave the bright lights of Cairo to see last week's meteor shower. Jenny Jobbins escaped to Dahshur I can't remember when I last went to a girlie sleepover -- I must have been about 10. But an invitation to a farm in Dahshur to watch the firework display set off by the Tempel-Tuttle comet was too good to pass up, even if November nights are chilly and the invitation included the instruction: "Bring sleeping bag". I arrived, late, at 10pm, which would hardly have mattered since we planned to stay awake most of the night, but in the event did because the rest of the "girls" had waited dinner. I should mention that though the family farm is somewhere in the vicinity, the villa is high on a hill on a separate piece of land and is a mansion in all respects. It has high ceilings, stained glass windows and tasteful furniture and decoration, and a beautiful garden with specimen trees, manicured lawns and a swimming pool. Quite the setting for a cosmic event. After dinner we sat on the terrace, wrapped in our thermals and padded coats, beside a roaring fire contained in an ornate metal box, and told ghost stories until it was time for the fireworks to start. Our hostess had laid out camp beds, mats and mattresses in a corner of the lawn some distance from the house. It seemed very chilly and isolated out there, but apparently it would be the best place to see the show. At about one o'clock two or three people ventured to wrap themselves in their sleeping bags and lie down, to the amusement of a couple of neighbouring dogs who scampered playfully round the garden, quite excited by this strange sight. Both the floodlights and the moon were fully on, and although some stars were visible it looked as though we might be in for a disappointing night. For anyone who has been asleep for the past two weeks, this Leonids show was predicted to be the best for the next three decades. The shower is an annual event, sparked off every November when Earth runs into a cloud of dust particles from the tail of the Tempel-Tuttle comet. The particles are incinerated on entering Earth's atmosphere, leaving a blazing trail. The size of the storm depends on which part of the tail our planet passes through. The comet sheds fragments every 33 years as it passes the sun, and this year we hit the batch left in 1767. Astronomers had predicted that at least 1,000 meteors an hour would be visible, with 5,000 an hour (depending on location, with Europe and North America being the best vantage points) at the shower's peak. The shooting stars were to reach this spectacular zenith between 3am and 5am GMT last Tuesday morning -- unfortunately for those of us in Egypt that was around dawn. Combined with the moon, which refused to go away, this made us optimistic rather than dead certain. Soon after 1am, however, there was a delighted squeal from one of the sleeping bags. The rest of us rushed out with cushions, bedding and spare blankets and arranged ourselves neatly, eyes up, like a pattern of fish laid out in a Cornish star- gazy pie. At first one was conscious of the open air and slight chill, but our sleeping bags soon warmed up and we worked out the best way to get a clear view of the best part of the sky -- backs to the uninvited moon and a moon shade, if possible. Soon, too, we realised that once you heard a squeal or a cry of "There's one!" it was already too late. You couldn't watch all the sky at once. You just had to be lucky. Eventually most of us drifted off to sleep. Someone had set an alarm, but it was the call to prayer which woke us -- first in stereo, then in full surround sound. It was beautiful to lie looking at the sky, listening to the dawn chorus of mosques and birds and the last calls of a sleepy nightjar (whose song seemed slightly different from its cousins in Cairo). Down on Earth our rugs and bedcovers were sopping wet with dew. But nothing was happening in the canopy overhead. Then they began. The first was a real blaze, and those of us who saw it woke up the others. The falling stars continued for an hour until the sky slowly lightened and we ran out of wishes. The moon, which had hung in the west for most of the night, disappeared as dawn lit up the eastern sky. The shower was still going on, but to us it was soon invisible. Those of us who kept a tally counted dozens, which, though less than thousands, was well worth the sleepless night. The European Space Agency had warned satellite operators that, in spite of the tiny size of the Leonid particles, their speed -- 160,000 mph -- made them a hazard to any equipment orbiting outside the atmosphere. However, our phones seemed to be working as the left- at-home-husbands called to see if "the girls" had seen anything. Well, we didn't see any ghosts, but a shower of falling stars? More like a slight drizzle, but enough to soak us in enchantment. Most people visit Dahshur, the village on the west bank of the Nile south of Saqqara, to see not what is overhead, but what is, figuratively at least, underground. The nearby necropolis contains the famous Bent Pyramid of the Fourth-Dynasty Pharaoh Seneferu (2597-2547 BC), father of Khufu (builder of the Great Pyramid), as well as the same Pharaoh's North Pyramid and the 12th-Dynasty Pyramids of Sesostris III (1881-1840 BC) and Ammenemes III (1842-1794 BC). It is thought that the Bent Pyramid received its unusual shape when, half way through construction, the architects realised the angle they were using was too steep and that the limestone blocks could implode. There is speculation that this realisation may have been triggered by the contemporary collapse of the Meidum Pyramid, which was built at a similar sharp angle. The builders therefore altered the angle to lower the final height and place less weight on the lower half, with the result that the Pyramid has the rather pleasing outline that has allowed it to survive until today. To reach Dahshur from Downtown, take the 6th October Bridge to the ring road and continue to the Marioutiya Canal. Turn left to Abu Sir, Saqqara and Dahshur. Alternatively -- with security clearance -- donkeys and horses may be hired in Saqqara. Tickets to visit the Dahshur Pyramids should be obtained in Saqqara. There are no tourist facilities in Dahshur and taking a picnic is recommended.
