You quickly realise that the old Egypt, the cheerful, cosmopolitan, raucous, romantic Egypt of Naguib Mahfouz does not exist any more. Modern Egypt – Misr – is dominated by twin giants as formidable as the great pyramids – religion and the police – leaving not one square inch where a free man may set foot. If he’s not taken to task by the police – the chorti – he will be by the fanatic, the Irhabi. In Egypt, the police force of the Raïs and the religion of Allah conspire to make life a living hell for every single person here on earth. Death and dishonour are the twin tracks of this miserable fate. It is hard to believe that in a country subjugated by faith and fear, things would change so quickly. The last time I was in Cairo, two years ago, when we delivered our most powerful pump, the H56 – H for horizontal, 56 the diameter of the outflow in inches – from what I saw then (constantly chaperoned by official guides and escorted by patrols of helpful chortis) intimidation was so gentle, so graceful, you might almost have been tempted to convert to Islam and proclaim your joy. We knew at the time that the guides had been taught to misinform us, but even so the noose has clearly been tightened since then. The people who roam the streets now are not men, they are victims seeking some refuge from the police station and the mosque. Egypt has become intolerable, it is no longer a country for men, or even saints, and all the picture postcards in the world cannot change that. I pity any Egyptian who is not a policeman or a fanatic.