I have only been in Cairo for a few hours but i love it! Now I understand a bit better the various comments and ugh-ing I got from some people when i told them i was coming here but I simply think it’s all worth it. Its dirty, its fast, its hugely masculine, takes you back to the sixties but I like it! And if this is a taste of Africa, than I want more of this continent!
Soon after landing we had the driving experience of our lives! Just imagine a choc a bloc traffic but moving as one whole at 70 km/h...good thing we had been on the aeroplane for three hours we got used to the speed, it was less busy up there though!
Today started off with marvellous breakfast towards which I indulged with full commitment to the “Breakfast like a King” saying which i won’t continue given my dinner plans! Breakfast alone suffices to fulfil my understanding of value for money for paying a Grand Hyatt stay when one can afford it! And please note I’m only here since I managed to get a reduced rate and in general prices favour the euro here. (Mischievous laugh)
The grandeur of the breakfast though, simply postponed by an hour my immersion into what i still cannot fully contain now...an hour after arriving back to the hotel from a four and a half hour self induced walking tour of some of Cairo streets. PS ALL THOSE WHO STOP ME FROM SWEETS AND FATS PLEASE NOTE THE TIME OF THE WALK!:P
I started off before 9am walked the small bridge from the island across the Nile and then walked onto another bridge to land on the northern island. Obeying the instructions on my pocket guidebook I directed myself to “the well kept gardens on the left of the bridge arrival”, only to be stopped by a soldier at the door asking me for 2 Egyptian Lira to go in, and to forget that i was the only one being asked for the price from the group of about 7 people (the rest were not tourists) who went on happily one even waving goodbye to me! But I wanted to go in so i got my smallest change out and offered it for change, at which point this guy starts shouting no change no change at me. I did not manage to ask where I could get change as in no time an oldish man came to my rescue! They started shouting words at each other within 2 feet of me...than the elder told me wait and left....smartly coming back in a minute with a handful of coins, with which he bought me a ticket and excused himself for the bad administration of his country! So i went in free of charge or better with compliments of an Egyptian citizen! BRAND EYGPT!
Strolling back across the Nile I put on my MP3 phones so all the taxi drivers hooting at me to ask me if i want a ride will realise I am not hearing and need not their service either! A young guy even offered me a taxi while he was on a full bus...through his window! ....Now I just wish i had the presence of mind to say yes to see what he would have done!!
Nearly at the end of the bridge i met the Guy i admit tricked me!..Usual friend...asked where i come from...told me he knows Malta.. and offered to show me a nice place! And YES I ACCEPTED! Forgetting I had already got my due dose of luck with the free ticket. To cut a long story short i found myself in this small shop in a small street being asked if i wanted tea or coffee without the right of refusal! So against all instructions and advise i went from a coffee...with untraceable water....(ps now its 5 hours later and I’m having fries and juice ie stomach and system ok;) In no time this guy who claimed to be a doctor presented me to his nephew who wanted me to choose a drawing he did...his sister gave me 3 bottles (whiskey size) of what she called massage oils for me my wife and my mother! Apologies to mum and my wife to be...i had to leave them behind with some assertiveness when i was presented with a bill of 500 Egyptian lira he said (circa 75 euros). Lesson 1...not all are friends...2 always keep a small amount of money in a handy pocket ...I made him think i only had 50 lira so i could not pay!
I walked on and the city started coming alive!....and boy the show began! Simply incredibly dirty but exquisite architecture and surroundings!
The highway code here is probably the best kept secret...and makes it a challenge to cross the road... i have to admit choosing to be the shadow of some locals that i thought had the talent to cross the roads:P
And what they manage to carry on their bikes and heads!!! Oooh! Got some pictures....oh and by the way pictures cost money here! Twic i had to pay the equivalent of a euro to people im sure where no owners of my subjects but who insisted i had to pay for a photo of Cairo!...buqsheesh!...its like a stereo surround here...click from the camera in front..and “buqsheesh” from some beduin in the vicinity! Solution: get a good zoom, go on a centre strip and just wait for the good shot, odd view(not rare at all)
I was in search for a bazaar ....(what i thought was a sort of shopping complex....but) ....found to be a myriad of streets collaged in colours from the sale stock of clothes, fireworks, toys, lingerie, pots and leather! All very cheaply priced! But wonderful setting!...great walk!
Then you get near a food stall!...oh food....you just don’t want to eat most of it! Smells great (especially curry within a radius of 100m) but you cannot eat bread that is resting on the police barriers can you? ...thoughts about that coffee came back here so i bought a bottle of mineral water...branded... sealed and cheap 1.5 Egyptian lira for 2.5 litres (20 euro cents) and drank it all to dilute the coffee inside me:P....by the way another hour has gone by while writing....ate fries drank juice and having a cola...and system still ok!!
Anyway after four hours of walking and nearly 2 of writing i feel like a dip in the pool! Can’t miss it while here can I? Might as well use it while i have the chance....given the limited swimming experience this year thanks to the jelly fish!
Cairo...you have to come....for a few days:P
Comments