Cairo, Egypt

November 28, 2006 by zankbennett.

First stop in Egypt and first time ever in Africa. It’s impossible yo use adjectives to describe this city. Instead, I’ll just list a few observations/thoughts:

-population, bearing 20,000,000
-dinner first night here, $0.95. Was stuffed afterwards.
-the Egyptions…among the nicest people on the face of the earth.
-learned how to make paper today from a sacred egyption reed.
-taxis. Well, there are no road rules here…some examples: no lanes exist. Traffic goes BOTH ways around any rotary. Seatbelts? J-walking is a necessary artform…and you’d better be good, FAST.
-horns, they go all the time. I was mildly annoyed…The cab driver called the incessant horns “music” and suddenly…I understood; it’s how they communicate…and it’s art. They drive nearly as much with ears as eyes.
-ran a 4:30 lap around the second largest pyramid of Giza.
-smog is so thick, breaths are shallow and short, by necessity. Visibility is never > 1 mi.
-everyone has a service to sell you and to the Egyptions, “no” is an unequivocal “maybe”.
-i took the time to learn all the Egyption numbers. o7V is 567, believe it or not!
-written Arabic flows beautifully!
-buildings are constructed from the (finished) ground floor up. When the early floors are done, renters move in as the builders (most of the time) keep building higher.
-i have seen goats grazing in giant trash/rock/dirt pits between buildings. 80 m x 100 m.
-in similar spaces I have seen soccer goals set and the trash pushed to massive sideline piles.

 
The “Sound and Lights” show, my first night in Cairo.  A   L O N G taxi ride to get there.

My Taxi!  Peugeot 504 (i think)

Possibly my favorite picture of the trip.  Just to the left of his chin, barely visible, the barrel of his automatic weapon creeps out of the window.  Scary as hell!  This was the locomotive car of the overnight train to Luxor.  They’re there to make us all feel safer.  Hmmm.

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