To simplify the comparison between Egypt and Europe, I describe the first emotions when getting back:
1) after getting out of the plane: yaaaaaaaay, hygiene!
2) after getting out of the train: eeeeeeeek, cold!
So, at the same time it's kind of nice (see previous post) and then again not nice at all (see "eeeeeek") to be back in Europe.
But anyway, let me tell you a few things about Cairo.
This is the old town of Cairo, with many little shops and people trying to sell you things. I also has beautiful architecture and at least one nice cafè.
If you are a woman and not wearing a
hijab, be prepared to be stared at at all times even when accompanied by a male person. When you are alone and cover your head they will mostly leave you alone (of course if you are a white woman, this can differ according to your whereabouts and time of day), as soon as you try and look like a normal european person, they
will talk to you, tell you compliments within the ethical reach of almost nice to very nasty. Also, they might follow you, scream insults at you and try to grab you. So - if you ever talk to them, be cautious, frequently mention your husband (best to invent one during your flight already) and learn to ignore and keep on walking.
However, apart from the majority you will meet on the streets, there is also the kind and educated person who will tell you about Egypt, show you the good places to go and teach you the right prices to keep the the taxi drivers from ripping you off. When paying for a taxi you should get out before you give the driver his money because these people
will argue a long time with you for one egyptian pound (worth ~2 EEK or 13 eurocents).
Me and Julia in the
Al-Hakim Mosque, obviously discussing pressing religious matters in depth. No, really, just chillin'. Although even in some mosques white people are frequently asked for money by anyone who works there (people! this is God's house, not your house!!!), the atmosphere in a mosque is usually peaceful and nice. You can see people reading the
Qur'an or just cooling down (we saw some people taking their midday naps). In the course my religious education I have come to believe in God, but not in religion. I feel relaxed in the peace and quiet of a mosque.
Cats are also welcome in the mosque, which is no surprise since they used to be worshipped in ancient Egypt. If I had concentrated on photographing cute animals during this trip I would have an impressive collection since the cats are just
everywhere. The coolest cat strides around at a little café downtown. He has a black furry french moustache and I named him Pierre. Surprisingly a lot of the cats are quite big and look well-fed. There are also stray dogs, which can be dangerous if you encounter them alone in the middle of the night and somehow manage to catch them at a bad time (they kind of attacked Amer when I wasn't there but they didn't do anything to me).
A view of Cairo, taken in the Al-Azhar Park near the
Al-Azhar mosque. The contrast between the more important mosques is very interesting, Al-Azhar is quite small or at least is made to look small in the middle of a typical Cairo skyline with her 15-story houses. The
mosque of Mohammad Ali on the other hand looks like a giant. Anyway, islamic Cairo is a beautiful place to visit since the mosques are a testimonial of the arabs' devotion to their religion and considering the times, one of the few testimonials that gives pleasurable experiences to every viewer who has an appreciation for extraordinary architecture.
As you can see, 15-story apartment buildings are a typical sight in Cairo, also streets crowded with cars. Honking never stops, I don't think anyone ever
really sleeps in Cairo. They used to have traffic lights downtown, but took them off the streets again since no one really obeyed them. Now they have traffic police. Never trust traffic lights in Cairo, because there a red light never stops anyone. And a car will rarely stop for a pedestrian; instead they speed up to make you move faster.
You have to click on this one to see what I was talking about when describing the Cairo song. In the midst of apartment buildings.... a donkey market! Also, goats and horses. We never found out if they rent or sell the animals, but an emotional discussion in donkey language always reached us from down there (this picture is taken from our balcony).
Now, as for nightly entertainment, the islamic religion considers alcohol and smoking as sinful and disgusting, so you won't find many bars, and just because there is a small shop for beverages and snacks in the street, doesn't mean you will find cigarettes there. Of course you can still find some places to relax in the company of a drink, these cost us 10LE a bottle (20 EEK ~1,20€) and the cigarettes 5LE. The crooked cigarette symbol on the pack is describes as cigarettes causing "marriage problems" - because of course no one has sex before marriage.
The little cafés are moderately awesome: although they serve no alcohol - usually a choice of juice, cola, coffee and tea are in the selection -, you can have as many glasses of tea as you want, smoke shisha, play tawla for hours and still be charged 8LE for the whole party. However, if there are no females present, you shouldn't really aspire to be the first. Many bars are exclusively for men. Also, don't go looking for a toilet in normal bars or street cafés, you will find none. More expensive places have them, but still always carry a pack of tissues as my experience has shown toilet paper is considered non-necessary.
The pyramids. Well, first and foremost if you are on a budget (and we were) and decide to save some money, it's quite an ... eerrr, adventure to get there. It is customary here to act very smart and give precise directions if someone asks you how to get somewhere. Sadly, half of those given directions turn out to be wrong. I I hadn't been with an arab, I would probably have gotten lost every day since most of the people don't speak sufficient english to explain properly how to go to a certain place and the places have different names in english and arabic.
The opportunity to take a bus to the pyramids for 2LE was tempting, so we decided to do that. We got to the bus station alright, but when asking from where exactly the bus to the pyramids goes, got pointed to three different places, all wrong. Then finally we found a policeman who showed us the correct location.
Once arrived at the pyramids, already at the bus there was an annoying guy trying to get us to buy a camel or a horse ride there, because
oh lord it's 100m away and he of course described it as a hell of a long way to go by foot.
Ah, also, if an egyptian tells you the way somewhere takes about 7 minutes, be prepared for a 30 minute walk. These people have no conception of time.
The pyramids are, indeed, big, sandy, and cool. We didn't go into the Great Pyramid, but squeezed our way into a smaller one. You literally have to fold yourself together because the small tunnels leading to the tombs are about 1.25x1.25m so you have to duck and keep ducking while walking up and down. Definitely an interesting experience.
No, I didn't support animal torture as much as the average person. Still remembering the sad feeling from the elephant ride in India, I just got on the camel, took a picture with it and got off. However, the camels just seem to endure it quite fine, as they
are meant to be desert animals. And, well, while elephants belong between trees in savannas and jungles, all I ever see camels do is walk around in the desert. So I probably would have taken the ride if given the option.
Scenes from the Balcony, vol. 2 - under the satellite dishes the birds are chillin'. I completely understand them - when I went out for a cigarette at daytime, I felt close to fainting when returning to the room. God bless air conditioning!
This is the Egyptian museum. It is educational enough since you can read a short egyptian history throughout your walk through it and can view a
lot of sarcophagi, statues of pharaohs and their wives, view massive grave stelae with impressive writings in hieroglyphs and see mummies. Mummies are very creepy. I don't want to meet them again. The museum ticket is 60LE, for students 30LE, but of course they ask an extra 60/110LE to see the chamber of the royal mummies, which I didn't visit. I don't regret it.
A picture taken from the Tahir square, you can see the Egyptian museum behind me in the back.
Korba, Heliopolis. Yes, you can find a lot of churches in Cairo, actually. This is the basilica in Korba, an old town district for the "new Cairo", the luxurious Heliopolis.
If you take the metro to the Mar Girgis station, you will find the coptic area of Cairo. It is very small but has some beautiful architecture, orthodox churches and, interestingly enough, a graveyard filled with graves written on in french and greek (not english or arabic).
Obviously built for some rich-a$$ people, these graves don't just have headstones but are actually little houses. Weird, but beautiful!
Taking a boat ride on the Nile - an experience I would have done repeatedly if given the chance. Basically you float around in the middle of a large noisy street on one side and palm trees and nature on the other, but none of it really touches you. The Nile is a good place to relax on.
So, as I finish my 17 days in Cairo, I conclude that I will miss:
* the quisine - although eating in cheaper places can produce a hurricane in your stomach and put you to bed for a day, the cuisine is delicious. Lamb, one of my favourite dishes, is the cheapest choice here. However I will not miss the arabic bread. So happy to go buy normal dark bread tomorrow.
* the relaxed environment regarding smoking - although it is very rude for a woman to smoke on the street, this doesn't disturb me since I prefer to sit somewhere with a drink whenever lighting up. In Cairo you can do that almost everywhere: in all of the cafés, even the coffee shop of the cinema for example. Europe, I strongly dislike your smoking restrictions.
* the heat - as said, sweating is healthier than shivering. Although my planet is the moon, I am definitely a sun person and although I don't like to tan, I strongly prefer 38 degrees to 14.
things I will not miss:
* the traffic - continuous honking and chaotic traffic where no one pays any attention to any traffic laws is too stressful for me. If a man gets into a taxi and puts his seatbelt on, the taxi driver stops him as that is considered an offence towards his driving skills. Well - I didn't see any accidents during my stay but everyone else I've talked to has seen a
lot.
* the dirt - while flying over Cairo you cannot see anything. This is because the smog fills the air. After walking around for a whole day your nose, your hair and your clothes will be dusty and dirty. If you wear sandals, prepare to wash your feet twice.
* the conservativism/ignorance - these men seriously think any woman not wearing a hijab is a whore and because pre-marital sex is allowed in europe, they want to and will most definitely have sex with you if you pay them the right compliments. I would personally like to castrate a
big part of the male population of Egypt.
All in all I would not go back to Cairo.
But as my heart still remains there for a while, I obviously long to be there.
2nd conclusion of my time in Cairo:
amor vincit omnia.
To end your reading experience on a note of aesthetic pleasure: nothing beats a beautiful sunset seen from above the clouds.
Even if the window
is a little frozen.
Yours truly.
