Greetings from Cairo - the most in-your-face experience so far. This place is crazy - everywhere you go there are friendly Egyptians on the make - taxi, trip to the pyramids, carry your bags, show you a good hotel, hostel, restaurant ... All want baksheesh - it's enough to drive you berserk until you get used to it. 'Walk Like an Egyptian' takes on two new meanings: 1. The way any man is going to walk after riding on a camel for two & a half hours - not the most comfortable experience, particularly during the slow gallop - I'm rather glad I declined the medium and crazy versions also offered! My camel for the trip round the pyramids was called Michael Jackson - I don't know whether this was for any supposed physical resemblance or simply because he seemed to be able to fart to the tune of Thriller! 2. How to cross the road in Cairo - three steps forward, two back, dodge the mayhem of vehicles, most driving at night without lights which means you can't see them and they probably can't see you! The trick, allegedly, is to walk, not run, and pray that you reach the other side before you meet your maker. Traffic lights are more a hindrance than a help - if the little green man actually works, its usually accompanied by a red traffic light that nobody takes any notice of anyway, so the false sense of security offered is more dangerous than when the lights don't work at all, which is more normal. Suffice to say I'm getting the hang of it, as witness the fact that I'm still alive to write this message! The other BIG problem here is smog - nobody needs to smoke tobacco here - a few breaths while crossing the road is enough to give instant lung cancer and other nasties - it is unbelievable! Yesterday's trip to the pyramids ended with a meal with the Bedouins who'd provided the camel ride - all squatted round a big mat with lots of bowls of food all eaten by hand - I have no idea what half of it was, but it tasted great and so far no nasty side effects... Travelling on a crowded bus through that pollution was an interesting experience, especially as I was sat on the back seat right above the engine - which kills you first, toasted backside or the smog? I am probably going to take an arranged tour to cover Luxor and Aswan - I don't think I can cope with another whole week of trying to organise everything separately here for the sake of a relatively small amount of money. I expect to take an overnight train to Luxor tomorrow night and back to Cairo next Monday night for revised flight to Nairobi Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Today I went to the Egyptian museum - I've seen more mummies and sarcophagi than I care to remember. Tutankhamun's stuff is pretty impressive, but the rest gets a bit samey after a while - seen one mummy, you've seen them all. Call me a philistine if you must... Next news probably not until Nairobi! Nigel
Greetings from Cairo - the most in-your-face experience so far. This place is crazy - everywhere you go there are friendly Egyptians on the make - taxi, trip to the pyramids, carry your bags, show you a good hotel, hostel, restaurant ... All want baksheesh - it's enough to drive you berserk until you get used to it. 'Walk Like an Egyptian' takes on two new meanings: 1. The way any man is going to walk after riding on a camel for two & a half hours - not the most comfortable experience, particularly during the slow gallop - I'm rather glad I declined the medium and crazy versions also offered! My camel for the trip round the pyramids was called Michael Jackson - I don't know whether this was for any supposed physical resemblance or simply because he seemed to be able to fart to the tune of Thriller! 2. How to cross the road in Cairo - three steps forward, two back, dodge the mayhem of vehicles, most driving at night without lights which means you can't see them and they probably can't see you! The trick, allegedly, is to walk, not run, and pray that you reach the other side before you meet your maker. Traffic lights are more a hindrance than a help - if the little green man actually works, its usually accompanied by a red traffic light that nobody takes any notice of anyway, so the false sense of security offered is more dangerous than when the lights don't work at all, which is more normal. Suffice to say I'm getting the hang of it, as witness the fact that I'm still alive to write this message! The other BIG problem here is smog - nobody needs to smoke tobacco here - a few breaths while crossing the road is enough to give instant lung cancer and other nasties - it is unbelievable! Yesterday's trip to the pyramids ended with a meal with the Bedouins who'd provided the camel ride - all squatted round a big mat with lots of bowls of food all eaten by hand - I have no idea what half of it was, but it tasted great and so far no nasty side effects... Travelling on a crowded bus through that pollution was an interesting experience, especially as I was sat on the back seat right above the engine - which kills you first, toasted backside or the smog? I am probably going to take an arranged tour to cover Luxor and Aswan - I don't think I can cope with another whole week of trying to organise everything separately here for the sake of a relatively small amount of money. I expect to take an overnight train to Luxor tomorrow night and back to Cairo next Monday night for revised flight to Nairobi Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Today I went to the Egyptian museum - I've seen more mummies and sarcophagi than I care to remember. Tutankhamun's stuff is pretty impressive, but the rest gets a bit samey after a while - seen one mummy, you've seen them all. Call me a philistine if you must... Next news probably not until Nairobi! Nigel