Welcome to Egypt!!

Egypt is a welcoming but chaotic place.  We arrived on Egypt Air, the national carrier, landing safely to the applause of everyone on board.  Just prior to our landing, the pilot had wished us a good landing - I had previously thought this was in his hands but then, realising my mistake, I said "Inshallah" (God willing).  You are immediately greeted by the hot, humid weather and a constant cacophony of traffic noise, which continues unabated, even during the night.  There are laws governing driving in Egypt, but the over-riding rule in Egypt is don't follow the rules.  The driving is absolutely crazy!!  Essentially there are no lanes (in some cases, there are lane markings but I don't know why they bother) and anything goes - only recently have people stopped going in the wrong direction along the streets against the oncoming traffic.  The horn is an absolutely critical component of the vehicle - without it, it is unlikely you could get anywhere.  People cross the roads anywhere at any time, somehow being just missed by all the vehicles surging forward along the roadways.

Traffic in Alexandria

Ramadan sweets

The whole of Egypt's population lives on somewhere between 6-9% of the total land area (number depends on who you listen to).  It is essentially spread along the banks of the River Nile, without which the Egyptians could not survive.  The 'key of life' is a representation of the Nile.  In addition to this, there are a few small oases, but the rest is desert.  Of the total population, the vast majority live in a few large centres.  90% of the population is Muslim, the other 10% minority are Coptic Christians.  The Muslims and Christians get along very well in an integrated society.  The Egyptians are actually a fair-skinned population, who only become brown from exposure to the ever-present sun.  There are dark-skinned Nubians in the South - they were moved when the high dam was created during the 60's and 70's as their homeland area was to be flooded by the subsequent development of Lake Nasser upstream from the dam.  The development of this dam also resulted in the need to relocate Abu Simbel, the temple complex of Ramses II (one of the New Kingdom pharaohs).

Yum!!!

Cairo is an absolutely massive city, with a population (depending on who you listen to) of between 18 and 20 million (that's right, almost as many as the whole population of Australia).  The population swells by a further 2 million every day as people come into Cairo to work.  Depending on where you are in the city, and the amount of smog (I'm not sure how it compares to Beijing, but I imagine it is right up there), you can see the pyramids of Giza from city.  The place is absolutely pulsating with the energy of life, and it is impossible not to feel excited to be here.  I have wanted to visit Egypt for more than 20 years, so this visit has been a long time coming.  We are here on an organised tour with Imaginative Traveller, and already I know that I absolutely made the right decision coming on a tour.  I could not imagine trying to negotiate this place independently.

This was a great shop

Alexandria is the other large city in Egypt with about 6 million inhabitants; numbers swell to 8 million during the summer season.  The traffic there is relatively sedate compared to Cairo, yet my photos of one of the main streets there will show that it is still not completely organised!

The month of Ramadan started on the 1st September.  It is a very important month for the Muslims and affects some opening times and can fray a few tempers.  It is wonderful to see the breaking of the fast with the setting of the sun in the evening, when suddenly everyone brings out their special breakfast (iftar) which includes the scrumptious oriental deserts (honey flavoured pastry creations which are delicious).  Luckily in the establishments catering to tourists, we can still get lunch and it would be crazy for us to try and go along with the fast, as without water we would become very unwell in such a hot environment that we are not used to.  As the Muslims do not consume alcohol, they do not have the greatest range of wines, and we had decided to have a fairly alcohol free time of it here in Egypt.  They do some good beer, but we are not beer drinkers.  As for cocktails, they really don't know what they are, and if you want one you order the various constituents separately and make-your-own!

Pretty organised really

Just like in Turkey, there are the calls to prayer from the minarets 5 times a day.  Generally these have not been as loud as there don't appear to be the same concentration of mosques as there were in the places we visited in Turkey.  The first is at 4.30 in the morning, which I found out the other morning when I was awake anyway.  I really quite like hearing the call to prayer.

I know I am going to have a fabulous time here in Egypt and I am looking forward to every bit of it (except perhaps the likelihood that I will get an upset tummy at some stage and the fact that toilet paper has to go into bins beside the toilet!!).   We are travelling in a great group of 9 - our guide and 4 couples (2 from Canada, 1 from Ireland and us).  I hope you enjoy the blogs.

Who can guess how many marked lanes?