Are You Walking Funny....Like An Egyptian?
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2007
1
155
221
Trip End
Ongoing
Cairo,
Egypt
Monday, October 6, 2008
Egypt extends into Asia by virtue of holding the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is bordered by Israel and the Gaza Strip to the north-east, by Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the east (across the Red Sea), by Sudan to the south and by Libya to the west. The country is bounded by the Mediterranean and Red Seas (to the north and east respectively) and geographically dominated both by the River Nile and its fertile well-watered valley, and by the Eastern and Western deserts
shakin it
. Of course we found the Moroccan Lonely Planet.......... when we were leaving the country. We flew Iberia Air who are a slightly random crew who landed us in Cairo airport well into the evening after a quick stop in Madrid. Mono Loco ate all his airline food because he is a good litle monkey. Nadine was star struck by the handsome pilots. Sometimes you can see the pyramids from the air but it was too dark to see them. The customs process was straightforward. We saw our first red and white check, tea towel wearing guy (Saudi Arabia) in the line up to clear the passports just before we got tossed to the back of the queue because it was neccesary for us to buy a US$15 visa sticker from a 24 hour bank booth. We had no currency at all on us because we had changed our last Moroccan dirhams into Euros in Spain so we could buy a Hanks Spray On Cheese Hotdog at the airport on our last monash. Problem, so a police guy let us go out into Cairo to an ATM to withdraw the money for the visa then let us back in. No bakeesh. The sticker is seriously old-school design like monopoly money. There is a sign that you see as soon as you enter the country that says that the penalty for carrying drugs is hanging, so we flushed our boogie board bags down a squat toliet before entering in case we got searched. The entrance to the airport was blocked by thousands of Egyptians so we negotiated a deal with a private car driver to transport us to the African House Hotel, Downtown and thus, he escorted us through the intimidating crowds
International Jet Set
. The Egyptian currency is the Egyptian Pound and it is the coolest cash around featuring The Sphinx, The Great Pyramids and some other funky looking Islamic mosques. They no longer use coins in the currency but we managed to bargain for some old ones from a coin seller on the sidewalk so the kids wouldn't miss out. Ramadan is finished making life easier for us travellers.African House Hotel was a great choice, well located Downtown in the action. We have access to cheap, Egyptian style street food and there is a sleazy bellydancing joint around the corner. The Hotel is on the sixth floor of a fading, glamorous, mid 19th century building. The staff are like family and speak English. There is a really small, smiley and gentlemanly guy who brings us breakfast and coffee on a tray every morning. We give him bakeesh (tips) and buy him chocolate cake, all the other staff are jealous because we favour him, it's a classic. Below us is an ahwa (Egyptian teahouse) where men sit around all day smoking sheesha hookahs and drinking tea. The city is noisy but very much alive and we're loving it. There is a sketchy old elevator that runs in the stairwell of the building and it is similar to the ones they use on the horror movies when either the cables snap and people go hurtling to their deaths or Freddy Kruger attacks the victim through the roof. A good adrenalin rush for myself who has a fear of entrapment. Whether or not i do the diving in Dahab or not is yet to be known and it's highly unlikely that i go inside one of the pyramids.
People in Cairo seem to interact with each other really well and never seem to lose their tempers with each other despite living on top of each other sardine style, the city footpaths and roads are cram packed with the 16 million residents
Iberia Air
. There are no supermarkets and people seem to just buy odd bits and pieces from stores, markets, donkeys or rugs on the ground. There is an elaborate car part market that takes up a whole street where we stay, i've got my eye on a clasic old car thhere that is ripe for restoration. It's difficult to buy standard items like good batteries, hair dye or the sewing kit we are after because we don't know where to shop. I bought some thread from a beggar woman in the street. We like that when you go into a store to purchase something there is a friendly greeting and alot of interaction with the people. The Egyptians like each other and seem to be well connected to each other the way humans should be. The shops are amazing. Service is of the traditional, fantastic style. Each store has lots of people to help you, it's almost embarassing how much attention and care they give you. Of course they want their share of the tourist dollar but are genuinely hospitable too, especially if you return a couple of times. For example in the patisserie stores a worker will follow you around carrying a pretty box and giving you taste tests of all the delicacies, explaining the names and then wrapping it all up with ribbons. We like the biscuits covered in herbs and the honey puff balls. Or in the bookshops there is ladders to reach the shelves and hidden nooks with elderly people sitting behind counters. There are also old school stores where people do handiwork like making tents, shoes or custom made suits or men who leather bind and gold-monogram books
good-bye Morocco
. There are also whole street markets for everything under the sun from car parts to garlic and onions. Downtown is more modern with dazzling shop displays lit with flourescent tubes and filled with weird mannequins suspended in the windows, McDonalds that has the McArabia burger and a chicken Big Mac and way too many shoe shops. The women go all on their shoe choice because usually the rest of their clothing is covered by kaftans although in this area they combine the old-fashioned dress with new modern imported pieces. There is a deaf Kentucky Fried Chicken in Cairo where the staff comunicate in sign language. Strangely enough, there are lots of deaf Egyptians. The prices are different for everyone, one price for locals, one price for tourists and we usually end up with something in between. We've found that the key is to just be confident and hand over what you think the going price is and the vendors or taxi drivers may or may not accept it. We are happy to report that the usual scams and cons do not work on us any more......although there was that charming perfume guy called Sherif with a shop on Midan Harb square who befriended us and claimed that he exported his oil essences to The Body Shop stores all over the world. The guy was an absolute piece of work and we were delighted to watch his sales tactics in action. This sly sales conversation was the most interesting part of the meeting and he was the best salesman we have ever met. We followed him to his shop, he fed us pastries by hand and we sat down on his red velvet couch for the tea ritual
starstruck over the pilots
. They make the tea extra hot so they can do their spiel, you will be in their store longer and "why not have a look, looking is free, for the pleasure of your eyes". Next we watched as he pulled all his beautiful, coloured, glass bottles from the shelves. Sherif dabbed us with a whole spectrum of scents on our hands, necks and arms so we could experience the various fragrances. We think the oils were diluted with vegetable oil and not concentrated as we were told. Even though we knew we were getting ripped off, Sherif had two little bottles of Arabian Nights and Papyrus perfumes signed, sealed and delivered to us before we could blink an eyelid. Nice work and hats off to him. We did get him to throw in one of the pretty perfume bottles with the sale and this sweetened the rip-off for us. We are the most fabulous smelling backpackers in town even if the oils were not the exotic concentrates Sherif had promised. Next he tried to herd us into his friends Papyrus shop and we had to say our goodbyes. There are loads of these Papyrus paintings for sale. The artworks are famous Egyptian works copied onto paper made from the Papyrus plant and seem to be a popular buy. Taxi drivers still manage to rip us off most of the time.
One of the first things we did was walk along The Nile River and climb the 187metres high Cairo Tower for the views over the city and along the Nile. The tower was built reportedly to convince a sceptical world the nation had the capability to construct the Aswan Dam
flying over the Mediteranian Sea
. Its partially open lattice-work design is intended to evoke a lotus plant. I felt the dreaded fear of entrapment up there knowing i would have to get in a crowded elevator to get down. Maybe it was not the best place to be on the national holiday of October 6, Armed Forces Day, a day when Egypt took back some land from Israel. The country's terrorist groups have an unpleasant record of specifically targeting Western tourists and the places they frequent and they seem to have chosen holidays to do their dirty deeds. The most infamous attack was the one in 1997 in Luxor, which killed 62 people, but there has also been a series of bombings in Dahab on the Sinai in 2004-2006 and one largely unsuccessful attempt in Cairo in 2005. The day was fairly normal except there were riot police in full kit sitting in gangs of three green trucks at various intersections and some streets were closed. Lots of manpower here. They basically just sit around smoking cigareetes and perving on women in the street.The men situation has definitely improved since Morocco. There is still alot of attention and stares plus greetings of Welcome to Egypt, where you from, hello,etc but it's all done with good humour and many jokes and it is never aggressive. The marriage proposals are coming thick and fast. I think it is because Nadine has her scary knees out.
After the difficulty of travelling Morocco without any guide book we spent our first morning in Cairo trying to source a Lonely Planet Egypt style
Darth Vader voice on the airplane instructions
. The popular 'traveller's bibles' were sold out wherever we roamed. I wish i had shares in the guidebook company. As of 2008, they published about 500 titles in 8 languages, with annual sales of more than six million guidebooks, as well as TV programs, podcasts and websites. I promised to never call it the 'Liars Planet' again if only we could find one. This approach seemed to work because we heard on the grapevine that the American University had a bookshop where the elusive books were to be found. After surrendering our passports and a bag search we were met with a large, gleaming, shining, blue wall of new Lonely Planet books with titles from every destination you could ever dream of going to including Melbourne city and Queensland titles about Australia. Who would have thought. We stocked up on Nepal, Tibet and India while we were there. We have also bought some books on modern Arab women, a Paulo Coelho title and a true story book called "La Prisonniere" about a woman who along with her children was unjustly imprisoned in a Moroccan desert jail for years. We intend to read them while we float down the Nile River on a feluca boat. If you can't drink beer, read. Egypt is a fairly sober country thanks to the Islamic religion.We went to the old Metro cinema in Talaat Harb Street to see a ridiculous movie called "Hellboy" but it was the only one in English (with Arabic subtitles) and we really only went to see the visuals, eat popcorn and sit in the theatre which was built in the 1930's when it opened with Gone With The Wind
Mono Loco enjoys his flight
. Nostalgia buffs we are. There is a landmark we use on Talaat Harb street that is a statue of the founder of the Egyptian Bank, Mr Haab who is sculptured wearing a Fes hat. We have been trying to buy one for Muzza, Jules's husband since we landed in Morocco so we call the statue 'Muzza' and often ask taxi drivers to take us to the 'Muzza' or we ask locals where is the 'Muzza'? It's classic because he looks nothing like the real Muzza. Cairo is the bellydancing capital of the world. We were keen to see an authentic dancer but found it is not an easy experience to find. Belly dancing is more than just an oriental form of burlesque. It's a ritualistic fertility dance that dates back Pharoanic times, a folk custom. To get a taste of the real thing, you have to hit the five star hotels or make do with Harem Street which is strictly for tourists, a place to watch top-heavy, silicone enhanced, foreign amateurs bump and grind their way across the stage in sequined getups that highlight the flesh. Sounds trashy and sleazy to us. The Egyptians are the best dancers because the music and rhythm are in their blood and the best dancers in Cairo with names like Fifi Abduh, Dina or Lucy are known as superstars. The industry has changed in recent years because of threats of violence from Islamic fundamentalists who condemn belly dancing as a perversion. Such threats have forced some Egyptian dancers into early retirement and more foreign women to come into the scene. There is one very popular Australian dancer making herself into a star at present
monkey's inflight dinner time
. Australians seem to be received very well in Cairo and the locals tells us it is because 'Australians are desert people like us'.So we decided that we must see a bellydancer and chose to board one of the Nile River Dinner and Show cruiseboats for an evening. It was a good deal. The boat was called 'The Memphis' and was decked out with extravagant lights and decorations. The boat was very similar to the kind of 'Island Queen' showboat that i worked on as a waitress and photographer on the Gold Coast waterways in Australia when i was 18 and wore a sailors uniform with captain's hat. Surprisingly, there were very few foreigners for the cruise and of course we crashed an Egyptian wedding party. We crash alot of weddings. The wedding festivities were happening in front of the boat so we got to watch their musicians play while the very young, immaculate bride in puffy meringue and diamante encrusted gown and groom danced in a circle made by their family and friends. They seemed very much in Love so we can assume the pairing was not an arranged one. There was an incense ceremony done by a guy wearing a Fes hat who seated the couple and smoked them in a circular motion with burning incense in an orb shaped brass pot. The wedding party were dressed in pristine clothing with suits for men and the women in full make-up and glittering headscarves and kaftans. We were very much out of place in our best-of-the-backpack threads and beloved Birkenstock sandals (yes they are still going strong, buy shares in Birkenstock)
we wanted to take all the camels home
. We got some particularly evil eye stares when our driver / guide took us to the wedding reception room instead of to our table upstairs. We were seated next to a beautiful Indian family with two daughters. The dinner was a buffet style set up which Nadia and i both loathe. The hygeine on these things can't be great. As soon as the food started to appear the Egyptians got greedy pounced and filled their plates then went back for more and more food, pushing and shoving each other out of the way. Whole cakes from the dessert section went right at the start. We had never seen anything like it. I guess that's what happens at a buffet in a country with food shortages. So, when in Rome....... we stocked up and ate alot of food. A horrendous cabaret singer sang western songs then a band played using accordian, drums and tamborines. The bellydancer finally appeared and danced solo for a couple of songs before getting everybody up to dance with her. Nadia got up for a jig. The dancer may have been Egyptian but i thought she was mediocre in skill and spent more of the show loooking pretty than performing. Plus a crew of Lebanese holiday makers took over the dance floor. Everybody got a little crazy and that was on a sober boat. Love to see them after a couple of beverages. The boat had a rooftop area so the cruise afforded us views of the night lights of Cairo on the banks of the Nile.The city is well polluted and you can feel it stinging your eyeballs at the end of the day
Tangier airport
. This is caused by the ridiculous amount of traffic flow in the city streets. There are 60 000 taxis operating in Cairo city so when we get too lost or tired on our walks we simply stick our arms out and a car will magically appear, sometimes after cutting across many lanes to get your fare. People use their cars as dodgem cars evidenced by the many scrapes and dints on the cars. I am sure if they crash into each other that they wouldn't even bother to stop or exchange phone numbers. There is also a taxi stalker syndrome where the driver will pull up parallel to the footpath where you are walking then cruise along next to you at your walking pace in the hope of getting a fare. We are particular targets for this approach because being foreigners we are seen as walking wallets on legs. True. There are road rules but nobody follows them. Crossing the road is playing with death. At the traffic lights, even though you get a green man, he is invisible to anyone but you because people ignore traffic light signals. The best way to cross the road is to use a local as a human shield and cross next to them. It's arcade "Frogger" style for sure. People speed and sit on their horns. People cut lanes and wear no seatbelts. It's kamikaze out there! The police are over-forced with no work so they are armed and stand smoking and socialising at all the intersections of the roads helping people across the road and answering questions from tourists like us. We have also seen truckfuls of riot police sitting around the streets and some standing behind large, riot shields on wheels designed for charging at something.Food choices are good and we have already ticked a few must-trys from the list
article in English language newspaper in Cairo
. The food is not too spicy and well-flavoured with herbs so it sits well with my tastebuds. We have been eating the dish koshari quite often. This is found wherever there are large, silver cooking pots in the store windows. The meal is a basic vegetarian dish consisting of noodles, rice, black lentils, onion, chilli and tomato sauce (salsa) all wrapped up for about AU$1. The price has gone down and the servings have got bigger the more i have frequented the same shop. I think is am at local price now. The other dish we like is The dish Ful Medames which is one of the most common Egyptian dishes and the national dish. It consists of fava beans (ful) slow-cooked in a copper pot (other types of metal pots don't produce the right type of flavor) that have been partially or entirely mashed. Olive oil is often an ingredient, and garlic is sometimes added. Another dish is the classic Ta'miya (falafel) which is deep-fried ground chick-pea balls that was invented by Egyptian bedouins. The bread is great too and is normally pita style. Alfy street is full of cheap eats from hole in the walls and vendors. We really like the sweet potato cooked with charred ends that is done in a portable wood fired oven then served on a photocopy of an old algebra exam. Pidgeon is a specialty of Cairo but i kind of have a thing for them and would rather feed them than eat them.The teahouses are really like simple, old school coffee houses with lots of history and character and blokes who have been locals at them for years, like the local pub
Marete's dan spotted in Duty Free Shop
. Ahwas are widespread and are amongst the chief social gathering places in the Arab world. They are usually located near one's home and the local mosque or church. It is the place to chat, pick up the latest news, read the paper, watch a TV show or a soccer match, or simply people watch while puffing a waterpipe. Some say there are more than 20,000 coffee houses in Cairo.We were told by a regular that if another regular doesn't show up for the hookah and tea sessions then all the rets of the guys will go looking for him, good mates hey! The guys sit and chat and suck on the hoses coming from giant hookahs at their feet. Not a healthy pastime considering one session on the hookah is equivalent to smokinga pack of cigaretes. The smell of molasses and apple tobacco is smelled wherever you go walking around Cairo.I have coined what i think is a new phrase called the "Orb Of Vision". We use our Orb Of Vision to see all around us at the same time in order to spot dangers that could be heading for us. It is used to look above us to sense dangers coming from buildings (falling debris, water from air cons, laundry etc), behind us (men doing something weird, pickpockets close to the daypack zippers, stalkers etc), below us (potholes, missing man hole covers, chewing gum, dead cats, beggars asleep on ground etc), sides and in front of us, all at the same time. It's important to stay alert in the cities with so much happening so fast. Using your Orb Of Vision ensures you don't miss any details of the street theatre of life too.
We Love Cairo and might even buy the t-shirt
Just for the record "Walk Like an Egyptian" is a number-one hit from the album Different Light by The Bangles in 1986 and the opening lyrics state, "All the old paintings on the tombs/They do the sand dance don't you know"
cool Wgyptian cash
. Ancient Egyptians did not really walk this way but i know my sister Alison and i sang and walked like Egyptians around our bedrooms at home for a good few months while the song was a hit. Since we have been in Cairo i haven't been able to get the catchy tune out of my head and find myself whistling it down the street.I'm not a hyperchondriac and don't even know how to spell it but we have itching bites all over our body. They are either silent mosquitoes, scabies (dustmites) or parasites still in our skin from the camel rug bugs in Morocco. My money is on mosquitoes. It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A! Joy.
I'll write seperate entries for some of the things we did in Cairo. For the first few days i was completely overwhelmed at all there was to see and do here and became quite manic with the buzz of the city.
Did i mention that we love Cairo. It's chaos and everything works.
I like the Cairo saying of 'kubbar dimaaghik' which really means 'make your head bigger' but is used to say 'chill-out' or 'relax'. If you really want to enjoy Cairo, you have to have a sense of humour and run on Egypt time which means two minutes could be two hours or even two days.
kubbar dimaaghik
"Today is gone. Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one.
Every day,
from here to there,
funny things are everywhere." - Dr Suess
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