No Dive Certificates But We Can Cross The Street

Trip Start Sep 29, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Where I stayed
African House Hotel
(Cairo hotels)

Flag of Egypt  ,
Friday, November 7, 2008

We made our way back to Cairo from Dahab and a reunion with the lads at African House. We had more gifts of coral and rocks for them. They've been busy inventing mosquito zapper contraptions whilst we were gone. We applied for our Indian visa which was to take five days instead of the expected three so were happy that we had allowed the time but on the other hand, we have OVERSTAYED OUR ONE MONTH VISA! Whoops, although we are assured that we can dodge our way around the 100 Egyptian pounds fine at the airport when we leave. The visa is written in Arabic and we never thought to check it. One month is not enough for all over Egypt.

We enjoyed the pastries because we know we'll miss them and had a few more walks around our beloved city of Cairo, re-visiting friends and store owners we have come to know. The craziest things we saw were a farmer trying to lead his herd of goats through Downtown Cairo traffic and a fire in a building near Muzza's statue that created chaos in the traffic and pedestrians. People escaped down old school ladders and the police did the whole theatrical scene a very strange street scene in Downtown Cairo
a very strange street scene in Downtown Cairo
 . They had made a human shield across the roundabout where Muzza's statue is and this made it impossible to get to the internet to print out our e-tickets for India flights. All the guys adore Nadine, i think they all want to marry her. The Alfy Street (street food) lads, the kushari blokes, the coke zero guy, the creme caramel sellers, the cigarette guy and the guardian of the building. There is a candy guy who calls Nadine the sweets lady and she gave the guardian of the building a transister radio. The guardians sleep at the gate of the building and hold the keys, they make very small bakeesh tips. We're going to buy them a tray of pastries. The locals call Cairo "The Mother Of The World" and most would never leave unless of course to marry a western woman. The people of the desert never want to leave their oases and the people of the Sinai never want to leave the Red Sea, there is pride here. I ate lots of  Peking Prawn Pies with oyster sauce from the Chinese shop because i will miss them.

Surprisingly, we feel quite immersed here in Egypt, in the melting pot amongst a population of 80 million and it's only a small amount of time we have been here. It is a good time spent when we just sit back at a teahouse and watch the world go by. I went shopping for one of the quaint and glamorous ladies evening turbans which i found in black and gold in a tiny little dusty shop down an alleyway. The lady owner was very elderly and reminded me of  a ballet and tap dance teacher Billboards
Billboards
 . Of course whenever you brave the streets of Cairo on your own  the Egyptian gigolos are out in force like bees to honey and using the standard pick up lines of  "how many sugars did you have in your tea this morning because you are so sweet", "you are so pretty so i had to come over to talk to you", "we are going for dinner tonight" etc etc etc. I took the approach of trying to blend in by putting on the vintage aviators, cap to cover the hair, long pants and kaftan type shirt over, worked fairly well and i was able to study all the elaborate window displays and mannequins dressed with intricate head scarves in relative peace. There are even muslim lingerie mannequins. There is a funny photo of some male mannequins being transported between shops (and there are no gay men in Egypt of course, mmmmmmmmm........).

We went to the movies to watch 'Body Of Lies" starring Di-Caprio and Crowe in English whilst eating olives and pepita seeds (whatever happened to Maltesers)? We have been playing with a gorgeous kid from Hungary who is staying at the African House. We've given him one of the psychedelic bouncy balls which he takes great pleasure in bouncing around the communal living area trying to hit the staff and serious Russian travellers on their laptops. Ha,ha, it's not us, it's the kid doing our dirty work. I ate some brains. We went to the Museum Of Modern Egyptian Art and The Egyptian Opera House (ours is much better). Other than that we just worked on the India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tibet itinerary and trying to ship parcels to Australia always Coca-Cola
always Coca-Cola
 . I've just got to get my retro, Tutunkhaman snow dome home in one piece. Mono Loco tried to get in the box because i think he wants to go home for Xmas to see Santa at Myers. Funny how he knows what we are thinking all the time. The postal was a palava again and the process involved finding a box, buying some packing tape, many forms and a long wait as we were in the office during prayer time so everybody stopped work, rolled out the mini putting green mats and did the dance. The parcels are off to Australia by ship at a reasonable cost.

The Etihad airline have now accidentally refunded our money yet we still have seats on the flight so we will just hope for the best at the airport and maybe we get a free flight out of it. The party season in Goa for Chrismas and New Years is shaping up to look good and we will aim to be there for the silly season.

So we are sad to leave this wonderful country. There is unemployment, threat of terrorist attack, child labour, police problems, corruption, poverty and pollution but when we saw past the dirt and brushed the touts and gigolos aside, we found good experiences with little travel hassle. We really just came for the Pyramids but discovered so much more in the Islamic way of life, the tombs and temples, the Nile, the stark desert landscapes, reminders of ancient civilisations, the underwater world of the Red Sea and amazing Pharaonic monuments plus all the humour, optimism, generosity,  and light-heartedness of the people who made our journey to their country a fascinating and interesting one. Maybe that's why we overstayed our visa. Many travellers don't share this view with us but we loved Egypt and it loved us back. Hurray for Egypt!

I didn't get my PADI dive certification but i sure can cross the street in Cairo.

So, it's good-bye to all the Mohammads, Ahmeds and Hassans and all our husbands. We are out of the Egyptian falafel pot and into the curry in a hurry frying pan of India. We are planning on six to eight months taking in India, Nepal, Tibet and Bangladesh and maybe some ashram time, budget style.  Our most important lessons are ahead and we are ready for India............... or so we think.
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