I've been in Cairo now for four days, and it has been a surprise, a pleasant one.
The traffic is busy, but nothing as busy as Delhi, Hanoi, or Shanghai. I remember getting out of a cab in Shanghai because walking was faster than the cab.
The smog in Cairo is not bad, today was a clear day, nothing like Delhi or any place in China. In Hong Kong you couldn't see more than a couple of hundred meters.
Cairo is also cleaner; there are garbage cans, and street cleaners.
The architecture, at least in the downtown area is European.
I'm not saying Cairo is Paris, but it's a lot more like Paris than Delhi.
Traffic is wild; I saw my first confrontation, between a car and a motor scooter. Thankfully this is Egypt, and not the USA, nobody pulled a gun and started shooting.
Mohammad, my guide, met me at my hotel, and we started the day by visiting the "City of the Dead". This is one of the oldest cemeteries in Cairo. The original Muslims built huge mausoleums where they would celebrate with the dead. These buildings where later occupied by poor and homeless, and now about 50 000 people live there. It's more a town than a cemetery, but some of the mausoleums and mosques are beautiful. Another nice thing is that it's off the tourist map, so it's quiet.
I also came across an interesting graffiti on a wall. Initially it looked like a bunch of circles, but when you looked closer, each circle was a series of words, in Arabic. As a whole all the circles combine to make a poem.
We also visited a glassblower. The place is the size of a one- car garage, but his work is great.
We spent the rest of the day touring the part of Islamic Cairo we missed yesterday. Some beautiful mosques, and a lovely medieval merchant house. While we were there we met a group of girls on a school trip. I became the centre of attention; everyone wanted a selfie with me. The price of fame!
In the evening I walked around the neighbourhood of my hotel. I had an interesting experience. On my way back from the museum on Saturday I came across a heavyset women, begging on the street. She had a humongous deformed elephantine right leg sticking out. I felt quite sorry for her. Well, today on my walk I saw a male beggar, with exactly the same deformed leg sticking out. I swear it was exactly the same. I think it's a scam, and the leg is a fake. Ingenious.
I can't believe the number of clothing, shoe and perfume shops. From the number of those stores everyone in Cairo should be very well dressed and smell wonderful. That is not the case.
I hear there is a snowstorm in Ontario. Sorry I missed it.
Ralf
The traffic is busy, but nothing as busy as Delhi, Hanoi, or Shanghai. I remember getting out of a cab in Shanghai because walking was faster than the cab.
The smog in Cairo is not bad, today was a clear day, nothing like Delhi or any place in China. In Hong Kong you couldn't see more than a couple of hundred meters.
Cairo is also cleaner; there are garbage cans, and street cleaners.
The architecture, at least in the downtown area is European.
I'm not saying Cairo is Paris, but it's a lot more like Paris than Delhi.
Traffic is wild; I saw my first confrontation, between a car and a motor scooter. Thankfully this is Egypt, and not the USA, nobody pulled a gun and started shooting.
Mohammad, my guide, met me at my hotel, and we started the day by visiting the "City of the Dead". This is one of the oldest cemeteries in Cairo. The original Muslims built huge mausoleums where they would celebrate with the dead. These buildings where later occupied by poor and homeless, and now about 50 000 people live there. It's more a town than a cemetery, but some of the mausoleums and mosques are beautiful. Another nice thing is that it's off the tourist map, so it's quiet.
I also came across an interesting graffiti on a wall. Initially it looked like a bunch of circles, but when you looked closer, each circle was a series of words, in Arabic. As a whole all the circles combine to make a poem.
We also visited a glassblower. The place is the size of a one- car garage, but his work is great.
We spent the rest of the day touring the part of Islamic Cairo we missed yesterday. Some beautiful mosques, and a lovely medieval merchant house. While we were there we met a group of girls on a school trip. I became the centre of attention; everyone wanted a selfie with me. The price of fame!
In the evening I walked around the neighbourhood of my hotel. I had an interesting experience. On my way back from the museum on Saturday I came across a heavyset women, begging on the street. She had a humongous deformed elephantine right leg sticking out. I felt quite sorry for her. Well, today on my walk I saw a male beggar, with exactly the same deformed leg sticking out. I swear it was exactly the same. I think it's a scam, and the leg is a fake. Ingenious.
I can't believe the number of clothing, shoe and perfume shops. From the number of those stores everyone in Cairo should be very well dressed and smell wonderful. That is not the case.
I hear there is a snowstorm in Ontario. Sorry I missed it.
Ralf
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