Chaotic Cairo

G’day all,
There’s only one problem with Egypt….too many bloody Egyptians. They would have to be the most friendly and finely trained conmen I’ve come across I’d have to say. They are so good they almost put you in a trance to hand over cash before you even realize it, then half an hour later you shake your head and realized you paid triple. Every street you walk down you are a target with “Where you from my friend”, “What’s your name”, “Can I help you”, “Welcome to my country”, or even “G’day mate”. Just when you write them all off as scammers and you begin being rude and evasive to them you meet one that acts exactly the same but just wants to know about you and say hello and nothing more. My first impressions of Cairo was ‘this place is bloody mental’ but after a day or two it kind of grows on you in a funny way and you begin to like it. Apart from maybe India it would have to be the dirtiest polluted place I’ve ever been to. Every building looks like it was built 60 years ago and not cleaned or maintained since. There is layer after layer of greasy dirt on every wall, floor and shop window you see and when you try to breathe in you feel like you are in a cave so much dust sucks into your lungs. Almost every car looks at least 30 years old and has huge dents on every panel and trying to cross the road, well that’s another story. The traffic is probably worse in India and Vietnam but they are mainly motorbikes and rickshaws while in Cairo every single car looks completely un-roadworthy, no lights are used at night, and everyone just swerves around the road ignoring any lane that was ever painted on the road. At night you can hear a million car horns no matter what time of the night it is and the street lights are so badly lit that you can just see the outline or cars until they occasionally flicker the high beams to indicate a near car crash. I’m not saying all this in a bad way because this is what makes Cairo such an exciting city and that’s why I’m beginning to love the place. I’ve been staying at a backpackers downtown called “Dahab Hostel” which has the dodgiest lift you’ve ever seen but a great chill out atmosphere on the roof top full of European travellers. Back to that lift… now that’s something else. It looks like something out of a horror movie and is swinging through this cage between a spiral stairwell by this rusty old cable, so much character and a bloody good rush. On day 2 in Cairo I went to the Egyptian Museum which was so huge I ended up power walking through it just to make sure I saw everything before my legs collapsed on me. It was really awesome though seeing all the mummies and tombs and gold and jewels but it was so poorly displayed for what it was. Yesterday I went to the Pyramids and no matter how many fellow backpackers warned me not to do a tour because you get ripped off, I still managed to get conned into a tour by a smooth Egyptian man. I was so annoyed with myself for getting ripped off when it was my one and only plan that day to not get conned into a tour, that it put me in a bad mood and I didn’t even enjoy the pyramids. What I did to however was something very Aussie, and I went back and conned the conman. I went back into his office wearing my “www.paulwood.blogspot.com” t-shirt and told him I work for Tourism Australia and Lonely Planet and told him he lied to me and ripped me off and he chose the wrong person to pick on. After having a little talk to him I ended up blackmailing him into giving me 70 Egyptian pounds back and returned to Cairo with a smirk on my face. Late yesterday I went to Islamic Cairo which is a very interesting part of town and is full of tiny little laneways loaded with bazaar markets, mosques and tiny little assorted work shops. I got so lost it took me hours to get home and I ended up catching a taxi because I walked 45 minutes in the wrong direction. Today I left Cairo and took a bus 6 hours south to the coastal town of “Sharm el-Sheikh” which is on the Red Sea and is world famous for its scuba diving. I didn’t do my research too well though because I now realize I feel very out of place here. I swear I’m the only backpacker in the town as this is where all the rich Italian and Russian middle aged tourists come to dive and the backpackers go to another town about 85km away called Dahab. Everything here is 5 times more expensive than Cairo but at the same time it looks like such an amazing town I have no regrets coming here accidentally but will catch the bus to Dahab tomorrow. The town is situated on a nice little cove with crystal clear waters and is surrounded by these beautiful desert rocky mountains. There is a really nice market in the middle of the town and this outdoor restaurant that is chiseled into the edge of a cliff and lit up by lights. On Monday I will be busy doing a Scuba diving course for 4 days to get my PADI certificate in diving so I will update you after that.
Keeping it cheeky,

Woodsy