Nobuko left Nepal a couple of days ago and is now in Cairo. This is what she has to say.
Hi! I arrived in Cairo today. Staying at the apartment of a couch-surfing host. What a place! It’s kind of quiet, surprisingly. But perhaps, other areas of the city are more crowded and noisy.
The airport was quiet and almost dead as well, with only my prime time flight coming in at 1 pm.
But the locals are fun loving and enjoy using a soft greediness, wrapped in humorous jokes that I could not help but to laugh and give in a little!! Women, on the back of motorcycles noticing me sitting in a taxi and cracking a big smile and waving with a loud “hello!!” Even women, fully clothed in Muslim black attire complete with hijab headscarves walk into a local bar and …(gulp), not only drinking, but also smoking cigarettes! An unbelievable and unacceptable sight if this had taken place in India. I was shocked. But in a ticklish, giddy, comradely way.
(Note: Before passing through Nepal to come to Egypt, Nobuko spent some time again in India)
What stands out here is the good and hearty sense of humor people possess, which is proudly and happily displayed with a big grin or a wink. It’s contagious. And its a good thing. Since I have turned into such a hardened and cold bitch, I welcome their easy and fun loving attitude to melt me back into my natural outgoing, open self.
I like this shift in my outlook. I feel that I can finish my trip in a good way.
Tomorrow I’m viewing the pyramids!
All Gizah Pyramids
(Photo credit: Wikipedia.file.All_Gizah_Pyramids)
I went ahead and got a preview of what Nobuko is going to see today.
Wonder what she has to say about Egyptian street vendors based on this excerpt:
“You can’t walk down here at all. It can’t be a short cut because you get stopped every few seconds.” [moves aside to let an elderly woman pass] “See? I bet she left the house when she was 10!”
— Karl Pilkington, travel host of “An Idiot Abroad”
Well actually one is stopped every few seconds by vendors at the pyramids of Giza an Luxor!! The scene there are quite ugly now that tourism is down. It’s cut-throat situations. I do not enjoy Luxor so much because of this reason. At pyramids I was absorbed into a hug Egyptian group, so I dodged many aggressive approaches. But locals on non-touristy streets of Cairo are wonderful. They crack jokes and make you laugh, help you find places, offer to buy you tea, and want to take pictures with you (for free).
Quoting: “one is stopped every few seconds by vendors at the pyramids of Giza an Luxor!! ”
So, have you made it back to your accommodations yet?
Are you with couch-surfing hosts again?