Month: January 2005

The most tiring aspect of life in Egypt is having to endure the constant hustling. When you first arrive, they must sense your naivety and big, bright eyes because they seem to descend on you more. Now that I’ve learned to keep my head down, I tend to be left alone.

Although everyone I’ve met has been very friendly, the friendliest people have seemed to be the ones after your wallet. They are always trying to steer you into a shop somewhere, although sometimes innocently (I think). If anyone tries to be extra nice to you here, you can bet they’ll want money in the end.

The hustlers I really resent are the ones trying to con you in some way. They will lie to you about something being closed (whether it’s a museum or pyramid) in order for you to be bundled into their shop and given a hard sell on something. Or you may find yourself being given a “free” tour you never agreed to pay for but one you’ll be expected to give a hefty tip for.

Every tourist I’ve spoken with seems to agree that the area around the Great Pyramids in Giza is the worst. It’s very hard to appreciate the significance of the pyramids when you’re being bugged every few minutes for a donkey, camel, or horse ride, or a tour guide. The other really bad places have been along the Nile in towns like Luxor and Aswan, where you are constantly being asked to take a Felucca (sailboat) ride, a horse and buggy, or a taxi. It’s nice to get inside a museum, temple, or tomb because you’ll usually find a temporary moment of peace and quiet.

Other annoying hustling happens when children run up and ask you for Euros or adults try to charge you a toll for walking through their scenic neighbourhoods. The worst place I found for this was in the beautiful Nubian villages on Elephantine Island in Aswan.

Photography can be difficult because a lot of people will try to demand money if they know they will be in your shot. Market stall owners will try to charge money to let you photograph the front of their stalls. I’ve been trying to sneak telephoto shots as a result.

It all gets a bit taxing, but as I said, I seem to be bothered by hustlers less and less the longer I hang around here. Either that or I’m just noticing it less.

After spending about ten days here, I thought I would give you some reflections on life in the Middle East.

You can feel a slow cultural transition as you work your way across the country. The further north and east you get, the more Middle Eastern everything feels. The further south you go, the more African everything feels.

One of the hardest things to get used to is Arabic script. Tourist places will usually have English translations, but you won’t find them in many areas. The most difficult thing is the numbers, which are unlike the numbering system you’ll find in the West or in Asia. They use a script that makes a “5” look like a “0” and a “0” look like a “-“, so “50” in English translates to “0-” in Arabic, among other things. Simple things like finding your train platform or an address on a street you can find on an English-language map are very difficult. The currency is printed in Arabic on one side and English on the other, so you have to keep flipping your money over to make sure you’re handing out the right amount.

The country is predominantly Muslim, although there are a few old churches and synagogues about. While most Egyptians don’t seem to be devoted enough to drop to their knees every day, there are plenty that do. The mosques call out for prayers early in the morning (before sunrise), around 3 PM, and at sunset. Hearing all the mosques calling out is almost like hearing a multi-alarm fire going off at fire stations throughout your community. Except instead of a siren, you hear someone singing/wailing through a microphone. When travelling by train through country towns up and down the Nile, the mosques are all decorated with neon lights.

Most women keep their heads covered, although some more than others. Some have everything but their eyes covered. Every time I have tried to speak with a woman in a head covering, she has attempted to communicate back in a friendly way, only to be snapped at in Arabic by a passing older man — forcing her to reel back somewhat. Many of the older men here dress in traditional clothing that resembles something along the lines of Libyan leader Omar Gaddafi’s getup.

The younger population seems a bit more hip, listening to funky Middle Eastern music and Western rap. Many young kids seem to be learning English in school these days because they always seem eager to practice their English on you.

That being said, virtually everyone I’ve interacted with has been very friendly and honest with their fellow Egyptians and me. It almost seems as though they’re all distantly related somehow (especially in more rural areas). They seem to know exactly how each person walking down the street fits into their huge extended family.

Just thought I would fill you in on some interesting characteristics of travelling around Egypt, now that I’m back in Cairo:

I mentioned before how crazy the drivers were in this city of 10 million. Nobody seems to pay any attention to lines in the road, traffic lights, or even police officers directing traffic. They may slow down a bit, but if they see a gap in cross traffic, they just surge straight through a red light. If police are out directing traffic, they’ll sneak behind them as soon as they turn their backs.

The biggest shock is their refusal to use headlights at night, for some reason. I asked one taxi driver why nobody liked to drive at night with their headlights on, and he told me they don’t use them if they can see without them. This applies to the country as well as the cities. Occasionally they’ll flash their headlights to warn someone who they think may not have seen them. It gets really dangerous on country roads because there are plenty of donkeys pulling carts without reflectors. That being said, I have yet to see an accident (although I have witnessed a few very close calls).

As you can imagine, this makes being a pedestrian very scary. I find myself continually heading down side streets where the traffic is narrow and lighter or heading for subway tunnels to get across some of the more congested parts of town.

And speaking of donkeys, you’ve never seen anything as funny as someone riding on the back of a donkey. Unlike horses, they never seem to get off the ground. They just seem to roll along with little tiny bounces that resemble a dribbling basketball just before it starts to roll. It looks most uncomfortable for the riders.

Cairo happens to have a very nice subway system, although like everything else around here, it seems to be covered in a fine desert silt. Egypt is predominantly Muslim, so they reserve the first few cars of every subway train for women only. Every time I see those cars roll by, the women look like they’re having a great time without any men around. Women are allowed to sit anywhere on the trains; it’s just that men can’t sit in these first few cars.

Boats use much the same custom, especially as you head south. I made the mistake of sitting in the women’s section of a ferry boat in Aswan and was politely invited to sit back with another guy in the rear section of the boat. He was very nice about it, but explained that it was their custom.

Taxis don’t use meters here, so you have to barter a fare before you get in. You can often get them to cut their prices in half. The most annoying thing about them is that they insist on honking every time they see a tourist (inquiring whether they might want a taxi – just in case they hadn’t already thought of it on their own). It gets really annoying and makes a walking exploration of the city quite jarring and stressful.

When I was riding in a half-hour taxi ride around sunrise, the driver promptly pulled over at the first hint of daylight, got out of the cab, aligned himself with Mecca, put his prayer mat down, got down on his knees, kissed the earth, and prayed for about five minutes. No meter involved since we bartered, so it didn’t cost me anything extra.

The cheapest way of getting around is to jump on a public taxi van. They seem to use the same system here that they were using in Fiji. Usually for about US$0.15 you can hop on a van packed with locals and ride as long as you want in whatever direction they’re circulating. It gets a bit wild and crazy as they boom funky music and try to cram as many passengers as they can in back, but it’s lots of fun. They seem to get a kick out of having a tourist travelling with them.

The overnight train here from Aswan was fine. They’re basically the same trains they use in Europe, and they tend to keep the tourists travelling separately from the general Egyptian population. I managed to get about five hours of sleep last night, which wasn’t too bad.

Security is pretty tight all over Egypt these days. There are armed guards with machine guns riding in the engine compartment of most trains. There are tourist police all over the popular tourist areas, and there are military checkpoints on many roads leading around the country. Most of these police seem very friendly and eager to practice their English on you. Sometimes they’ll try to bum a cigarette off you in the end since just about everyone is a chain smoker around here.