City of Chaos

Location:
Egypt

By Rebecca Wolfson

I woke up at 6:20 in the morning to a phone call.

“Becca, we have to leave in ten minutes!”

It was Eugene, my travel buddy. My alarm clock had somehow failed to go off. Without showering, without even brushing my teeth I grabbed my backpack, filled it with the last minute things I forgot to pack the night before and my passport and walked briskly out the door. On the way to the bus I stopped to get cash from the ATM. I waited one minute, two minutes. I started to panic. All of a sudden a message appeared on the screen of the ATM: “We’re sorry, we are now going to have to take your credit card.”

Gone. This is how my first day in Egypt began.

I figured out an alternative form of receiving cash, made it to the border and accepted a driver’s offer to take me to Cairo in two hours faster than the bus. As the sun started to set we sped off into the Sinai desert.

“Welcome to Egypt,” someone said as I got out of the taxi and stepped foot in Cairo Many more Egyptians would repeat this phrase to me throughout my journey.

In Cairo, the city of Chaos, each time I had to cross the street I felt like I was committing suicide. Traffic lights don’t exist in this city, the seventh most populated metropolitan area in the world. Crossing the street, then, is like playing a game, weaving in and out of moving cars, steady but fast, focused and ready. It doesn’t seem to bother the people who live there. Even fragile-looking old ladies with Muslim head coverings seem used to this lifestyle, where death could come any time they cross the street. I never spotted any bus stops in Cairo, but I did see people jumping on and off a moving vehicle, which looked like a bus. One does not visit Cairo to relax.

We finally found the hotel Eugene recommended, which was booked full for the night. We stayed at a different one across the street. After checking into the one-star hotel, I decided to check out the nearby nargile bar. It was not much bigger than an American middle-class bedroom. It had plain wooden tables, a dirt-laden floor and a tiny kitchen in the back, not separated at all from the customers. The tiny cafe was packed with middle-aged men who obviously spend hours there, puffing away at nargile, playing backgammon or checkers and sipping tea. I rarely, if ever, saw women sitting in the many nargile cafes scattered throughout Egypt. We asked for a backgammon board, some tea and a couple nargiles.

A George Clooney-turns-Egyptian looking man entered the café. He was well-dressed, had long, slicked-back grey hair. He is a famous movie actor, one of the café owners whispered to us. Eugene subsequently asked the celebrity to join us. We tried to make small talk, but his English was limited. He pointed to our backgammon board and challenged Eugene to a game. George Clooney, of course, being Egyptian and having had many years of experience in backgammon, won.

That night I slept like a baby. The day had been overwhelming, over-stimulating and absolutely amazing. Welcome to Egypt, I thought to myself.

Further Information

Other helpful information: Bargain for everything. People will try to rip you off, so be smart.

Must see/do at this place: Local nargile cafes, Egypt Museum (get a guide), Abu Simbel, Bahariya

You should avoid here: Revealing clothing