January 2010 : Conquering Sinai and falling in love with Cairo, Egypt
About this blog
We had only enough time to see the very best of Egypt during the end of our very rushed Middle East trip. Given the fact that we only have 4 days to spend, we had to cross out Abu Simbel, Aswan, Luxor and Hurghadah from our list. We chose to start Egypt with Sharm El-Sheikh, chosen solely as the base for our ambitious excursion to climb Mount Sinai. After fulfilling our quest to reach the peak of Sinai, we took a flight out of Sharm El-Sheikh to Cairo.
We were instantly captivated by Cairo and were immediately being sucked into its spiraling energetic atmosphere. How do we even begin to describe Cairo to someone who has not been to the city? We had thought of Cairo, the land of Pharaohs, as a vibrant city like Istanbul - rich in architecture, sophisticated people, nice cars, in short - a city with a good standard of living.
In reality, we were confronted with something very different altogether! We found ourselves to be in a place not so different from any small town somewhere in Cuba, maybe. The buildings are old, the cars are old, the city is dirty...and the traffic is absolutely madness!! This is the Hanoi of Africa (for those of you who have been to Hanoi, you will know what I mean). The honks never stop, the traffic lights rarely obeyed and they drive without their headlights at night!!
Despite all these, there is just one word to fully describe Cairo - BEAUTIFUL. Yes, not pretty, not magnificent, not spectacular, but beautiful; for the beauty of Cairo lies in its people who makes up the life of the city. They smile without inhibitions, they communicate without language.
It is here in this city that we were humbled to the core of the earth. We were reminded that there can be happiness without wealth, success will come with determination and kindness needs not be reciprocated.
We are missing Cairo already!!!
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1Unimpressed by Sharm El-Sheikh
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on Jan 24, 2010
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3Arrival in Cairo!! Cairo, Egypt on Jan 26, 2010
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