Cairo

I've decided that there certainly must be some conspiracy in action in the middle east. At first I thought that the local's "hello, what is your name" and "where are you from" was merely a friendly, welcoming and friendly questioning, resulting from a lack of further english with which to conduct a conversation. However, after travelling through Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, and having being followed and then hounded by these questions, I began to wonder that perhaps they were actually the government's way of keeping track of the movements of foreigners, that after meeting me the locals would immediately phone the secret police to report "Warwick the Australian last seen near the moaning water wheels." As I became more and more paranoid in response to this continued inquisition, I decided to thwart further interrogation by responding that I came from Mars, and that they had a very nice planet (much to the confusion of most, evidence of a successful decoying ploy).

That said, I have enjoyed my time in Cairo, though after (yet) another two hour border crossing because the border guards ran out of stamps, and then our bus staff conducted the most inefficient and lengthy means of data collection employed since the times of the Roman census, I could only laugh when finally as our bus departed the border station, we completed three full turns around a roundabout before coming to another halt - indicating exactly why Egypt has lost every single modern war it has been involved in.

Cairo was surprisingly enjoyable, particularly as I had expected to not enjoy it. Having met a good-natured Mexican on the bus to Cairo, we proceeded to laugh our way through the back streets of old Cairo- both of us gasping at this woman's sense of reaching out from behind her veil in this universal declaration
- and to share astonishment at the Egyptian museum. Both of us were struck by the beauty of the Tutenkhamen exhibition, a particular image - that of peoples faces gazing in wonder at the magnificence before them, as seen from behind Tutenkhamen's mask with golden reflection in the enclosing glass case - sticking in my mind. We left buoyed by witnessing human's greatest capabilities in historic civilisation.

Beyond this and some simple hanging out with hostel friends and a Lebanese-Egyptian (male) model I met on the street, I made the obligatory visit to the Pyramids,where I was able to remove myself from the crowds and find some peace on a n overlooking hill perfect for some yoga.




Other than this, Egyptian thrills involved crossing roads (frogger style), taxi rides, camel eating, chatting with islamic students from the oldest university in the world, observing the making of mother-of-pearl hand-made boxes, running down streets at night because footpaths were choked with late night shoppers and we were running late for a train, drinking chay, and all that goes with it. All in all, a wonderful visit which only entices me to return. I'm in Germany now, working and meeting with friends.Full power to you all,
Warwick
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