Friday, October 27, 2006
20/10 into 21/10 Weird & wonderful sights
A world of amazing contrasts:
1. There was a man water skiing on the Nile - except that if you even put your foot in the Nile you should get checked out at the hospital, and if you fall in the mud you can get bacteria that eat your kidneys and intestines - so waterskiing is pretty high risk...
2. A 3 yo girl, dressed in full length cover and head-dress, was trying to sell me tissues and would NOT give up. I started to ignore her and she attached to my leg and I walked from the bazaar through the pedestrian subway and to the taxi rank with her still attached and chattering to me. She didn't even let go whe nI went to get in the cab and a local man had to detach her. Well trained early here!
3. In a country that frowns on physical contact and denies homosexuality exists...I watched 2 tourist police walk down the street holding hands with machine guns slung over their outside shoulders and one then nusselled the others neck in affection...
I got in at 3am 20/10 and by 9am I am out getting my bearings. As I bolt across a traffic filled street and stop to check my map, a young European man asks can he help. He gives me directions and then asks would I like to have coffee and he will give me some pointers to save me learning the hard way. Well, we walk to the back of this deep, dirty concrete footpath and walk through a door in the fence and wha..lah.. we are walking down through a green garden on the banks of the Nile to his houseboat. James is a student from Edinburgh University studying Arabic in Cairo and we sat on his rented verandah on the Nile with a cool breeze and a coffee, while we went through some great tips - contacts for a good money changer and an honest Sim card seller, what to pay for a taxi to each attraction, for food and drinks. Which attractions were worthwhile and how long it would take. He was great.
James offered to chaperone me to Khan Khalili bazaar that evening to have turkish coffee, mint tea and smoke a Nargileh pipe with apple tobacco. We went to this amazing place- the Fishawi Coffee House - and as I had a male who spoke passable Arabic as my escort it was FANTASTIC (this said with hindsight, after trying to do the same thing a couple of nights later on my own). We sat in this incredibly narrow bazaar street which still managed to get 4 seats deep on one side and another row parallel to the wall on the other side and it was packed with humanity. Men and women mostly locals, talking and breaking their Ramadan fast.
The coffee house served our mint tea in little individual chipped enamel teapots that we poured into vegemite glasses with fresh mint stalks in the bottom. I am converted to black tea - with mint or lemon. And we sat there sharing the Nargileh and I didn't choke or cough at all - a completely different experience to smoking tobacco. If anything you get the high because you are drawing the smoke through the water and you tend to over oxygenate (if you can get what I mean).
We also had a great traditional Egyptian meal at the Khan el Khalili restaurant. Posh and classy but good value in our $.
I hope one day to repay James kindness, when he and his girlfriend make it to Oz. Thanks James - if you ever read about this experience.
A world of amazing contrasts:
1. There was a man water skiing on the Nile - except that if you even put your foot in the Nile you should get checked out at the hospital, and if you fall in the mud you can get bacteria that eat your kidneys and intestines - so waterskiing is pretty high risk...
2. A 3 yo girl, dressed in full length cover and head-dress, was trying to sell me tissues and would NOT give up. I started to ignore her and she attached to my leg and I walked from the bazaar through the pedestrian subway and to the taxi rank with her still attached and chattering to me. She didn't even let go whe nI went to get in the cab and a local man had to detach her. Well trained early here!
3. In a country that frowns on physical contact and denies homosexuality exists...I watched 2 tourist police walk down the street holding hands with machine guns slung over their outside shoulders and one then nusselled the others neck in affection...
I got in at 3am 20/10 and by 9am I am out getting my bearings. As I bolt across a traffic filled street and stop to check my map, a young European man asks can he help. He gives me directions and then asks would I like to have coffee and he will give me some pointers to save me learning the hard way. Well, we walk to the back of this deep, dirty concrete footpath and walk through a door in the fence and wha..lah.. we are walking down through a green garden on the banks of the Nile to his houseboat. James is a student from Edinburgh University studying Arabic in Cairo and we sat on his rented verandah on the Nile with a cool breeze and a coffee, while we went through some great tips - contacts for a good money changer and an honest Sim card seller, what to pay for a taxi to each attraction, for food and drinks. Which attractions were worthwhile and how long it would take. He was great.
James offered to chaperone me to Khan Khalili bazaar that evening to have turkish coffee, mint tea and smoke a Nargileh pipe with apple tobacco. We went to this amazing place- the Fishawi Coffee House - and as I had a male who spoke passable Arabic as my escort it was FANTASTIC (this said with hindsight, after trying to do the same thing a couple of nights later on my own). We sat in this incredibly narrow bazaar street which still managed to get 4 seats deep on one side and another row parallel to the wall on the other side and it was packed with humanity. Men and women mostly locals, talking and breaking their Ramadan fast.
The coffee house served our mint tea in little individual chipped enamel teapots that we poured into vegemite glasses with fresh mint stalks in the bottom. I am converted to black tea - with mint or lemon. And we sat there sharing the Nargileh and I didn't choke or cough at all - a completely different experience to smoking tobacco. If anything you get the high because you are drawing the smoke through the water and you tend to over oxygenate (if you can get what I mean).
We also had a great traditional Egyptian meal at the Khan el Khalili restaurant. Posh and classy but good value in our $.
I hope one day to repay James kindness, when he and his girlfriend make it to Oz. Thanks James - if you ever read about this experience.
# posted by The Essence of Good Taste @ 2:30 PM 
