Bern, Swizerland - Cairo, Egypt

Thursday, 25th February 1999

My eyes clicked open like a Swiss timepiece at 4 this morning and in a flash I was showered, packed and raring to go. The small flakes that had fallen last night were in a think layer over the ground. Not a whisper of movement was on the street and the dark sky above loomed over two weary travellers. The mainstreet was deserted, except for the street-sweepers who effortlessly cleared beneath the covered archways with broomsticks made of straw. We walked in the middle of the street and past our favourite shimmering emerald water fountains until the medieval clocktower came into view. At five to five it began its hourly entertainment and the little chicken clucked a keen in a broken tune, followed by the dance of human figures and other small delights.

The ticket to Zurich cost SF50 ($AU60) or approximately 1/5 of my airfare to Cairo. At 5:27 AM, still incomplete darkness we pulled out of the station in our plush leather seats and enjoyed our journey to Zurich whilst watching the sun rise. At some points the white landscape look like tundra reminiscent of Siberian scenes, but soon little villages, large towns and titles passed us by. Switzerland felt a bit like home and I can imagine the Bettina having to travel this route every week to see Frank. Soon we pulled into Zurich Flughafen and were whisked up to the check-in counters. We smoothly picked up our tickets, checked in the luggage, got window seats to Frankfurt (but only middle seats to Cairo) and made our way through departure in record time.

We waited nearly an hour at the gate, and were entertained by the ground staff who were often skidding across the snow on the runway area. We're going to experience another day of contrasts, from snow to deserts, and a balmy 23 degrees Celsius. The flight to Frankfurt took us up over the clouds and into the unforgiving sunlight, where we were served a smoked ham sandwich. Frankfurt was a fine interlude as we were swept into and other terminal by monorail and over to the gate. The flight was totally full, consisting of a majority of middle-aged Westerners, some young people and a handful of Arabs and Ethiopians. For after Cairo Lufthansa then flew to Addis Ababa. I was amazed how they made a beef and vegetable dish taste like the processed meat at McDonald's, but enjoyed watching "The Mask of Zorro" and taking in the scenery below. War-torn countries like Yugoslavia and Lebanon shout out from above as clear as day, especially the contours of their landscape like the white peaks that surround Lebanon.

As Alexandria came into view my jaw dropped to the floor and I struggled to rise high enough in my seat to see out the window. I found it annoying and that most passengers weren't using their window seat, especially since they were all booked in advance. Almost like an afterthought the captain announced that Cairo and the pyramids at Giza were below. The ochre tones of the desert ran as far as the eye could see, whilst the sprawl of the city began the to engulf the Nile with high-rise and masses of concrete.

I stopped breathing when the tall walls of Cheops came into view and I almost broke my jaw with a smile so wide that the other passengers began to look at me rather than the view. The pyramids and 4000 years of history were so inspiring and almost overwhelming to see them from above. They are truly the greatest vision on the planet! We landed surrounded by orangey sandy planes at 4 PM and took into modern Egypt in all its glory. Rubbish was scattered around the perimeter fence and the strong stench of smoke wafted into the plane from the terminal. Hundreds of Arabs and Muslim women filled the halls with more hand luggage than you would believe. Our visas were bought within 30 seconds for $US1 over a counter and then we waited in line for passport control. At this point I was almost dreading our exit into the mayhem of the Arab world and hoped that it would be no harder to deal with than Morocco.

In the baggage hall thankfully lay our backpacks and also some unscrupulous taxi drivers who'd hound you before you got your passport back from control. We met two Brits in the line and decided to get a taxi downtown together. The first driver outrageously offered 35 Egyptian pounds and I smartly told him that I wanted to find a better price but if his was truly the cheapest I'd come back. The price and then did fly down but not enough. After I put my bargaining hat on I felt in control of all situations, which were nowhere near the scale of Moroccan hustlers. In the end we settled for 20 Egyptian pounds and piled into a small Peugeot. The roads were nothing short of mayhem, horns blasted, cars swerved millimetres from your door, crazy Arabs yelled out windows and the lane markings were totally ignored. It was almost like driving in southern Italy where the road rule is to only look forward and not behind. Somehow this all works and didn't bother us one bit as we were used to it. Unfortunately our friends from London had to peel their nails out of the seat whilst we arrived relaxed and refreshed. Most of the drive took us down the lovely tree-lined boulevards, passed gardens, hordes of army personnel, old crumbling high-rises and mammoth modern constructions.

Everyone on the street at Midan Tahrir was yelling welcome and hello in friendly tones, whilst the taxi driver followed us into our first hotel obviously looking for an undeserved kickback from the proprietor. One to eight lanes of traffic ran across a marked five-lane road all with horns blazing, hands waving and drivers with a death wish. The scene was utter chaos similar to dodgem cars in a theme park. Crossing the street took way more nous and skill than in southern Italy. Here you could be guaranteed that they wouldn't stop for you. The room the proprietor ushered us to was simple, with ensuite (and lovely brown residues), warm showers, hard beds, and the piece-du-resistance, a large balcony overlooking the square, huge towering modern high-rises, dazzling neon lights, the awakening calls of prayer from the minaret of the mosque, the Renaissance style Egyptian Museum, a landscaped roundabout and the colourful reflections of light that would glisten off the Nile. At eight stories above the mayhem below we could see for miles where East meets, and gets confused by, West. The view engulfed all my senses, highlighted the romance of Cairo, lying in such contrast to the ancient Egyptians. The pyramids and Sphinx at Giza almost seemed worlds away from this modern city.

The lust for life on the streets below engulfed us and we soon were lured into the crowds. People on the streets would stop and stare almost as if they'd never seen a foreigner before. Men, women and children would all sing "Welcome to Egypt" or "Hello". A few had an agenda but most seemed genuine and would just continue on their path. I suppose in a city of nearly twenty million locals one could never really see enough foreigners. Food and juice stalls lined the street behind our hotel and after a quick survey we found a marbled Kushari joint to be most welcoming.

From the window a man would dish out rice, noodles and pasta into a bowl and then add dried vegetables and lentils in a spicy tomato sauce. Locals filled the ground floor in a frenzy of shovelling movements, whilst we were ushered upstairs. For $AU 1.50 we had a huge bowl each and a coke which is so cheap that it felt dishonest leaving after paying such a paltry price for a quality meal. We then returned to the hotel balcony to be mesmerised again by all the whackos on the streets below and to submerge ourselves in all the sights and colours of this raging wonderland, so in contrast to the Europe of this morning.