Cairo Traffic

The joy of Cairo can be expressed in two words most days. "Cairo traffic" is stickier than duct tape, slower than molasses in January...but at least the guys in the flatbed have a nice breeze and a decent view. 

Downtown Wash

Anywhere other than Cairo you don't expect to see a horse getting a shower on a busy road median.... But then, Cairo is Cairo. 

Things To Keep Us Safe

Almost every car in Egypt has something hanging from its rear view mirror.  In my case, it's quite a few somethings. The bottom object is a beaded triangle made by the Bedouin women of St. Katherine's which is filled with sand from the desert around the monastery, which is supposed to protect vehicles and travelers. The blue disk at the top is a Turkish evil eye charm which is a circle of blue glass with a white glass center.  And finally hanging from a bracelet of blue glass beads in the Turkish style is the kaf, or hand of Fatima, which is supposed to protect from the evil eye. In Cairo traffic, you need all the help you can get.

Cairo Sunset

If you are driving in Cairo in the mid afternoon, the odds are good that you will see one of these, the fiery yellow ball settling into the west over miles and miles of cars crawling in second gear down the road. Of course it helps to be crossing one of Cairo's bridges across the Nile to the Giza side.  We all hate Cairo traffic!

A Quick Look Is Plenty

I'm not entire sure what the guy owning the truck had in mind, but I'm pretty sure that misspelling "ingestion" wasn't it. Still, with all the aggravation of driving in Cairo traffic, it gave me the giggles and I was delighted to catch it.

The Free Market Is Thriving

A Cairo blogger posted this picture of a man who was driving his car around with this sign posted on both sides of it. The sign apparently says:

Hashish "Afghan- Dutch" available
Salah Imbabay
01099649952

There are pretty strict laws on the books against the sale of hashish, marijuana and other drugs, but the police force has been pretty slack lately. Still..... wonder if anyone called him.

Cairo Sunset

And it includes, as most of us see them, endless rows of cars on the road ahead of us.

A First

At about 3:45 pm today at the height of the usual rush hour virtually everyone in Egypt was somewhere sitting in front of a television set waiting to hear the announcement of the first (hopefully) democratically elected president in its history. The choice was a tough one for many people here, between an ex-cabinet minister from the Mubarak regime who was also a member of the military and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Surprisingly the unofficial vote count showed a clear win for Mohamed Morsi of the MB, and many people expected the military to push through a win for the ex-regime member, Ahmed Shafik, when the announcement of who won was postponed by 5 days. So the tension in Egypt was enormous. This shot of the roads going into the city from Giza was taken during the press conference announcing the winner. Empty roads like this are nothing short of miraculous.

Egyptian Driving Clue

A friend of mine once waved a hand at a chaotic flow of cars down the streets of Cairo and blamed it all on donkeys. I was puzzled as there were no donkeys present. No, she explained, it isn't the donkeys who are here but the donkeys that the drivers' grandfathers used to drive who are to blame. Donkeys are smart, they learn where to go, and they take care of themselves and their carts with out input from the driver. When Egyptians get behind the wheel of a car, they act as though the car were as smart as the donkey...but it isn't. 

The Old and The New

Oddly enough, you can see the pyramids of Giza from a lot of different angles.  People expect to see them in company of sand dunes and camels, but as you drive into Cairo from Alexandria, they come into view in a landscape of traffic lights and mobile phone towers.

Shyness

We were driving behind the girls in the truck who were laughing and waving at us until I stuck the camera out the window. As soon as they camera disappeared they were laughing again.

Best Holiday Wishes

Tomorrow begins a new year and we wish everyone all the best in the coming year. My post today is a silly photo of the farm staff and visiting friends in Santa hats and the preparations for a couple days of camping and sandboarding in the desert near Fayoum.

Band On The Run

Another uniquely Egyptian traffic photo. While crawling along in some heavy traffic the other night we saw this band casually sitting on top of their equipment in a pickup truck. That's one way of keeping an eye on things being transported.

Driving School

People wonder how Egyptians learn to be such horrifying drivers. This is how...driving a donkey cart the wrong way against huge trucks.

Fixing a Flat

The cart isn't up on blocks, but the owner might well be shopping for a new tire as I saw him go into the store to talk. Although I have a donkey wagon of my own and have had to buy tires for it, I was still taken a bit aback by a horse and cart at a tire store...but where else would you buy a spare?

Cairo Abstract

A random pink chair, wrought iron railing, red sign in Arabic and the reflections in the car window were caught by the Elf. I'm not even quite sure where.

Can't Breathe That

It was over 40 C (about 105 F) today in the shade and there wasn't a breath of wind to blow the dust/smog/pollution out of the valley. Total misery. The Nile should have been visible just past the buildings.

Covering up

Drivers here sometimes cover their cars with cotton car covers to protect them from the sun and dust. In this case, this young man decided that not just the car should be covered and used it to hide himself as we passed.

Do It Yourself

Sometimes you have to. The Photography Elf (left supervising) found that his aged VW had a major issue on it's left front wheel. Not being able to get it to the mechanic without some kind of fixing, he had his brother-in-law bring a spare part to enable the poor Roadrunner to limp into the mechanic. Not for nothing, Sherif works as my handyman. He is very handy.

The Parking Lot

I was on my way back to my car with friends in Nazlit Semman. As we approached the jeep in the parking lot, I realised that cars weren't the only things parking there.