Rhapsody in Cairo
It's been a rhapsody of odd smells, beautiful ancient art and overwhelming Egyptian sellers. We've had lots to laugh the past coupla days, over their interesting culture and ideas.
One of the funniest- we were crossing the street, all frazzled (they've got some crazy driving style here) when this Egyptian guy was friendly enough to give us a helping hand, pointing to us where to get some good food n how to cross the road in the Egyptian way. We thot we'd found one of the rarest sort here - someone who doesnt bother selling us anything - until we were unconsciously led to his exquisite lil painting shop. It was beautiful, all decorated with intricately painted ancient Egyptian art - the famous Final Judgement, Ancient Zodiac Horoscope, Hieroglypic painting...
Surprise surprise! obviously we knew we werent led there just to be his friend. He offered us some Arabic tea, sat us down to explain us the art of Ancient Egypt. Like all the other tourists, we were too polite to break their plot n say au revoir. We foolishly were tricked by their humourous jokes, well-rehearsed lines and engaging conversations. An hr later, with our names written in hieroglypic n Arabic on 2 gorgeous paintings, the time to discuss the price finally came. I was ready to say adious and leave with no penny spent, but the Mr Nice Guy Alberto could not bare to let their hard-earned efforts go to waste. Of course the experienced Egyptians had their ploy all planned, n asked for a hefty sum of US$600 for the 2 paintings..
Well after some haggling, n lotsa bargaining, we left with 3 paintings, n paid US$50.
This is all part of Egyptian travels - perhaps that's what makes them so unique.
You look back, n laugh at it.
Today we got on a camel, rode the whole 12 kilometres of desert around the Pyramids and the Sphinx. The sight was amazingly breathe-taking. Any traveller would say that. An ancient wonder of the world, and the only 1 surviving. I could die without any regrets.
But what made our trip unforgettable, was perhaps doing the balancing act on the camels. They were huge n tall, n my ass was slanted to the right, almost during the entire ride. 2 freakin hours. But it was worth it. The local guy, with his lil freckled son guiding the camel, laughing at my clumsy posture, gossipin with his father in Arabic - priceless.
We probably heard this phrase at least a 100 times here in Egypt - Welcome to Egypt! Everywhere on the streets, every single person trying to sell us somethin.. they loved it. People are real friendly here, they love to have a chat, ask u where u'r from, about your trip - althou almost every other conversation ends up with a big NO cos they'r tryin to sell u sth. Some of my favourites -
'Dont worry, my friend. We are all friends.'
'Treat this as your home, feel free to do whatever you want. It's your home'
Heading to the desert tomorrow, let's see how it's gonna be sleeping under the stars in the vast desert.
One of the funniest- we were crossing the street, all frazzled (they've got some crazy driving style here) when this Egyptian guy was friendly enough to give us a helping hand, pointing to us where to get some good food n how to cross the road in the Egyptian way. We thot we'd found one of the rarest sort here - someone who doesnt bother selling us anything - until we were unconsciously led to his exquisite lil painting shop. It was beautiful, all decorated with intricately painted ancient Egyptian art - the famous Final Judgement, Ancient Zodiac Horoscope, Hieroglypic painting...
Surprise surprise! obviously we knew we werent led there just to be his friend. He offered us some Arabic tea, sat us down to explain us the art of Ancient Egypt. Like all the other tourists, we were too polite to break their plot n say au revoir. We foolishly were tricked by their humourous jokes, well-rehearsed lines and engaging conversations. An hr later, with our names written in hieroglypic n Arabic on 2 gorgeous paintings, the time to discuss the price finally came. I was ready to say adious and leave with no penny spent, but the Mr Nice Guy Alberto could not bare to let their hard-earned efforts go to waste. Of course the experienced Egyptians had their ploy all planned, n asked for a hefty sum of US$600 for the 2 paintings..
Well after some haggling, n lotsa bargaining, we left with 3 paintings, n paid US$50.
This is all part of Egyptian travels - perhaps that's what makes them so unique.
You look back, n laugh at it.
Today we got on a camel, rode the whole 12 kilometres of desert around the Pyramids and the Sphinx. The sight was amazingly breathe-taking. Any traveller would say that. An ancient wonder of the world, and the only 1 surviving. I could die without any regrets.
But what made our trip unforgettable, was perhaps doing the balancing act on the camels. They were huge n tall, n my ass was slanted to the right, almost during the entire ride. 2 freakin hours. But it was worth it. The local guy, with his lil freckled son guiding the camel, laughing at my clumsy posture, gossipin with his father in Arabic - priceless.
We probably heard this phrase at least a 100 times here in Egypt - Welcome to Egypt! Everywhere on the streets, every single person trying to sell us somethin.. they loved it. People are real friendly here, they love to have a chat, ask u where u'r from, about your trip - althou almost every other conversation ends up with a big NO cos they'r tryin to sell u sth. Some of my favourites -
'Dont worry, my friend. We are all friends.'
'Treat this as your home, feel free to do whatever you want. It's your home'
Heading to the desert tomorrow, let's see how it's gonna be sleeping under the stars in the vast desert.
posted by Nell at 9:02 PM
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