Cairo

Leaving Luxor was actually quite hard to do.  It wasn't the place itself that I was going to miss, but rather the people who I had encountered there.  Friendly tourists from other countries, as well as the incredible Belgian owner of the Bob Marley House, Maria, where I had such an enjoyable stay.  As I was about to walk out the door, she pulled me over gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  She then gave me a small ceramic scarab and wished me good luck on the rest of my trip.

I landed in Cairo late in the afternoon, having been lucky enough to get the same flight in with Pinar and Nader.  They were heading to Sharm El-Shaik to get some sun and surf in before they returned to the Emirates.  They both kindly came outside of the airport with me and helped me to haggle down the price of the taxis.  I gave them both a hug goodbye and was soon zooming down the highway towards the centre of Cairo.

I felt the excitement I had been seeking sitting the taxi heading towards Cairo.  It was a feeling of anticipation knowing that I was about to see something new, but also something truly amazing.   It felt strange to say the name itself.  Cairo!  I was in Cairo!  The famed name of this city itself exuded an exotic allure and thoughts of a dust covered past.  All the images in my mind of this city were of old buildings, libraries and army generals in discussing the next desert offensive.

This was also the starting place for Lawrence of Arabia, during a time when he was simply "Lawrence". 

Cairo was a gigantic and bustling Arabic city.  The streets were crowded and the traffic was horrendous.  I loved it!

Standing amongst the crowds made me realise that I was a child of the city.  I had always tried to tell myself that I was equally comfortable in both the calm of the country as I was in the crush of a city.  This was clearly not true.  This trip had more than confirmed that to me.  I needed to be around people, masses of people.  The calm of the country could be wonderfully calming, but it could only ever be temporary for me.

Through all of the intensity of the city was the Nile.  The ever present river that I had followed through the course of my trip.

Cairo was everything I had been hoping for.