Shukraan Misr!

“.........” the man said something in Arabic, approaching me as my shoes click-clacked away on the cobblestoned streets of Khan el-Khalili. The aroma of Sheesha whiffs clouded the crowded souk.

‘Do not entertain conversations with the vendors.’ I remembered the warnings on the internet while reading up about Egypt.

“English please.” I stopped at this one stall with technicolor lamps and chandeliers hung all over.

The market place was embedded in the mini bylanes with scores of shops brimming with Islamic artware and souvenirs from the Pharaohs times.There were maqhas selling black Egyptian coffee. Vendors sat outside the tiny stalls religiously tending to their Sheeshas, aqueels till you pass by, only to go back to their smoke generators when you move on.

“Ah, Sorry, you look  Egyptian. Where you from?”

“India.”

“Ah, Hindi! Amitha Bachan is Egyptian!”

Talk about savoir-faire!

Lamps for Ramadan

Technicolor artwork

Tell you something honestly -Never in my life have I imagined or wanted to go to Egypt! The only exposure I had to this mysteryland was through some information about Hieroglyphics in the state syllabus’s history textbooks and these 2  -

With the political,economic turmoil in the country in the recent past and the Egypt Air Flight 804 issue cropping up 5 days before my departure, 'skeptical to the point of cancelling' was my outlook towards this 2 day visit. I was really not in the mood of going from the hot and ‘sweat while bathing’ weather of Mumbai to a hot and ‘dry yourself to a papyrus’ one.

Trying to see through the airplane window wasn't much of a spirit-lifter either.

On the drive from the airport to the hotel, the scenery was dusty and dry and the effect was compounded by the brown and ocre colored flat,medium sized buildings with sand spread out everywhere beyond them. Only some palm and ficus trees thrown around here and there, seemed soothing to the eyes.

‘Great! I’ll just work on my presentation and stick inside the hotel room for the rest of my time.’ I surrendered myself to this blah plan.

“Second one looks bigger than the first because Khafre wanted his tomb to be highest, he cheated and simply built it on a higher platform than Khufu’s. Look at the pink rock at the bottom, that’s rose granite and the broken cream cap, that’s limestone with which all pyramids were covered.”

As our guide went on about the facts and specifics, I couldn’t help but take in the majesty of these mega structures. Quick fact check -  The pyramids took about 20 years to build and have stood the test of time over 4500 years. 4 hrs after touchdown Cairo, here I was at the pyramids of Giza, with dessert stretching thousands of kilometers to the horizon on the west. Next stop - Sphinx.

“You see Sphinx is body of a  lion with head of a man signifying strength with intelligence to protect the Pyramids.” chipped in the guide.

Enroute the Sphinx,a bedouin offered us a camel ride,quite obviously for an exorbitant price.And my bargaining skills kicked in.

I - No thank you, too much.

Bedouin -  pay what you like.

I - I dont have enough time for the ride.

B - No problem,then I take photo of you with camel and pyramid.

By now, my English pronunciation was changing accents to round off my d’s and switch the p’s to b’s.

I - no thanks, how about I take bhoto of you with your camel and byramid? how much you give for that?I make you famous on facebook.

And we settled :D

By evening,all my previous doubts and apprehensions about this place were on their way out.

As an Indian, it’s hard to not notice the striking similarities between our two countries, ancient and modern.

Civilizations along two great rivers  - the Nile and the Ganga;the multitude of Gods and deities, specifically worshipping the sun, Ra ; The myths behind the monuments, art and culture as well as carving and sculptures ( Sphinx = Narsimha! ) ; use of of mudbricks and stones in buildings ; getting colonized by the British and the recovery thereafter. It was a 48 hr lesson in history,anthropology mixed with time travel.

There is so much to know and learn about this country that they have their very own Egypt specialists- Egyptologists!

Also, Cairo looks very much like Mumbai in the night with the yellow lights bejewelling the city and yes, crazy crowds and traffic! Mumbai, I believe you have been defeated! ETA to any destination is between 30 mins to 3 hrs, based on traffic conditions! Cairo, take a bow!

It’s people that make any place worth the while!

New Friend -

Pervine, my newfound friend, made my life easy while walking about the market place and bargaining expertly for me, when things got serious. Bam! Another similarity - the love of overquoting prices to foreigners and our love for bringing down the price to less than half!

It felt like it was just yesterday we said goodbye -

Ahmed, a friend from winter electives in Weill Cornell, NYC who drove down 150 km from Mansoura just to drive around some more and show me around Cairo. Getting the feel of the night life -Tahrir square, mid and downtown wouldn't have been possible without you!

We will meet again some sunny day -

And Yosra, a friend of Swanit’s, who kept singing praises of this amazing girl he met at  one of the many conferences he attends. With a conversation that seemed so natural about everything under the sun, which happens with people that click, we were hatching Eurafrasian travel plans,already. Swanit, you’re invited too :P

Like I said, never in my wildest dreams did I consider visiting  Egypt before!Now I am back in Mumbai,reminiscing the the cool breeze,while cruising on the Nile, the opulence, sights, sounds and aromas of Cairo!

So here I am making plans of  visiting Egypt again to see more of what this land has to offer, soak in the culture and history and to travel with some of the beautiful people I met there! Courtesy, Yosra!

Those who drink from the water of the Nile, shall always come back….