EGYPT: ALEXANDRIA (excerpts from my journal)
Written: Aug 09 '01 (Updated Aug 09 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Culture, friendly people, safe environment, monuments(of course) beauty
Cons: Over whelming attention, unclean at times
The Bottom Line: Egypt was great. I will add more of my journal from other cities as soon as I can copy them down. I hope this gave you some useful insight!
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| samadust's Full Review: Egypt |
I didn’t arrive in the Alexandria bus station until 3AM. The bus station was silent and foggy with dim green lights and a swarm of cab drivers in the parking lot. I climbed from the bus looking about cautiously at the few figures huddling on the benches in the cool Mediterranean air. I planned to sit and wait for the sun to rise before venturing out so I sat on a bench and started to read my Lonely Planet guide when a group of young men sitting across from me enthusiastically moved their luggage over to my bench and started asking me all sorts of questions. While I was talking they stared wide eyed hooked on every word and their leader Hamid (I think that was his name) insisted on trying to explain abstract concepts to me using his limited English vocabulary. They all taught me a few words and we laughed until a group of older men came along from the right. They came slinking out of the shadows and around a corner staring at me silently without the same innocent interest in their eyes. Hamid looked at me and said, out of the side of his mouth, “Douglas, sleep, sleep”. At first I thought he was telling me I should act like I was sleeping but then I remembered that a couple of minutes ago he was trying to ask me if I was going to go to a hotel by repeating the word “Sleep” with an inquisitive inflection in his voice. This time he was saying it with a commanding inflection which obviously meant “Go to a hotel, it’s not safe here!”.
The men spoke to Hamid and the others in Arabic for a few minutes before they sauntered into the shadows glaring back at me. I asked Hamid why he told me to “Sleep” and his first answer was the ecumenical hand motion for “Thief”. He reached his hand out and motioned as if he was taking something from my pocket with one swift movement.
“Haroumi” he said.
“What is Haroumi”, I asked. “Thief?”
“Yes, yes. Thief! These men are very bad man!”
That was all I had to hear. We both split a cab and rode into Midan Tahrir where I got out and Hamid continued on towards the sea. Even at 4AM the area was bustling where there were stalls cluttered with fruit and vegetables and clusters of people simply relaxing in the street. The coffee houses (ahwa’s) were brightly lit and full of older men playing backgammon and customers drinking tea and thick black coffee. I wandered for a while not sure in which direction I should walk to find the sea then I sat in a café at a small wooded table just big enough to hold my tea and the saucer for milk. I knew it was smarter to wait there for the Sun to rise rather than the bus station with the haroumi’s.
When I started to see bands of blue cross the sky I walked north through streets full of trash and wanderers until I came to the water. I was fatigued and tired, not simply because of the 40 lb. bag on my back but because of the strenuous move I had to do before I left the New York City. All of my muscles ached and it bothered me that the first few days of my first trip to Egypt were marred by weariness and low energy. I decided to relax by the sea on Al-corniche, the coastal road of Alexandria that separates the city from the water. Along the seaside of Al-corniche there is a three foot wall beyond which is a strip of sandy rocky land, littered with trash and dotted with boats and feluccas where locals come by barefoot to fish. As the sun rose people began to appear on the street and near the water all gaping shamelessly at the person sitting on the wall.
After finding that I could not rent a room before 12PM without having to pay for the previous night I sat on the wall across the street from the Cecil Palace Hotel between the unending river of traffic and the blue sea. From 10AM until 12PM I watched the city come alive until it reached its afternoon peak. Groups of teenagers walked by laughing inquisitively. Men and women passed with friendly smiles and waves. Cars slowed down to look at me and some people waved. No matter how often I’ve experienced this it’s always fascinating and welcomed when I think of the extreme opposite.
In the middle of the day when I first took a room at Hotel Union for 44 lbs. ($12) I was determined to get some rest and drain away my fatigue. My room was large with a huge bathroom and a balcony that had a view of the sea. I took a shower and slept from the afternoon until 8PM.
When I finally left the room feeling refreshed I walked down al-Corniche to the other side of the harbor to get something to eat in Anafuish. The market area I stumbled into was like a slaughter house . Wooden tables displayed chopped animal parts that I couldn’t identify. Rows of slimy white intestines laid out like fly buffets and tables full of cute little rabbits sat out in the open. I wondered why they don’t hop off the tables and run to safety. One of the sellers picked a rabbit up by the ears and showed him to me as if I would buy one. I considered buying it just to take with me for the rest of my trip and set him free afterwards but then decided it might not be wise.
Huge slabs of beef hung in doorways and chunks of unidentifiable flesh sat around in puddles of blood on chopping boards. All of the children looked at me and waved while older people called out. I walked through looking for food until I heard loud drumming and vocals booming from an alley way. I turned between two buildings and a cluster of musicians, dancers and spectators in a ring a the dead end. One performer sang joyously while he worked the crowd the drummers slammed on the drums so hard and loud I had to cover my ears when it echoed from the buildings. It might have been a wedding or a circumcision but I couldn’t tell, I stood for an hour underneath bright, vertical fluorescent lights and the shape of a ladies hand made by blue and yellow bulbs. Girls danced like belly dancers in the center of the crowd and I imagined what some of the more conservative Egyptian women had to think if they peered from their window and watched this licentious show. Little girls danced as their fathers watched and laughed and I couldn’t help but imagine this same scene in the Egypt described in Naguib Mahfouz’s book “Palace Walk” where he emphasizes the conservative practices and customs of traditional Egypt. Knowing that this sort of scene, in the middle of the alley would not be acceptable in early 20th century Egypt, I watched for reactions from passersby and onlookers from the windows. No one seemed to have a problem with it.
Cigarettes were lit everywhere, drums kept booming and heads poked out of windows. It was amazing to hear this music played in the street where it had nothing at all to do with tourists, I hadn’t even seen any tourists in town that day. They were having such a great time until there was a loud explosion behind me in the middle of the street. It made me run into the doorway I was standing in front of but I still saw the flash. The music didn’t stop but people ran to investigate. I decided to get out while the getting’ was good.
I had an Egyptian pizza and sat near the sea at a beach café drinking Turkish coffee (which was way too strong to finish) and writing in my journal.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Singles
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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Epinions.com ID:
samadust
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Member: Douglas Flowe
Location: USA
Reviews written: 182
Trusted by: 94 members
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