OK, you followed your gut...now what?

28 April 2015

So the cab drives off, and I take a moment to look around this city. There's an intersection outside my hotel that has a traffic light, but it really doesn't look like anyone is giving it any regard. The street is just one big ocean of old Fiats, some Chevy Aveos, some old foreign market Toyota vans, a few late model Geelys, some Mercedes' in there as well. And everyone's honking. I wanna think that half the cars out here are honking for no good reason, but it really looks like everyone just wanted everyone else to get outta their way.

The most interesting part is that there are pedestrians walking through this sea of cars and noise, and the current appears to part for everyone who crosses. It's a symphony of metal and flesh, of fenders and galabeyas, of bumpers and beards. And, it seems to be quite harmonious.

I take a deep breath to pick up by bags, and I immediately drop them. "What the fuck is that smell? It smells like....horseshit!?" And sure enough, I look down the street just a few meters away, and there's a horse drawn carriage, and just at that moment, the workhorse just took a dump. Right on the street. And no driver with a baggie picking it up. Nope. He's too busy making sure the horse's feed pail stays on the horse's head.

There were two carriages there. Both were feeding. Waiting for customers who wanna take a romantic ride through the streets of Cairo. The carriages were adorned with leather, red cloth and chrome. The suspension technology was an old style, made for a bumpy ride. Solid wheels, solid axles, and the carriage sprung by opposing multi-leaf springs. The driver, and his carriage, looked like they'd been in business for a while, so he couldn't have gotten too many complaints.

I decide not to breath in this time as I strap my packs to my back, and proceed into the property gate. There's a gate guard on duty, who smiles as I walk past. I walk through the automatic sliding doors to find an X-ray conveyor and a walk through detector. I'm starting to like it here.

I put my packs on the conveyor, and before I can walk through the walk through, the guard stops me and requests "Mobile?". "Oh, my phone? Good idea!", I said, as I begin to remove everything from my pants that could remotely be metal. Wallet, money fold, passport, phone, that's all I got. I walk through and "BEEP!".

"Oh wait. It's the belt. It's always the belt", I exclaim, pointing to my waist. But the guard ain't misbehavin'. Next thing you know, I get fully wanded. Sure enough, "I knew it was the belt!".

Just then, the guy monitoring the conveyor says "Yalla!", and his colleague joins him in front of the monitor. "What are these?", he asks, pointing to the screen. "Oh", I tell them, "That's a camera, and that's a battery". "Show me", the guard says with a less friendly tone. So, I dig 'em outta my pack. The battery was simple enough, but I had to show them how the camera worked. That's when a simple security check turned into a commercial for the Sony QX-30. I NFC'd the lens with my phone, and my phone viewed everywhere my lens pointed. "Aaaah! How much this cost?", they both inquired. Not wanting to be there any longer, I said "I don't remember". That's a survival trick I learned a long time ago. It seemed to fit here pretty well.

So, I close my bags, walk into the lobby, and I get in line with quite a few other parties also checking in. Then a female's voice behind me says "I can help you here!". 

Fatma Abbass led me to a single desk in the lobby. She asked for my particulars and began crunching numbers. I tried flirting with her, but she interrupted me with her estimate for my stay. "I have a room on the 25th floor, which is part of the executive floors". She went on about the amenities and finally the price. It was too impressive to say no. Within 10 minutes, I was in my room.

My second accommodation since I left home. It was quite luxurious. King size bed, medium sized TV, small living room area, balcony, big bathroom with a basin bidet, long marble sink. Really nice room. I felt really special.

I went back out onto the balcony, and as I took my first few deep breaths out there, on top of the world from my view, I looked around, and said to myself "It's Cairo time, baby!"