Cairo - Egypt

What a place ... my feelings from day one till today have changed a lot! Once you find your bearings, meet locals and other tourists/tour members, experience their cuclture and see more of the town - one enjoys it much more!

The town is DIRTY! Very Dirty. But surprisingly today, on a Friday, they a cleaning big time. Not sure if this is due to it being Friday or because it is so much safer due to much less traffic and people around. The Pyramids, Bazaar and other areas though, are also very filthy and this is not due to numbers. Speaking to other travellers though - the city is apparently no worse - actually better - than other huge cities with equal populations ... a good 20 million inhabitants in Cairo alone.

The people are extremely friendly ... apparently in the city they always want a tip and money. In the country (that sounds so English and green/lush/hilly I say ... as opposed to sand, sand and more sand in this country) the people are even more helpful and friendly and do not expect money all the time.

The town is full of incomplete buildings ... endless kilometers of developments - appartment blogs - that have no window frames and completed top stories/roof ... these are still occupied, but top floors are empty or makshift coverings applied and windows routinely varied and improvised. Apparently the developers/inhabitants do not pay a final building tax until the building gets completed ... so they simply never get completed.

P.S. the keyboard I'm using is terrible ... the spell check on this site is iffy and I'm rushing to fit in stuff before my taxi arrives ... so sorry for any irregularities ...