Sunday, January 9, 2011

My Adventures in the Arabian Land


Since I am writing an unabridged version of this travelogue separately (which I hope will be ready in a couple of months!), I’ll save some of my detailed emotional descriptions for that.

So this was my first visit outside India. All the usual excitement and cheap thrills of staring open-mouthed through the aircraft windows later, I stood at the aircraft exit waiting to get off the plane to one of the world’s oldest countries – Egypt. Why I chose this place is a long story but in short, I wanted to go to an ancient land (partly because I carry deep “interest” in evolution and social anthropology and partly because it is much cheaper there than in the “developed” world).

I have to admit I did extensive research for months on the countries (the other being Israel), their histories, places to see, their importance, couchsurfing contacts, hostels, spoke to some great friends in these places etc. Seriously, it was good work and I am proud of it ;). But nothing prepared me for what lay in store for me. And so I was standing (c’mon I am Indian, I stand up even before the plane stops!), almost jumping in my place, ignoring the pretty airhostess and her fake smiles :D. The aircraft door opened at Cairo airport and I was invited with a slap of cold harsh breeze. It was as if Egypt was saying “And you thought we are just a hot desert, eh?”

Cold Cairo welcomes me

The contradictions to popular beliefs kept hitting me throughout my trip and I have developed a deep hatred for the media that so reinforces stereotypes on us. I couldn’t see anything for a moment and I thought it was my excitement. It was actually the thick fog over the airport, biting deep into my skin. I swear I have never felt anything like that on my skin. I ran into the shelter of the transit bus and felt a huge sense of relief. I looked around and saw the others were laughing (I think they were laughing at me). What a start to the holiday!

I checked out of the airport nervously, setting foot first time on foreign soil. Boy, mom would be so proud, I thought. The scene outside was exactly like in Chennai. Ten people coming up to me asking if I wanted a taxi. Hundreds of people carrying name boards, some in Arabic but many in English. I stood and stared into this crowd for a few seconds and caught my name on one of the boards. I waved my hand at him and he jumped out of the crowd and led me to the taxi. I turned back to look the airport building in awe. “CAIRO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT” it read. I was in a foreign soil. I was in Egypt!

If you thought all of Egypt was an Arabic desert country like they show in Lawrence of Arabia, you are forgiven for being mistaken big time, just like me. It is a modern country all right. Men were dressed in jeans and expensive jackets, the women were also dressed in jeans and jackets, but except their face everything else was covered. I simply could not believe this was an Arab country. I expected men to wear their Jellabeyyas (you know, that long flowing single-piece dress with a head band?) and women to wear Burqas. This was a shocker to me. My taxi driver was actually better dressed than me in my multicoloured T-Shirt and faded jeans.

And oh yeah, they drive on the “other side” of the road, unlike us Indians. (I will come to my road crossing experience in a bit.) The taxi took me through WIDE roads and awesome tunnels. People were standing for buses (apparently), crossing roads at random places, pizza delivery scooters zooming past us. It felt like I was in Delhi.

The driver explained about the places in broken English (by the time I left Egypt, I forgot how to say “thirty” and was saying “Serty” with a lisp). “This....tunnel...long tunnel” (It was a mighty long tunnel alright), “This...Square..Ramses”, “This....Museum...you know....famous...”, I stared at the red building open-mouthed and was like “Oh yeah, it is famous”, “This...downtown”, “This...your hotel”

My hotel was in downtown Cairo! Bang in the middle of the city, opposite the Egyptian Museum. At $20 a night, this was a jackpot! We waited for the elevator. The hotel name board was lost in a row of other name boards. And then I caught it. “ISIS Hotel, 15 Flour”, it read.

The building looked dingy and old. The elevator corridor had stains that reminded me of Paan stains in Chennai. The building itself reminded me of one of those old buildings in Parry’s corner in Chennai. The elevator door closed cautiously and we slowly throbbed up to the 14th floor and walked up one floor.

The receptionist at the hotel lobby (it was just about the size my living room back home) was a loud man. He went, “Oh welcome my friend!”, reaching out to take my hand, like he knew me for 10 years now.

“Leave your luggage here. What do you want as a welcome drink? Cola, Sprite, Beer, Coffee, Egyptian tea...” I immediately went “Egyptian tea!”

He brought a glass of hot water and a tea bag dipped in it. It read Lipton Yellow Label. I took my first sip of the Egyptian Tea. It was strong but very good.

The receptionist looked and me and asked “Good? Like it? ”

“Very good”, I said.

“Of course it’s very good. It is from India, just like you! Ha ha ha!” I didn’t know how to react. Should I be angry or disappointed or should I just enjoy the joke?

I checked into the room that had a fantastic view, took a quick shower, changed and went out. It was about 6 pm and was very dark outside.


Next up: My first couple of days in Egypt – Alexandria, Pyramids and a cruise down the Nile.

1 comment:

Laura said...

I'm holding my breath till the next post :)! don't delay it too much