Road Report Archives

Jaywalk Like an Egyptian

Greece was wonderful. The first thing I did, as I mentioned, was head straight for the island of Aegina, which is only 15 miles from the port that serves Athens, but is an authentic and mellow Greek Island nonetheless. One of the comforting things was that, in addition to Greek, most signs were also in English. The confusing part of that was the Greek alphabet is about half the same as ours and half filled with symbols that look like ours. Sometimes I would see a sign that was readable at first glance and then at closer inspection realize the word I was thinking of doesn’t actually contain any triangles or backwards 7s.

I had a great time on the island scooting around on my rented scooter along the clear water beach roads and between the endless pistachio orchards that occupy most of the cultivated land. It was a perfect place to unwind and prepare for the rest of my trip. I had heard that Athens was dirty and somewhat uncivilized, but the scrubbing they undertook to get ready for the Olympics seems to have made a big difference. Athens is now clean, efficient and extremely pleasant. I went to the main touristy things like the Acropolis and Agora, but I found the whole place to be very nice and far less chaotic than Rome. I think the budget-crushing Olympic-related debt the country is deep in is worth it.

My next stop was Cairo and I had a choice of a 1 a.m. flight on Olympic Air or a 2 p.m. flight on Egypt Air. Do you remember when that Egypt Air plane crashed off New York about 5 years ago and the original report said the co-pilot purposely crashed the plane while he committed suicide? Egypt Air said that was impossible because he was a Muslim and suicide is strictly forbidden by the religion. Okay. I decided to roll the dice with Egypt Air anyway and save a few bucks in the process. Fortunately my crew was in good spirits and we landed safely. I knew I would spend at least three days in Egypt and perhaps more depending on the feeling I got when I arrived. As the plane circled for landing and I got a good look at the city from above I decided…three days. Unfortunately it didn’t occur to me to check India’s entry requirements until the next day and I found out a visa would take 3 to 5 days to process so I was stuck in Egypt for 7 days total. It’s very cheap and the people are almost all very friendly so I really enjoyed it far more than I expected.

It’s strange that sometimes the more security guards you see the less secure you actually feel. The day I visited the archeological museum in Cairo there was at least 1,000 heavily armed police in riot gear spread out evenly through the giant intersection in the center of town where the museum sits. Armored trucks filled with machine gun-toting police are a common sight on the streets of Cairo, but on this day there was a small protest threatened so the government’s response was to shut down the center of town by clogging it with riot police. It was creepy, but overall I felt very safe even though I just heard a couple of tourists were killed by a suicide bomber in Cairo 2 days after I left.

The Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx truly are amazing. Every photo you’ve ever seen suggests they are in the middle of a desert, but they are actually just on the edge of town. I rode a horse (with a guide) through the area for three hours just before sunset and it was unforgettable. Egypt seems to be a little more serious about Islam than Morocco, but that isn’t saying much. I asked my horse guide why so few people actually pray during the 5 daily Calls to Prayer. “If you want to see people praying,” he said, “go to a mosque.” The bottom line is that outside of Arabia it seems like Muslims are actually pretty moderate.

Just as unforgettable as the Pyramids was the relationship between cars and pedestrians on the roads of Cairo. Rome seemed dangerous and disorganized to me, but Rome is like a Swiss Watch compared to Cairo. If anyone is looking for a place to practice dangerous, heart-stopping jaywalking maneuvers then go to Egypt. Car and pedestrian traffic across the streets are both constant and stoplights and crosswalks are virtually nonexistent. Every time anyone crosses any street it’s like a Frogger game but with no backwards moves. If there is a spot that won’t be occupied by a car in the next half second a pedestrian just advances right in. The cars treat each other with just as much disregard. I only witnessed 3 collisions, but I didn’t really go too far.

I was going to Istanbul next but I decided to skip it for two reasons. First, I have heard that it’s somewhat similar to places I have already been, and second and more importantly is Turkey charges Americans $100 for an entry visa. The main reason I skipped Chile was exactly the same. As a general rule, countries named after foods are a rip-off when it comes to entry visas for Americans.

I am now in scorching and humid Mumbai (known as Bombay until 1996) India and I am taking a 12-hour train ride to the beach area of Goa tomorrow. I think I am pretty much out of the woods, terrorism-wise, which is nice, so I have that going for me.