Driving in Cairo
I've fallen in love with the city of Cairo. It was my first stop in Egypt. Having lived in NYC for more than half my life, I'm accustomed to constant noise, hustle and bustle. It's what I feel comfortable around. Arriving in Cairo, it's bustle and even more hustle.
Driving here is an art form. It is ordered chaos. There may be dividing lines on the streets and highways but to Egyptians they are to be ignored. The closest thing I can use to describe it was when I played an arcade game where you sit at a steering wheel, push the pedal and bully your way to the finish line. Cars in Cairo are like bumper cars (hopefully without contact). Weaving in and out of seemingly impossibly tight spaces between cars at adreniline inducing speeds...I am suprised I was on a high from it. Usually I get car sick in NY cabs very easily. I guess that the difference is that cabs in NY are constantly starting and stopping, pumping the break. I think in Cairo they only use the break when you reach your destination. It is unlike anything you will see anywhere else in the world. (there are countless videos on youtube of traffic in Cairo in action, I will post mine soon).
Added to the traffic are motorbikes, mules pulling carts with cargo and riders, camels and/or goats roadside, and people fearlessly walking through four lanes of traffic as if nothing bad would happen if they were hit. There are no crosswalks. Men, women and children of all ages have passed before my front windsheild and none have received any special treatment beside the obligatory horn honk. They stop in thier tracks in the nick of time or hop out of the way having just been missed being hit.
I usually sat in the front seat because I enjoyed the thrill. There was only one accident that I witnessed. Oddly, it was at about 430am on my way to the airport. There was hardly any traffic. At one of the highway entrances a guy was lying next to his car. The ambulence had just arrived. He has just had a bang up. Looked like he wasnt badly hurt.
