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| love the contrast-diesel vs mule and cart |
i still can't decide what's worse, istanbul or cairo. is it possible that one could be more dangerous than the other and why would you want to win that competition? yet, even with all their urban indy 500, bumper car style driving, the incidence of accidents seems remarkably low. after 3 weeks of heart palpitating riding, i can honestly say i'm shocked that it doesn't claim more lives.
cairo is a honker's heaven. if you are heavy handed, you will love driving here. (p.s. i don't recommend that tourists actually rent cars. u will die) the first few days back in the states, i was actually going through withdrawal. it's kind of like those times you think you hear you cell phone ringing but it's really not. nope, still no missed calls. ah, the society we've become! attached to our mobiles, that's another blog! i was haunted by phantom beep beeps for 48 hours straight.
i've included a short video, just a quick slice of what driving is like everyday in cairo. if i'm honest, it doesn't really do it justice, but will give you a general idea to the chaos. i shot this while waiting for our driver to swoop us up from the Khan, a massive network of market stalls selling everything from spices to diapers, to tourists trinkets, to 14th century intaglio rings. the call to prayer commences in the background.
i'm too lazy to really write this out, so i'll bid you farewell with my scribbles jotted down in regards to cairo's mean streets:
always broken down // cars from 50's-60 70 // horn obsessed // honks for every maneuver // no stop lights // no real law enforcement // crazy, congested, chaotic traffic // cars going every which way// ppl on motorcycles holding infants, girls sit side saddle, no one with helmets // ppl hanging out of buses // everything is old as dirt // horse and carts on the freeway right next to diesel trucks piled high with commercial commodities // ppl who just stop in the middle of a lane // nuts // cyclists and pedestrians clearly have death wish
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