Arriving in Cairo

I arrived at the Cairo airport around 7:30 at night. My tour guide was right there when I got off the plane and was so helpful in getting my visa and through customs. We had a driver waiting and it was off to the streets of Cairo. I had been warned that this was a big city and that traffic was bad, but the statement and living through it are two different things. The roads are packed with cars, buses, trucks, pedestrians, livestock, and more. Some streets have striping for the lanes, but it is more of a recommendation and lanes are not actually used. Driving involves weaving in and out of cars and getting where you need to go in whatever manner it takes. People drive with one hand on the wheel and the other alternates from the highbeams to the horn…flashing and honking are common place, with an occasional blinker used. Pedestrians cross anywhere and everywhere with little care for the cars or the speed; it seems pretty dangerous, but eveyone does it, the men, the women, and the kids. Our American ways of four to a car and seatbelts, does not apply. You see four, five, six people to a car, kids sitting on moms’ lap, backseat and front. Donkeys pull food carts. Horses pull carriages. Families ride motorcycles…yes, even a family of four. Bumper to bumper cars is a daily occurrence. Arriving at the hotel was a happy event.