The last couple of days have passed in a flash, it seems only 5 minutes since we were desperately trying to squeeze the trolley with the bike box into a lift at Terminal 5.
For reference it doesn’t fit that well and needs a certain amount of cajoling to get it in. Only one innocent bystander nearly got taken out!
As I touched down in Cairo and tried to navigate to my mini bus taxi (which wasn’t a minibus!!!) I was asked on multiple occasions What’s in the box?
Many people thought I had bought a TV to Egypt, because that is more normal right?
When I explained I was actually carrying a bike, which I was going to ride to Cape Town. People looked at me in sheer disbelief.
For me of course this seems normal, but for others it seems totally unbelievable.
I think the cab driver hoped I had a TV! Especially as he had to drive for 40 mins with the box rested on his head. As he complained constantly I did remind him he should have sent the minibus!
Having only a short time in Cairo, I was determined to maximise it with an early morning trip to the Sphinx and Pyramids.
Putting aside the fact there is a Pizza Hut at the Sphinx. The knowledge and kindness of my guide, was heart warming.
All I had read prior to coming here was about how I may be treated as a solo woman traveller. So far so good. I haven’t yet experienced anything of the kind.
My guide also told me I was the first person on one of his tours to announce they were in Cairo because they were about to attempt to cycle across a continent.
He was so astonished he remarked he would probably see me on the main Egyptian news.
Due to this he wanted to follow the journey through Africa on Instagram. Is this what it feels like to be famous for 5 seconds?
Still feeling tired from the journey I was contemplating what to do for the evening, when a What’s App hit the group about heading to a Bazaar in the heart of the city.
An Uber experience is in itself is by far the cheapest sightseeing tour you will ever take, as the driving here is totally INSANE
I can safely say I had never seen anything in the world like it. With relatively few traffic lights or roundabouts and highways which are super over subscribed with cars.
The drivers somehow fit through gaps that just aren’t there. Lanes are marked but not used, people get on and off buses anywhere and pedestrians take their lives in their hands trying to cross.
If you want to find the next F1 world champion, send them here for training on passing manoeuvres. I would love to know how you pass your driving test, if indeed there is one.
The bazaar itself was close to a sensory overload. If you suffer any levels of anxiety, this is not the place for you.
You could literally buy anything you wanted and a tonne of stuff you didn’t need as well.
Live music played at cafes, bread was carried through busy narrow passages full of shoppers in big baskets on peoples heads. It was crazy but somehow like the traffic it just worked.
After a while we stumbled over a restaurant where we became fixated by the guy preparing the thin bread for a chicken dish. He seemed a bit of a local celebrity.
After a lot of pointing and no real confidence in what we ordered due to the issues with conversing in Arabic. We walked away, takeaway boxes in hand to find somewhere to sit and eat.
Siting on a wall devouring.our kind of kebab a local guy sat next to me started chatting. The next thing we know we were whisked through the local backstreets on a tour of the old Islamic district.
He took us to all of his families shops for artwork, spices, fabrics and much more, but there was no pressure for us to buy anything. He just seemed to thrive on showing us a bit of his city and history. I am pretty sure in London this would never happen.
45 mins later he could see we were flagging, as we stumbled through his energetic tour.
His generosity of time was totally unexpected, giving me huge faith that for the coming months this would happen time and time again.
Let’s see if my faith in people’s generosity holds up.
My reflections in the cab home circled back to the repetitive question of the day before.
What’s in the box.?
Not a TV or a bike, but hopefully a vehicle to the most amazing experiences en route.
Tomorrow the adventure starts, let the fun begin.
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