First view of Cairo & The Nile from Air!
Portico's arches - Dec 07
Our Camel man , who insisted for Bakhsish !
Gold leaf decoration - Al Rifa'i mosqueFriendly, but...
Take this advice offered by my hotel manager on my day of arrival: whenever you need to ask for directions on the streets or anywhere else, only talk to the tourist police (the Men in White). You might be asked for baksheesh (tips) if you ask anyone else, and those who stop by and offer you help before striking up a conversation ("why, I used to study engineering... and I have a friend back in England too!") are out to get commission. I've tried this time and again, and always got dragged into a perfume shop along another street, sometimes in a completely different direction from the one I needed to go in.
So BEWARE.
That said, the people in general are really nice, and you'd often be greeted just walking down a street ("Hello, welcome to Egypt!" "Hello, Japanese! Korean!") This is a man whose name I did not have the foresight to ask.
We ran into him on one of our last days in Egypt.
He drives a taxi in Cairo.
He has three kids, all grown up.
He speaks as much English as we do Arabic.
He has the infectious enthusiasm and curiosity of a kid.
This was taken during sunset, as the trellis of age on his face glowed in the last rays of the day.
This is the man whose face I caught but not the name.
This is a man I got to know, so very briefly, on a random taxi journey.
This is the man with the most stunning green eyes I have ever seen.
