Egypt: Cairo (23 December 2020)

Another early start and a quick stroll to the Brazilian coffee store which is inexplicably closed at 8am. Clearly there's no early morning urgency for caffeine in Alexandria. Instead it's a quick pack and an Uber to the railway station.

The walk to the station entrance is currently a building site for what looks like a far grander avenue leading to the station entrance. Until then, it's a walk in the sand and mud. I navigate through the rush hour crowds, presumably arriving from Cairo and the surrounding cities for a days work in Alexandria.

    

The ticket office hidden away in an non-descript alcove half way along the platform. One first class ticket purchased to Cairo for the sum of 130EGP (£6.50). I instantly regret my decision when I take my seat, just in front of a rotund Egyptian man who chose to snore/scream for the majority of the journey. 

The hunger pangs begun on the train, but i couldn't take myself to buying one of the dry and bland looking train breakfasts. I decided to power on through and promised myself a Koshari in Cairo.

At Cairo there was no instant taxi touts jumping on tourists disembarking the train - always a good sign. I decided in my mind that I would be willing to pay 50EGP for the trip to the hotel, which is probably double what a local would pay. The first chap offered 50EGP on the spot. After minimal sleep, i was happy to take this and avoid arguing over the sake of 50p. 

We set off and hit the morning Cairo traffic. 3 minutes in, my driver did something to offend at least 9 Egyptian micro bus drivers. I've no idea what this was, but there was a solid screaming match for around five minutes. Arabic is an aggressive sounding language at the best of times, but eventually one man was dragged away and my driver reversed a metre and apparently resolved the crisis.

At the Steigenberger the high level of security was immediately noticeable compared to my previous hostel in the city. Just one narrow entrance, and two body scanners and two body searched to obtain entry into the hotel.

I dropped my bag and immediately headed to Abou Tarek for a final Koshari. Even with no breakfast it was a struggle to finish, but this triple carb meal would set me up for the day.

The next challenge was my return to Khan al-Khalili. On my first day in Cairo I attempted this market but had to turn back due to the sheer chaos, jowl to jowl shopping and the conspicuous coughing at every turn. This time, I had an Uber drop me at the tourist side of the market instead of having to walk through the vast and immensely busy sections of the local market.

This time was far more successful. Haggled away to buy the obligatory bust of Tutankhamun, generally wandered through the many back streets and had a delightful yet overpriced mint tea.

Fully exhausted from the constant walking, which is confirmed by many of the Egyptians telling me to smile as they harassed me to buy some of their garbage perfume oil, I braved the clogged motorway in search of a taxi.

A nice old chap called Hamdy picked me up and offered a very reasonable 30EGP to take me back to the hotel. It only took a few pleasantries before the cross selling occurred - firstly a very corny Nile cruise as evidenced by the WhatsApp PowerPoint I was obliged to view. Second was the trip to the airport for the following day. Hamdy offered 150EGP, which i thought was a great price until I checked Uber - not a tourist price, but definitely not a local price.

From the hotel and straight to Gad for a Shawarma. Back to the hotel for a swim, and an unexpected telling off for swimming after the pool had 'closed'. To cap my last full day in Cairo I took a final walk along the Nile and eventually to Kazaz - the shawarma place that I wanted to visit on the my first day, but I thought I couldn't due to the busyness and the lack of Arabic. This time around I left with chicken Shawarma in hand. 

With the Khan al-Khalili and Kazaz demons banished, I was able to sleep peacefully before my scheduled return to London the following day - on Christmas eve.