On the road again - Cairo, Egypt

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So it's time to hit the road again after a short break from travelling. I have been to Slovenia, Serbia and Greece just to stop by some of my good friends. After a little over a month, it was time to get into my travel shoes.

My next destination was Egypt. Completely foreign land to me, and for the first time, I would be setting foot on the African continent. That makes five continents in total that I have been to. Egypt was going to be one of a kind.

As soon as I landed, I knew I was already in a different world. I flew in from Athens today, and first things first, I had to buy my entry visa from the checkpoint before passport control. The visa and the stamp made a very good looking souvenir.

I left the terminal and greeted my transfer driver. He was designated to drive me to the hostel. Once out on the road, Egypt was already a huge culture shock. The only other place that has been so different to me was China.

The traffic was just as crazy, for one thing. There were a lot, and I mean, a lot of mosques to see along the way. Lifestyle was very unique here. A lot more women would be dressed up with their heads covered; I was in a middle-eastern country after all.

But no, there were no camels on the roads, contrary to what you might have thought. I have yet to see a camel. Maybe I will see them at the pyramids tomorrow.

Anyway, I arrived and settled into my hostel. I made acquaintances with a German student in my dorm room who was here to study Arabic. I decided myself I should get to know a little bit of the language - at least the numbers for now. To put them into practice, I stood outside for a little bit, observing the number plates of every passing car, trying to quickly read the numerals. Yes, they are different from the standard european numbers that everyone is used to. It made some good practice.

I arranged with one of my friends by the name of Tareq, who I knew from the internet, to meet up with me tonight. He would be bringing along his father and sister. I met them outside my hostel at around 9pm and we all headed out for dinner and had a good time. Tareq is actually from the UK, but he has been living in Egypt for about a year. It was a great night out, and we were all going to be doing stuff together tomorrow. Our plans were to visit the Pyramids and Egyptian museum.

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