Cairo, Trying To Get Back On Its Feet

Before you hit the pyramids, give the egyptian capital and its distinct sights, sounds and tastes a chance, writes Nitin Chaudhary

- Nitin Chaudhary

When visiting a new place, well travelled people often dissect every little thing, and probe their memory to determine when and where the same was last experienced. Similarities give security, which in turn gives comfort. But comparisons also dilute the exceptionality of the experience, reducing it to a mere addendum.

This happened to me when I landed in Cairo. Cairo is a sensory overload. Its urban sprawl, noises, smells, overwhelming chaos, all reminded me of a place where I once used to live: Delhi. However, I had to dissociate myself from my past impressions if I were to truly enjoy this megacity. So, for once, I forgot where I came from. I stepped afresh into the hot air of Cairo, and into its ever-present pandemonium.

I hailed a taxi at the airport to the hotel. “You’re in safe hands,” the driver said without being prompted. He was attempting to comfort a foreigner to a country that has seen the number of inbound tourists decline by half since the Arab Spring (2011). An air of uncertainty combined with incessant terrorist attacks has kept tourists at bay.

It was late evening. We inched through the city traffic, drowned in meaningless honking. “In Cairo, we talk to each other by honking,” the driver, Ahmed, said in broken English. “Cairo is all about sound. The sound from traffic, the sound of the call to prayer, the sound of street sellers yelling about their goods.”

“The sound from the revolution,” I added.

“Yes. That’s the loudest.”

I wondered whether the Arab Spring had changed his life. “All revolutions do is give false hope, and that too for a short while. My father didn’t want it. He wanted things to remain as they were. I guess he was right,” Ahmed said, before adding, “Do you want to see Tahrir Square?”