My experience of Egypt
After hearing my Dutch colleague's story about his hitchhiking experience from a driver who just got out of prison, I feel compelled to write my own travel experience.
I would summarize my Egypt trip as rewarding. I did experience all the usual tourist complaints, plus more, but I came away with a very positive memory of the nation. The reason is that I went with an adjusted expectation and an open mind. Open mind means to open the mind to accept all that life has to throw at me.
Tourist complaints expected and encountered:
1 double-standard in pricing: one for locals, one for tourists
2 local men do like to "interact" with me, a female solo traveler
3 lower sanitary standards
4 tourist touts
5 poor public transport system
6 poor maintenance of attraction sites
The list goes on. I readily adjusted to them all, but I was immensely curious, so instead of complaining, I was stubbornly asking questions.
The only thing that actually scared me was the Bedouin driver putting his hands and lips on me.
Overall I was truly happy about the trip. I was most fascinated by the flow of energy, ie. the flow of vehicle traffic and human interactions, and found it quite different from the West.
In most developed countries, vehicle traffic is more structured and regulated. In crowded and under-developed countries, the flow of traffic is more chaotic. This is amusingly fun to watch, as there is actually order within chaos. You see it with your mind's eye, not your physical eye. That order, is based on human instinct, not on law and regulation.
Car is an extension of the human body, just as a pair of chopsticks is the extension of one's fingers. We cannot see the thought and intention of a human, but we can see his actions. To watch human thoughts and intentions on a more exaggerated scale, I watch the flow of vehicle traffic in downtown Cairo, the busiest location of one of the world's most crowded cities. The honking, the shouting, the flashing, etc. This is what happens when you blend multiple individualities into a tight space.
The order within disorder is amazing! If you look at how accidents can happen on a wide and straight road in a country with much stricter law enforcement, you would appreciate how cars don't kiss each other much there. The drivers are intuitively more plugged in to the flow of the collective energy, and can sense the rhythm, the direction, and the overall dynamics of the energy flow.
My friend asked, "So do you think you can drive here?" In theory, yes. In practice, I would need time to synchronize with that flow. It would take me time, to integrate into that network of energy flow, because I am used to a different flow. I would need to sharpen my antennae, and to practice shortening my response time.
We all have the ability to sense what's around us. Some of us are sharper and some are duller. The Egyptians are generally much sharper, which is why it was so entertaining to watch their actions and interactions.
Interactions at the human level was also quite fascinating. I spent a long time in the compound of the Giza pyramids, sitting and watching the flow of human traffic. At least half of the visitors are locals. There's actually more cheer on their faces than on those of the international tourists. The locals approached me and asked to take pictures with me. That was an unusual interaction, happening repeatedly with at least 30 or perhaps 50 locals, with age range of 0.5 to about 25. I like Egyptian kids!
A Chinese tourist also asked to take pictures of me. He said, "很有感觉", which roughly translated to mean that I was very poetically blended into the surrounding. Perhaps that was the reason why the locals asked me to take pictures with them? Most Egyptians are quite intuitive and perceptive.
I try to feel the ambience of the foreign land. The sights can be seen at the comfort of my own home, but the energy can only be sensed on-site. What I enjoyed most on my Egypt trip, is the wilder and freer exchange of energies. It was very dynamic, and very free-style.
I would summarize my Egypt trip as rewarding. I did experience all the usual tourist complaints, plus more, but I came away with a very positive memory of the nation. The reason is that I went with an adjusted expectation and an open mind. Open mind means to open the mind to accept all that life has to throw at me.
Tourist complaints expected and encountered:
1 double-standard in pricing: one for locals, one for tourists
2 local men do like to "interact" with me, a female solo traveler
3 lower sanitary standards
4 tourist touts
5 poor public transport system
6 poor maintenance of attraction sites
The list goes on. I readily adjusted to them all, but I was immensely curious, so instead of complaining, I was stubbornly asking questions.
The only thing that actually scared me was the Bedouin driver putting his hands and lips on me.
Overall I was truly happy about the trip. I was most fascinated by the flow of energy, ie. the flow of vehicle traffic and human interactions, and found it quite different from the West.
In most developed countries, vehicle traffic is more structured and regulated. In crowded and under-developed countries, the flow of traffic is more chaotic. This is amusingly fun to watch, as there is actually order within chaos. You see it with your mind's eye, not your physical eye. That order, is based on human instinct, not on law and regulation.
Car is an extension of the human body, just as a pair of chopsticks is the extension of one's fingers. We cannot see the thought and intention of a human, but we can see his actions. To watch human thoughts and intentions on a more exaggerated scale, I watch the flow of vehicle traffic in downtown Cairo, the busiest location of one of the world's most crowded cities. The honking, the shouting, the flashing, etc. This is what happens when you blend multiple individualities into a tight space.
The order within disorder is amazing! If you look at how accidents can happen on a wide and straight road in a country with much stricter law enforcement, you would appreciate how cars don't kiss each other much there. The drivers are intuitively more plugged in to the flow of the collective energy, and can sense the rhythm, the direction, and the overall dynamics of the energy flow.
My friend asked, "So do you think you can drive here?" In theory, yes. In practice, I would need time to synchronize with that flow. It would take me time, to integrate into that network of energy flow, because I am used to a different flow. I would need to sharpen my antennae, and to practice shortening my response time.
We all have the ability to sense what's around us. Some of us are sharper and some are duller. The Egyptians are generally much sharper, which is why it was so entertaining to watch their actions and interactions.
Interactions at the human level was also quite fascinating. I spent a long time in the compound of the Giza pyramids, sitting and watching the flow of human traffic. At least half of the visitors are locals. There's actually more cheer on their faces than on those of the international tourists. The locals approached me and asked to take pictures with me. That was an unusual interaction, happening repeatedly with at least 30 or perhaps 50 locals, with age range of 0.5 to about 25. I like Egyptian kids!
A Chinese tourist also asked to take pictures of me. He said, "很有感觉", which roughly translated to mean that I was very poetically blended into the surrounding. Perhaps that was the reason why the locals asked me to take pictures with them? Most Egyptians are quite intuitive and perceptive.
I try to feel the ambience of the foreign land. The sights can be seen at the comfort of my own home, but the energy can only be sensed on-site. What I enjoyed most on my Egypt trip, is the wilder and freer exchange of energies. It was very dynamic, and very free-style.
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