Cairo

I have been in Cairo for four days and have to say despite the hassle, congestion and pollution and I have really enjoyed it. I arrived at the airport late in the evening and after breezing through immigration got a cab into town with a complete psycho of a taxi of driver, although to be fair to him he was driving just like everyone else. Getting a cab Cairo is quite a scary affair. You really do fear for your life at some points as lane markings and traffic lights appear to have no significance whatsoever and road users appear completely oblivious to any other traffic as they tear around at 80 mph.

The people seem to be genuinely friendly and welcoming here. In fact you can't walk ten meters down the road without someone saying "Welcome!". You do get a bit of hassle, well quite a lot of hassle, as I was expecting but I have to say it's not really that bad and if you say no a few times they do leave you alone and don't get at all aggressive or nasty as I have experienced in other countries.

I have of course been to Giza and seen the pyramids which were spectacular. They are right on the edge on Cairo and the smog filled city does make for quite a strange backdrop. I also visited the Egyptian museum which is literally packed with artifacts but unfortunately also packed with visitors and noisy school children. They have some mummies on display here, it is quite eerie to see bodies that have remained intact for thousands of years.

I have spent today discovering the joys of trying to get a visa in Africa. I need to get a visa to visit Sudan. On visiting the Sudanese consul I was told that first I would need a letter recommendation from the British consul. Luckily the British consulate was just over the road so I spent two hours queuing here to find out that the British consul doesn't issue letters of recommendation but for a small fee of 200 Egyptian pounds (thats about 20 quid) I could get a letter from them saying they don't issue letters of recommendation and apparently that would do the trick. By the time I had finally gotten this letter the Sudanese consulate had of course shut. I'm booked on a train to Aswan tonight but it looks I may be returning at Cairo some point to continue this saga...