Cairo, Khalas

Kristi and I just got in from Café Zara here in Cairo. Café Zara is lovingly referred to by us at the house as “The Poor Café.” This is because we can all go there for coffee(.50cents), fresh juice(65cents), sahlab(60cents), and shisha(40cents) and walk away not much poorer than we already are. The place is staffed by waiters who genuinely enjoy their work and always have a little bit of conversation or banter as we’re always the only foreigners there. Actually, “place” is not the best term as Café Zara is mostly a collection of tables and chairs snaked through a conjunction of two alleys hidden behind Talat Harb square. This secret little gem was Kristi and my spot to unwind after a long day of travel from Israel.

The border crossing was a piece of cake. Again. We got through with no clear method to get back to Cairo, but it was immediately apparent we didn’t need one. Once we stepped past the last check point and entered Egypt free and clear and mentioned Cairo, we were greeted by a middle aged man who explained he was driving to Cairo and offered to take us along with his family for 300LE. We asked about the bus and tried to bargain him down once we found out it was leaving in about an hour for 150LE. In the end he came down to 200LE ($35) and we agreed.

While we waited for him to make arrangements we walked a bit into Taba and found a camel. It was tied up on the side of the road, apparently there to graze on some of the irrigated grass that was strewn along the road in patches. He seemed to have cleared his patch pretty well and became quite friendly once I approached with a handful of luscious greenery. Kristi snapped some shots of him. It was nice to not have a owner around to ask us for rides and money. Once I was done feeding him and staring at his hairy nose, it was Kristi’s turn. “No! I’m not feeding that camel,” she retorted in a silly voice, but she quickly agreed and I took the camera up to document and prove that, yes, Kristi has indeed fed a camel. Thankfully without camel slobber.

In a little while we were situated in the back of a white mini-bus with the man, his wife and three kids, and a Syrian man who was obviously paying like us to be taken to Cairo. This time crossing Sinai was done during the day, and the presence of our man’s wife and children in the car seemed to have a positive effect on his driving. We felt safe the entire time (but perhaps we’re merely growing more accustomed to the driving methods here). Six hours later we pulled into Cairo, happy to be done traveling and happy to be home. A nap was the first order of business.

So, we just crossed the 24 hour mark. We’re getting some sleep tonight, then trying to cram as many memories as possible into our day tomorrow before I accompany Kristi to the airport and see her onto the plane with a string of hard goodbyes.