Cairo, Egypt.

If you have been paying attention, you know that Cairo is the on the east bank of the Nile and Giza is the on the left bank.  But for all intents and purposes, they are the same sprawling city, with nothing but the river to divide them.  I have been to South American cities with shanty cities along the edge of the city center.  I assumed Cairo would be like that, but its not.  Cairo is a massive shanty city.  High rises are all around you but without windows- the hole where a window should be is still there, just no window.  And through these unfinished walls of high rises, you can see string light bulbs and televisions.  The inside of the highway cloverleafs are trash dumps. Mules and trucks fight for a place in the traffic.  All kinds of food (from live chickens to cooked chicken) is sold along the street.  Crossing over the Nile, for a second you get clear of the smog , just to dive right back in on the other side. And then out of the corner of your eye and behind a billboard, you see something. And then you realize what you are looking at.  Out of the unfinished, trash heap that is Cairo, there is a massive pyramid jutting out of the ground and it is surrounded by sand.  It’s as if the desert got to Cairo and decided it didn’t want any part of it and just stopped…

A few more of Cairo.

*I am giving Cairo short shrift for sure.  But I had a visceral reaction to the city, and I don’t ever want to go back.  It’s interesting because if you know me, you know I love big cities and dirty cities.  It just sort of felt like Cairo had turned its back on itself.  Not sure if that makes sense, but it’s how I feel.  Let me know if you love Cairo, convince me I am wrong!