Today we went on a trip outside of Cairo to the Mall of Arabia. This trip was arranged by the Embassy for anyone who wanted to see Egypt's newest and (soon-to-be) largest mall. We thought we would go along just to see some things and meet some people. The mall itself was rather unremarkable; even decorated for Ramadan, it really seemed mostly like any other mall. The drive to and from the mall, however, was long enough for us to see some very sharp contrasts.
The first surprise was a traffic light. We were further astonished to see that it was both working and people were obeying the signals. All traffic 'rules' in Egypt are completely optional. It is not uncommon for people to drive the wrong way down a one-way street or suddenly stop on a major highway. After a week of experiencing that kind of traffic, this intersection pictured below seemed almost unreal.
Since our trip took us across the Nile, we noticed another sharp contrast in the landscape. Just around the Nile (and in well-kept suburbs like ours) it can be very green.
But take a quick turn east or west and you are right back in the desert again.
As mentioned before, the mall seemed unremarkable. Looking back at the pictures, though, made it seem rather more remarkable. Our drive home took us across some very run-down parts of the city:
We have heard that no matter how awful the buildings seem on the outside, the apartments inside are usually nice enough. Regardless, money makes all the difference when it comes to your surroundings:
And finally, after seeing miles and miles of this flat and dull landscape:
We saw these!
The first surprise was a traffic light. We were further astonished to see that it was both working and people were obeying the signals. All traffic 'rules' in Egypt are completely optional. It is not uncommon for people to drive the wrong way down a one-way street or suddenly stop on a major highway. After a week of experiencing that kind of traffic, this intersection pictured below seemed almost unreal.
Since our trip took us across the Nile, we noticed another sharp contrast in the landscape. Just around the Nile (and in well-kept suburbs like ours) it can be very green.
But take a quick turn east or west and you are right back in the desert again.
We have heard that no matter how awful the buildings seem on the outside, the apartments inside are usually nice enough. Regardless, money makes all the difference when it comes to your surroundings:
And finally, after seeing miles and miles of this flat and dull landscape:
We saw these!
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