Cairo .... ; until May 2012, the closest I had gotten to this magical city was a Paul Temple adventure: The Sullivan Case, during which the Temples flew (!) to Cairo with a seaplane via Italy. I arrived with Lufthansa at 3 am in the morning. A huge airport, huge roads leading to it and a huge highway, which takes you into the centre. Two fishermen were working on the day's catch on the enormous bridge, which takes you across the Nile. When I arrived at the hotel, opposite the Goethe Institut, an all white villa in the middle of beige - that being Cairo's essential colour - a troupe of workers were polishing the lobby marble. No wonder, because this lobby was busy all day and evening, a place to meet and greet, an Arabian bazaar! Cairo's beige - dirty, bright, faded, gone - distinguishes it from Mexico City's more colorful hues, but otherwise it's just a big, with as much traffic and street life - and a dry climate.
After the first day of work and a good night's sleep, I woke up at 6, so I thought (it was 5 am), got dressed and walked through the lovely quarter, full of fascinating architecture, sleepy kiosk owners, straying cats and road sweepers, to the Nile, which was just waking up, all hazy. I didn't see much more of the city, but the movie attests to a road trip 2 hrs south to an agricultural research station, which we undertook on my third day there.
We rode on the eastern, deserty side of the Nile, as that was the faster route. Cairo did not want to end, but at some point, after passing the prison, where apparently Mubarak was held for a while, we did hit the desert - which contained brick factories with their high smokestacks. The desert looks just like the one around Abu Dhabi. Finally we came to the Nile again and crossed it, to enter its fertile surroundings. I hope to be there again!
