Cairo is the most insane place on earth.....

Greetings from Egypt - yes, another country, another continent, in fact.

Mother of God and all things holy - this place is insane. I went to the bank earlier - it took me 15 minutes to cross a road, and then 15 min to cross back, and then I had to go home and have lie down afterwards. I've been indulging in all things Western today - Starbucks (x2) and a CinnaBun at the airport, and then KFC for dinner. Thought I'd make the most of it before I head back into a steady diet of felafel, hummus, bread, fatoush, baba'ganoush and shwarma - again..... I love it, but girlfriend here needed a break. Interestingly all the KFC's in Cairo are "Community Care" and employ disabled people - mine was the deaf/mute KFC - it was an interesting experience and a great opportunity for people who otherwise would probably not work. I won't hide my surprise at coming across such a thing in Cairo.

The phenomena of going into a supermarket and spending 10 times more than you expected on things you didn't know you needed is not isolated to your home town. I just had a Cairo supermarket experience that rivalled anything I've spent in Australia - and I wasn't even hungry! They sell Halva by the bucketload (Sarah Gough - how bad is that?!? and how wonderful!! it really does come in a bucket. Now I only need to decide if I invert the bucket and cut it, or just use a spoon).

But given I'm contemplating vegetarianism - eating KFC was a big red flag that I'm probably not ready. Why you ask? Oh, that wasn't sheep I was eating in Jordan. It was goat. Yes, the penny finally dropped one morning when I saw all the goats hanging in the street in Wadi Mousa, skun but with the head completely intact (fur, ears, eyes) and entrails hanging onto the road. Yes, "yoghurt sheep" was "yoghurt goat", and "kofta sheep" was..... join the dots. And so on. Now I know that a goat and a sheep aren't much different - ie both meat, but I'm not coping. At all.

Aqaba - my remaining time - was awesome. I took myself down close to the Saudi Border to a private beach, and read the new Jodi Picoult book (which I came across on a coffeetable at the Dive Shop) from cover to cover, in 5 hours straight. Oh yes, I've wound down now, I can assure you. And there was no harrassment. Bliss.

I've joined a group to trip around with to some parts of Egypt - there are some military convoys to some of the sites that I want to go to, and they are difficult to negotiate flying solo. So, there are 8 of us travelling together for the next few days. I'm the only person that's been at it for a while, so it was HILARIOUS to hear them describe their time thus far in Cairo - jet lag, plus the traffic, plus the confusing currency (the coins are notes so there are 50c notes and $50 notes and tourists get ripped off, frequently)....

I'm pleased to report that though my travel cynicism does rear it's ugly head from time to time when I get tired, I'm still like a kid at Christmas every day. Last night I could barely sleep for excitement about coming to Egypt. I was excited when I saw Gold of the Pharoahs (and I will be able to spell that by the time I leave) at the Melbourne Museum when I was about 10, and it seems nothing has changed. God help the person who has to answer all my questions.

P*ssed off though as I have dust on my sensor. It was inevitable, and there's nothing I can do about it until I get home, except photoshop the specks off when I get home, and have it serviced. Grrr. Sometimes a big camera is the bain of my existence (Sigh. But I love it).

I hit a bar in Amman with Ali and some of his mates last night - it was a lot of fun. My understanding of the Israel-Palestine situation is now a lot clearer (after that drunken text message some time ago, MTes!) given that at least half of them were Palestinian refugees. I'm unable to write anymore on the topic here, but I have some good stories for when I get home. (And, Bretty, your description of the situation was pretty much accurate, which I thought quite strange, really).

No pics today. Only have pics of Lee, Claire and I (very) drunk since my last update - which I'm still deciding whether to inflict on the world. I've been lazing on the beach.... so no photo ops there. And no point posting a pic of Cairo - visibility is down to 50m today because of dust (LOL. It's SMOG morons - dress the chicken up any way you like, it's still chicken).