from Egypt with love (and paranoia)

"Nothing in Cairo is real -- It is all a nightmare."

That from the exasperated tourist in front of us in line to get to the plateau at Giza when we, having just avoided the semi-infamous "special tourists/students entrance" scam, asked if we had found the actual, official entrance.

The city is crazy. (Josh says, "Beyond insanity.") The downtown area is actually quite civilised by day but turns into a crazy zoo by night. And "Islamic Cairo" --- it is beyond words. Suffice it to say that for these times and regions, Cairo's reputation is entirely justified.

We came here by minibus from Dahab. Yes, wedged in between a dozen Egyptians, stopping at random locations to pick up or drop off passengers, or, more often, to show our passports to the military police, we could say only that we were "somewhere in Egypt."

We've taken refuge at "Hany Internet Cafe" at 16 Sarwat Street in Downtown Cairo. The call to prayer is resonating through the streets, but not drowning out the sound of traffic below. The military police is prowling the streets, and if another person asks me if I want a camel ride I might resort to violence.

We're on the 06:30 bus for Taba. We'll be dreaming of Dahab.