Aug 082011
Tuesday, 3 August
We enjoyed the room until check out although there was no warm water. Our plan was to stroll around a little bit and then take the train back to Cairo. Easy going we thought. On the Corniche we found a juice bar that are popular all over Egypt, strolled back and bought some supplies for the road.
Once at the train station at 2.00 pm we were told that the trains were sold out until 7.00 pm. The only option was to jump on the train anyway assisted by these people in the train to bargain with them in case there were seats available anyway. Of course they were pushing us into the first class compartment and vehemently denied that there was anything free in the second class. Although I smelled the hoax I was just too exhausted to put up a fight. It was too hot and humid to get myself worked up over it. Of course we had to bargain down an insane price, especially because we were sitting with three people on two seats.
As if that was not enough I also had to fight with the taxi drivers at Ramses station in Cairo. Those drivers around that area are apparently infamous when it comes to being with one foot in hell already. They were not only giving me some serious attitude but also brushed us off and yelled that we should move along because we asked them if they could go down with the price. One of them said that if we want to go for a lower price why don't we walk. On top of that they were mocking us with stupid hand gestures. It's the mocking part that gave us the rest and so we started to yell back. They were making all this fuss because of a 5 minute ride. It's literally 3-4 km. And it's not that they tried to charge us hundreds of dollars but there are limits to things. No matter what the excuse is this was not the first struggling country I visited and normally you are ok with paying the tourist price. As a frequent traveler you are used to it. But in Egypt it just increased to another level. Normally you bargain until you find each other in the middle. In Egypt they were asking for insane amounts without budging down at all where even the locals stopped breathing. You could see the shock in their faces, mouth wide open because they couldn't believe that a living creature would agree to pay such a price. You looked like a fool to them. Proud and stubborn as we were we decided to take the metro which was right next to the train station. Actually that sounds like a deliberate decision which it wasn't. We just stormed off swearing to rather walk or die than to give them a penny and stumbled upon the entrance rather by accident.
It turned out to be quite painful for my sisters though because they had duffel bags with wheels and I was the only one with a backpack. Here I would like to mention the nice gentleman that helped us at the metro station. Not only did he show us the right direction, he also decided to accompany us taking the same train and showing us off at the exact stop. That meant that he had to put up with a detour on his way home. Those acts of kindness to tourists that were supposed to be walking wallets made you forget all the taxi drivers and the street vendors until the next attacker was to arrive. Then again you change your mind in an instant and you loathe a whole nation, only to be reversed back to euphoria and unconditional elation because of another disarming kind gesture. Reminds me very much of my daily life in New York. Back in the hostel we saw Saeko again with some boys. Somehow she managed to have every day a different one.
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