An Egypt Adventure Chapter 1 - Whispers of Stone and Sand Cairo, Egypt
And so, with Istanbul behind me and Cairo ahead, I whispered a
thank you to the road. To the strangers who became companions. To
the landscapes that became memories. To the wind, even when it
pushed back.
We landed in Cairo around 5.30 – 6:00. By the time I collected my
bicycle and bag and found a taxi to take me into the city, it was
already light. And just like that, I was back in Africa and along the
mighty Nile.
Cairo didn’t welcome me so much as it engulfed me—an unrelenting
tide of horns, heat, and hustle. Giza, in particular, felt like a fever
dream: tuk-tuks zigzagging through clouds of dust, camels lurching
past neon-lit souvenir stalls, and touts with eyes like hawks and
tongues like honey. Everyone had something to sell, and every
transaction felt like a performance. I wasn’t just a tourist—I was a
mark, a character in a play I hadn’t auditioned for.
Even the simplest tasks—finding a hotel, buying a bottle of water—
became quests worthy of myth. I was exhausted, amused, and
slightly exasperated. But beneath the chaos, something ancient
pulsed. I could feel it in the stones, in the sand, in the way the light
hit the horizon at dusk. Egypt wasn’t going to make this easy. But it
was going to make it unforgettable.