« Up South | Main | More on Cyprus »
September 05, 2004
On driving in Cairo: by Dan
Driving in Cairo is not as intimidating as it seems. When you first arrive here it seems as though there are no rules, and the traffic is utter chaos. After living here for a while you begin to realize that there are indeed a few rules, which can of course be bent, and while the traffic is chaos, it is a sort of “organized chaos.” Or rather it only seems chaotic when compared to what we are accustomed to. To an Egyptian this is totally normal, one of them described it to me as “synchronized driving.”
The rules of the road are these:
1 - Tonnage Rights: the one with the bigger car has the right of way.
2 - The one in front has the right of way: even if they are turning right from the far left lane, if they are so much as an inch in front of you, you must yield. Never mind what is happening behind you but be EXTRA aware of anyone in front of you, as they can, and most likely will, do anything at any time with no warning.
3 - Try to stop when the officer holds his arm out. (never mind those traffic lights)
4 - Always assume that all the drivers on the road are drooling morons whose entire reason for existence is to be a menace to you while driving.
Ok, so I made that last one up, but I think you get the point. The biggest problem, really, is being worried about the vehicle, especially when it is not yours. Minor accidents are very common, major accidents are rare, due mostly to the fact that you can rarely drive fast enough to have a major accident.
Other than driving, our stay with the children yielded little worthy of note, they wore us out with their propensity to stay up very late, and our habit of waking up early. I must confess that after a month of nagging them to clean up after themselves and go to bed at a reasonable hour, we were all happy when mom and dad were finally home.
your host for this episode : dan; September 5, 2004 10:45 PM