A friend recently told me an Egypt traffic horror story about a two mile back-up at a checkpoint, where traffic had simply stopped. The two-lane road quickly became four if not five lanes, and the heat and tempers were rising.
Quickly, cars that could started leaving the road, seeking advantage by driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic, or anywhere else they could find an opening. Chaos ensued. But ultimately all this traffic somehow had to squeeze back through the limited two lanes of the check point, leading to utter paralysis.
It may sound like typical Cairo traffic, but the unusual thing about this traffic nightmare is that it happened far from Cairo, in fact, far from any urban center, at the turn from the Suez Road toward the tunnel to Sinai on the first Friday of the recent Shem al-Neseem holiday. Such was the crush of cars trying to descend upon Sinai for the holiday that the nasty problems normally associated with Cairo’s traffic suddenly appeared out in the distant desert.
While all this was going on, we elected to remain in Cairo. While Egypt’s national holidays – and Shem al-Neseem is one of the largest – are a fantastic time to leave town, the fact that many people do also makes them a wonderful opportunity to go against the trend and stay put in Cairo.
The advantages of the so-called “stay-cation” are significant. Crowds and traffic drop to a bare minimum. Suddenly, journeys that we’d never think of attempting become simple, even pleasurable. The air quality also seems to significantly improve. With many of the capital’s cars stuck in traffic on their way to Sinai, Cairo was left blissfully car free, and the quality of the air clearly reflected the absence of their emissions. Even the streets of downtown felt simple and civilized.
But the largest advantage of the stay-cation is the opportunity to sample all of Cairo’s myriad treasures, some for the first time. During this stay-cation, my family and I visited the Crystal Asfour factory in Shubra al-Kheima, wandered the gloriously restored streets of Muezz El Din in Islamic Cairo, visited art and photography exhibits downtown, wandered around Cairo’s zoo, and brought the kids for an afternoon at the Swiss Club in Agouza, among other activities.
At times, Cairo is a city defined by exodus. There are certain points when you need to depart the city in order to keep your sanity. At other times, however, it pays to buck the trend, and stay when everyone else is departing. Particularly on the major holidays when everyone else seems to be hitting the road, it could be your cue to stay here and sample Cairo’s rich treasures in the rare moments of tranquility.
