"its gonna take a day or two for my soul to catch up"

I miss egypt. i really do :( i'm having withdrawal symptoms...

on the way back, i was reading KrisWorld (SIA's inflight mag) and i chanced upon an interview with CNN's Richard Quest (whom i believe i mentioned recently..along with Anderson Cooper) and he had some things to say about travelling which i found rather resonant and highly appropriate. it may seem odd that i'm beginning with the end, but that's just the way the cards fall :)

'When you travel long distances, you;re going to a different culture. You can choose to be in a hermetically sealed bubble if you wish, but most real travellers want to enjoy and plunge into a place- something that requires your soul and more than just your passport and boarding pass. A global souls is one who recognises cultural differences; and allows himself to drink them in'

And now for something a bit more lyrical(of sorts).

Egypt is a land of great beauty. A foreign land yes, but one where i felt very comfortable. it is not hard to conjur up the smells that assault you as you enter the blessed land; Scents of dust and marshland, sunbaked stone, of jasmine. Scents that i associate with power, strangeness and extreme antiquity.El Misr (Egypt in Arabic), A country that epitomises history, geography and one that effortlessly transcends time.

Especially so in the necropolises of Karnak, Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, it is almost as if the pharaohs and their viziers were still alive, watching the daily influx of visitors as they would have the daily labour of the slaves who built these colossal complexes.

And Cairo, among other things an homage to Islam. I have gained new respect for the religion. Its in the behaviour of the people; the unpretentious pause in the day's hulabaloo that follows the call to prayer from any of the innumberable medieval mosques that pierce the skyline. That, along with the guileless hospitality of Cairenes. The complexity,richness and fluidity of the Arabic language Jawi..something strange yet so familiar.

The force that is the majestic Nile is the lifeblood of the country, as it has been for civilisations, mirrors the people of Egypt. The elemental pleasures of their existence and the functionality and ease with which they carry out their lives. As i'd like to put it, they're rather Jangan Tension about things..which is a lovely change, coming from xin jia po.

The beckoning noises and merriment of city life, to the steady beat of life in the agricultural centres..The smiles of Nubian children to the cheeky catcalls of the bazaar salesmen.. The grand nile cruisers to the humble feluuca (boats)..the bitter cold of the sahara to the parching heat of a Red Sea resort. this country is full of contrast, that are quite honestly beyond reasoning. and i love it just the way it is