a ride around alexandria
Continuing on from the misadventures in Luxor, I arrived with a quick morning stop in Cairo before jumping on another bus heading to Alexandria.
I was in touch with a guy named Amir through Couchsurfing. He offered to drive me around Alexandria which I was a bit wary of at first but after plenty of crazy experiences, I decided to just go for it. A ride around the city seemed like a pretty good offer.
Life in Alexandria was quite more open I would say, compared to Cairo. Though the traffic is as hectic as ever.
We stopped by to get some brunch, Amir treated me to a lot of traditional Egyptian food, each one very delicious. He took me to a huge mosque, Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi, I was hesitant to enter at first but anyone can enter if they want to according to him.
I took off my shoes and entered the hallowed place.
Muslims were in front, praying, the inside was extremely beautiful. The ceiling and walls were filled with Arabic geometric design with comfortable carpet flooring. The men and women had separate spaces. Just relaxing inside was great.
Alexandria was also much cooler compared to the other Egyptian countries, probably because it was facing the sea. Amir took me to other places, the Citadel of Qaitbay, which I didn’t bother to pay to enter, just outside was enough. He even bought me some ice cream, I think Muslims are really hospitable when it comes to having guests, based on my experience.
a garden of love
He took me to this luxurious area called Montaza to see the gardens and some royal vacation homes and as he drove me around we just talked about Islam, his life and daily life in Egypt and Alexandria.
I edged him on to tell me his love story on how he met and courted his wife, and much to my surprise he stated that he also wanted to get a second wife someday. This prompted me to ask if it was okay for him if his wife got a second husband too in which he replied it wasn’t as she is a woman. I stopped right there as I didn’t want to get into an argument when he was so graciously driving me around the city. He had a daughter as well, he spoils her with a lot of love, this I know from our conversations.
And according to him, the gardens around this area were also witness to plenty of budding relationships with the locals.
sunsets at the corniche
I did have a place to stay in Alexandria. Omar was coincidentally the host of Arianne and Alex back from my Greece trip (together we partied in Athens, explored Delphi and Meteora, and had tons of fun in Crete and Chrissi Island). Omar also happened to be the Couchsurfing ambassador of Egypt.
I just happened to see his profile, he quickly agreed to host me but I had to get there a bit late at night so I had a lot of time to spare. Amir offered to drop me off my final stop as he needed to get back to work. I decided to spend the rest of the day inside the fabled Alexandria library, now rebuilt to be super modern.
Best thing, it was very cold inside. The library was huge and had a lot of sectors, I tried to find a quiet place to just relax and sit and let the time pass by. After a couple of hours, I decided to leave the place and head to the Corniche.
There, I was blessed with a wonderful sunset. There were also two guys sitting right beside me, who I guess were interested in seeing a tourist in the area. They started to talk to me in what English they could muster.
Now, I didn’t know what to make of it as I couldn’t really feel out their vibe but we ended up talking and decided to get dinner together. I asked for a koshary place and they took me to some alleys, I was quite suspicious at first but we got to a good restaurant and I ate my fill.
the egyptian couchsurfing community
Omar apologized for being late but pointed me to one of his friends, Richard. Richard was also a strong member of the Couchsurfing community, he’s Czech and was studying in Alexandria for the time being.
He told me where to meet and I headed there with the two guys, who apparently were brothers. One of them bid me farewell, and I was stuck with the older one of the two. Along the way to meet Richard, the guy asked if he could ask some money.
This pissed me off quite a bit because I had thought we were actually friends and I already had a good impression, I let him know my feelings and he quickly apologized.
I got to meet with Richard, who brought me to meet more of his friends, Seif and Mina while the person I was with went on his way. We went to a hookah place and had some food.
I told them stories from Japan and they all seemed so into it, it was funny. They didn’t even know that fireflies existed. We talked for a long time, switching restaurants and I had so much leftover at the end of the night.
I went to Omar’s place finally, it was definitely a high-end house. It was huge and air-conditioning in Egypt is always a boon.
I took a shower and he smoked me up with some Afghani hashish. As part of his custom, he asked me to share some music. I let him listen to Mykonos, one of the songs that I’ve held on to ever since I left Greece, the song that kept me company while I was bedridden in Cairo.
Omar had to get up early tomorrow, and I was fine with that so we bid each other good night and went to bed.
the healthkeepers
I woke up, got showered and headed out with Omar. He told me about his biking club, the Healthkeepers and that we could meet up later for lunch.
I walked around the city, it was quiet and serene. I sat on one of the benches and just let time pass, completely at peace.
I went to a park and watched some people play table tennis, I was then also invited to play which was very fun but I honestly sucked at it. I people-watched down the beach below, it was fun to watch how the dogs interacted with one another.
Omar sent me a message on where to meet-up and off I went, I was able to see the whole bike club and we all went inside this nice cozy restaurant and I sat next to Rowan and Mahmoud. I told them my story so far in Egypt and they really liked Saber’s story from Luxor.
star-crossed lovers
After lunch, I parted ways with the group and went off to meet with Richard once again.
This time his girlfriend Radwa was there. Both of them are really nice people and the conversations we shared were super interesting.
Radwa left us after awhile and Richard told me their story. Radwa’s family wasn’t the best kind and kept her on a tight leash, Richard literally converted to Islam just to be with her, he really wants to take her away from Egypt as Radwa was also quite fluent in Czech so I could only wish them well.
Soon, it was time for me to go, I got to meet with Mina again and both he and Richard rode the tram with me to see me off, they accompanied me all the way to the jeep and gave me some money as I fumbled for change so I wouldn’t miss my bus. I had to get on another jeep, I gave the driver a bill and sat down.
One of the passengers asked if I got my change and when I answered I didn’t, everyone on the jeep started yelling at the driver so the driver gave me my change. Thanks people! I was able to catch my bus going back to Cairo without any problems thanks to everyone’s help.
PS: Richard and Radwa now live together in Czech, they are quite happy and I am very much elated that they got their happy ending.
meeting my savior
I arrived at night, and took an Uber motor to City Stars mall but not without being scammed another few pounds but I was already done with Egypt at this point.
Nuri was there and I wanted to take the opportunity to thank her in person for all the help she gave me especially the tip about GoBus which really made my trip around Egypt much more seamless. I also happened to connect with her through Couchsurfing!
I went to the meeting spot inside the mall and was approached by another girl. Her name was Yuri and she was from Libya.
She was Nuri’s friend. She took me to where Nuri was and Nuri treated me to a refreshing smoothie. What is up with all the people in Egypt constantly showering me with kindness? (Albeit when I’m not getting scammed.) We talked for a long time as my flight was still past midnight.
I’m glad they enjoyed my company as I did theirs. We said our goodbyes and I took my final cab to the airport.
Next stop: Moscow.
