by Tracy Bee

Created on: July 07, 2008   Last Updated: October 07, 2009

After weeks of touring around Egypt that ended magnificently on the Sinai Peninsula, I caught a minibus back to Cairo. I must say, despite traveling solo, I felt incredibly safe in Egypt. The Egyptians are incredibly kind and gracious to visitors. So, while others worried about me, I was completely calm. Well, unless I was stuck in traffic somewhere. My most anxious moments were those when I was navigating Egypt's spectacular streets and traffic. I had never observed anything quite like Egyptian road rules.

The unspoken Egyptian traffic rule seems to be that there are no rules. Anything goes. Needless to say, it is not the most pedestrian friendly place. In fact, it is nearly impossible to cross Cairo's streets. Crosswalks are futile and virtually ignored. Their lights don't work. In fact, intersections, for the most part, are entirely unregulated. (You can imagine a pedestrian's adrenalin rush upon attempting to navigate through speeding traffic to arrive at the other side of the road.)

I learned that to cross it is best to stay close to others who are crossing. There is power in numbers, as cars are more apt to avoid clumps of pedestrians. If you must cross Cairo's streets alone, though, the easiest way is to develop an attitude. Cars respond to attitude. When you arrogantly - if not recklessly - step out to cross in front of them, with your palm outstretched like a stop sign, the cars will incredulously slow and swerve around you. This I observed while standing for far too long on a street corner, pondering exactly how I might safely arrive at the other side.

Traveling in a car is no less troublesome. Being on the inside of any Egyptian vehicle simply brings up different concerns. The question simply reverses to 'what will my vehicle hit?' rather than worrying, 'what will hit me?'

I was plenty anxious during my public bus travels around Egypt. Along narrow, dusty highways, when drivers want to pass other vehicles, they simply do. No matter what. Oncoming traffic seems irrelevant. At the very last second, about the time a nervous foreign passenger starts to say her prayers, one of the drivers will suddenly swerve towards the ditch and ever-so-narrowly miss the other vehicle. At times, on a two-lane road, traffic is four cars wide - a car passing along each ditch.

The realization that you are in the only vehicle on the road is as unnerving as being surrounded by too many cars. As I traveled across the Sinai Peninsula towards the Suez Canal, en route back to

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