Despite only in March, it was a pretty hot day.

It was an uneventful morning, or so we thought. We woke up to the hustle and bustle streets along the Tahrir Square. Even though our room was in the sixth floor, we could clearly heard the loud honks of any vehicles and the lively morning chatters of vendors in Downtown Cairo.

Cairo is a living, breathing modern city.

I was annoyed to say the least. I was binge-watching Peaky Blinder until dawn, while Sofe was soundly asleep under her thick blanket. The chilly winter air bit us right in the face- I actually preferred the winter season instead of the hot, dry summer.

Sofe had already showered by the time I pulled my blanket over my head, attempting to sleep again. With a fierce determination to wake me from the slumber, she caught the end of the blanket and threw it on the floor, shouting "Wake up!" repeatedly. 

Begrudgingly, I gave her a blazing glare before I marched my way to the bathroom. Outside, morning light filtered through a tapestry of clouds, capturing the subtleties of a quiet balcony in our room in the bustling capital. Sofe updated about our activity of the day to her husband and her family. 

"Nash talked about taking me to the Egyptian Museum. It was supposed to be awesome."

She laughed on the phone, unaware to my prying eyes. She was in Cairo for about a week now- I ran out of places to bring her apart from famous tourists spots. 

She marched ahead, a Samsung in hand as Google Maps' beeps led us through the urban sprawl of Downtown Cairo near to Tahrir Square. We've decided to go for a breakfast before spending our day with artefacts and carved out-of-stones pharaohs. I walked a bit faster, careful not to trip over the cobblestones and avoid incoming human-traffics along the way. 

After spending a good twenty minutes looking for a specific restaurant, we grew frustrated. The maps weren't updated and the streets were confusing. We argued before we settled for all-in American breakfast with two large coffees on the go.

Caffeinated, I guided my best friend, winding through the narrow streetways - we've observed children darting around in traditional garbs, completed with winter jacket to brave the cold wind, shouting at each other in rapid-fire Arabic- apparently a friend of theirs had left them and they were quite lost. I saw many vendors seated under their small plastic chairs reading newspaper while drinking hot chai, some of them were reading the books that they are selling.

We ended up bought a hard-cover book for 50le.

I breathed in the dry, chilly air- a welcome contrast to the warm, humid weather I had grown accustomed to in Asia. I revelled in the opportunity to be submerged in one of African countries, even it was seven years later. The smell of sizzling local cuisine began to invade our olfactory senses, like a battle cry among the wild streets. It informed locals that the bombardment of queues was about to begin and hinted to the toddling hordes of tourists that in this city of history and ancient civilizations, food reigned the top.

We finally found ourselves lined up for tickets in front of the massive green gate. A tour bus filled with Chinese tourists just pulled up and they disembarked in groups, making the line went further down the road. We waited for a good half hour before I paid for the tickets and camera passes. The museum isn't allowing any photography when I first came here but the rules has certainly changed.

We passed through securities- we've even exchanged pleasantries with the guards, throwing smiles as the locals greeted us. I walked briskly as Sofe closely in tow- her eyes were scanning to her surroundings. I could tell that she was excited to explore the place.

The Egyptian museum of Antiquities located in Tahrir Square, considered to be one of the oldest, most famous and the largest museum in the world. The bronze-coloured museum has put on many display of precious exhibits- they consists of two floors : the ground floor hosts the heavier displays like coffins, massive statues and stone carvings.

The second floor hosts the lighter displays that include tools, funerary objects, smaller statues, papyrus scrolls, jewelries, carriages. But the main attraction is the display of Tut Ankh Amun tomb- it was amazing and worth every cent of what we paid at the entrance.

Sofe had already walked away to observe some statues in the midst of the sea of people. As I rushed to catch up, a flash of red, yellow and blue colour darted beside me. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a teenage girl no taller than my head. Dark curls fell upon her soft face and button nose. Her eyes, the shade of deep blue like a clear sky, hinted at someone who had been considered a great beauty among her age. Her colourful traditional abaya attracted many pair of eyes but she paid them no mind.

She called for her friend and ducked through a small opening in between corridors. Her friend had shouted for her to wait but she merely laughed and ran away. The girl was a carefree soul and I found that was quite endearing. In an instant, she was gone.

Sofe and I explored further. The colourful artefacts and the rich antiquity belied the lingering unwritten stories that seemed to have engraved in the stones, the cries of the previously enslaved still echoing in the air.

Several photos later, we entered the hall that hosted the main attraction, the display of Tut Ankh Amun tomb and his personal effects, where an eerie but exciting sensation gripped us almost immediately. We wandered away to take a good look from one exhibit to another as we plagued the resident expert with questions. Soon though, silent overtook me as the weight of the information of the place sunk me in.


"This is incredible," Sofe simply echoed after a moment. Nothing else needed to be said. 

We spent the rest of the day admiring the local art and the stunning sunset by the Nile, near to Cairo Tower. We had drinks on the bench as we awaited our Careem ride to Cairo Festival City Mall. And we went to sleep in our hostel, safe and sound later that night. The words that she said after the day we had might as well have been etched inside my head as I settled into my bed. 

"Incredible."

"Are you sure?"

Uja nodded. "Kinda. We've got no other choice, babe."

I sighed slowly. "It's gonna be more than fourteen hours." 

Uja nodded again. "Fine by me."

Uja bought our tickets using her HSBC debit card for night express trains at Egyptian National Railways website. By using this website, travellers need to book the seats at least two weeks before departure.

This particular train is not as time-effective as the overnight sleeper but the trains are perfectly safe and quite comfortable. The night-trains costs us LE170 per person for one-way. 

We arrived safely in Luxor at noon after a tiring fifteen-hours journey from Ramses Station, Cairo. 

We met Mia, an Australian who are married to a Nubian man- she has spent ten years living in Luxor like the locals and spoke fluent Arabic.

"Well guys, I can give you this room for 100le per night as the dorms are full for now."

"How much for a bed at the dorm?"

"45le."

I normally preferred dorm over any room but it was ideal if I was alone. 

Uja and I stared at each other.

"Let's just check out the room first. Then, we'll decide."

Determined to not be persuade by that tempting offer, we expected the room to be dull and dusty like any other hostel room I encountered in Egypt but as soon as Mia opened the door, the room was not as I thought.

To be honest, it was okay. The king-sized bed was comfy, the wall was clean and the floor was perfectly clean. There's a medium-sized tv with two armoires and a large bathroom at the corner. A small verandah stood on the left side of the room while we basked in cool air of perfectly working air-conditioner.

"Cool. Mia, we'll take it."

Fist-bumped, she said, "I know you would."

"We will definitely tell our friends about your place, Mia. It's quite stylish, for sure."

Mia snickered. "Yeah, thanks to these rascals over here." She gestured towards her little family behind the reception counter. 

We paid the price and camped at the room for a quite some time. I may have not gotten much sleep the night before, but my stomach was rumbling, begging to be fed. Uja and I went for dinner near the hostel and strolled around.

Looking over the Nile, I was quite sure that those fifteen-hours journey are something that I will talk about for years to come. I witnessed a number of occasions while on the train and it was refreshing from my perspective.

I kinda needed that release.

I needed to be stripped of distraction and just sit for hours on the train. I needed to be surrounded by the unfamiliar to see the common, the untouched and the beautiful by taking this adventure with a friend.

And I know I made the right decision. 

A pop song blasted by sudden in the early morning. My body jerked as I heard some incoherent mumbles from the other bed. F is waking up and my body felt drained from my short nap because we both slept late the night before.

I snatched that bloody phone, scratch my bedside and looked at the time.

"Damn. Wake up, it's already eight!"

I bolted towards the bathroom while F was taking her time. We tried to pull an all-nighter but we dozed off the minutes we prayed for Subuh.  

Half an hour later, we strapped on our sneakers and ready to explore the city. Stepping out of the apartment, we were immediately swept up by the buzzing of motorbikes, the yelling drivers and the constant drumbeat that seemed to pulsed from all corners. F and I walked along the local train station and crossed over to the other side.

Then, as I sauntered up to the taxi's passenger window, F sputtered "Wait. Do you wanna try Careem?"

I turned to look at her. The taxi driver was starting to sounds impatient. "Bisur'ah, lau samah!"

I took a quick look on my Careem account and saw seventy Egyptian Pounds balance on my online wallet. I bid the taxi goodbye, muttering sorry while the driver shouting profanities towards us.

F and I look at each other and shrugged.

"So, where do we go first?"

I explained a little about our activities of the day while waiting for the Careem driver to pick us up near to a big chai place. Fifteen minutes later, we hopped in at the back of the car while the driver was trying to communicate with us in his broken English with thick Arab accent.

"You been here before?"

F answered yes while looking out the window. "But it was like six years ago, so I can barely remember this city anymore."

I was awe-struck. Alexandria has been different from my last visit. Beautiful as it was, I quickly learned that the city's aesthetics had nothing on its characters. We bid him goodbye when we arrived at our first stop - Pompei's Pillar.

The autumn in Egypt is not so different than summer. With temperature ranging about 30-37 degrees daily, it felt like summer never ended. 

It was two days before Eid Adha that I first suggested to a close girlfriend of mine about going to Alexandria. We were sitting on the floor while watching Modern Family in her room. She looked at me for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders and agreed.

"What do you say if we spend our holiday in Alex for a few days?"

Pregnant pause ensued.

"Yeah, cool. I haven't been there since our first year."

After we celebrated Eid Adha on the 12th, I sat on the floor of my bedroom to pack my backpack, close to midnight. With the budget of 400 Egyptian Pounds for three days and two nights, we were trying to be as cheap as possible.

I even bought a toothbrush for two freaking pounds because I forgot to bring mine on the trip.

The clock turned to nine in the morning when we finally took off to Alexandria. We sat at the back of an old black Peugeot with other locals, which never would have happened without a little bit of luck and a lot of spontaneity. 

We arrived at the main station in Alex around noon. The three-hours car ride took us through the string of small cities and vast lands. F and I would look out to our respective windows every once in a while to see the unfamiliar surroundings, commenting on the things that we saw.

We bought a mineral water and a couple of Molto for the journey and then we took a taxi to get to our accomodation as soon as we arrived.

"Ya Ammu, maugud 'adat?" 

The taxi driver immediately shook his head no. 

I was contemplating to take another taxi that will use meter ('adat) but we didn't see lots of taxi there. We hopped in and prayed that the charge wasn't exorbitant.

But, there's no such luck.

Cheap my ass.

Once we got there, we checked in and rest for while. It was almost three in the evening when we settled down and most attractions will be close by five. After a casual discussion (we discussed while lying on the bed and laughing on The Big Bang Theory), we decided to go to the main mall in Alex and bought some foods and supplies. 

We took a tremco (minivan) for three pounds each near to Mubarrah, a little close to the railway station. We arrived at the mall twenty minutes later and heading to Carrefour. We took what we need and paid. We took the same route on our way back (we saved a lot of money because it can go up to 50 pounds per taxi ride), ate our dinner and watched The Big Bang Theory until midnight.

"So we're gonna have a full day tomorrow, eh?"

I nodded while keeping my eyes on the screen. "Maybe. We can still go on our last day if we have no time for all of the places tomorrow, no worries."

F hummed with approval.

"Sounds good."

I expertly guided my ride into a parking spot, almost hundred metre far from the Turkish Airlines office in Tahrir Square. Aini went out from the passenger spot, telling me to just wait for her in the car. I wordlessly nodded while looking out the window.

Hit songs were playing on the radio and the air-conditioner was on full blast but the stagnant African heat out of the car can still be felt. Mind you, it was nearing forty-five degrees Celcius that day.

Like every other summer in Egypt apparently.

The roads were filled with a sea of cars, buses, motorcycles and tremcos. Transportation in Egypt is quite a bittersweet, and in Cairo even more so. The metro line didn't quite extensive as any other modern cities, the taxis were always causing me losing more money than I should (or I'm gonna end up with profanities from the drivers). But you can always rely on tremco that will get you from Point A to Point B in crazy, bizarre way that you might not get to experience in other country.


  

The tremco jolts from one side to another, racing through the highway to Nasr City, Cairo. The firm but tattered leather seats provide little grip and the bodies rock in similar rhythm to the tremco's movements. The stagnant African heat was starting to caught up on us but bearable when a friend opened the window on her side.

Phew. Finally.

As the tremco begins decelerating and approaching our stop, the people began to collect the money and starting to collect their belongings. Few minutes later, we were off to Cairo Festival City Mall by a taxi.

We spent a few hours gallivanting around the mall, bought some bandages and medicine before the marathon on the next morning. 

Tipah and I spent the night away with our talks- ranging from small issues until a big one, we didn't even realized that we talked until it was time for morning prayer and getting ready for the day.

We arrived in Maadi by metro at almost seven in the morning, along with other people that will be participating in this event (we all wore the same Cairo Run bright neon T-shirt)


The moment before the marathon was a colourful affair- a massive park that was engulfed in a sea of rainbow umbrellas giving shade to vendors and thousand of participants. Sprawling in every other patch of free space were stalls offering juices and people with groups mostly loitered around, taking pictures and talking while waiting. 

Life appeared much slower when we strolled through the sea of people at Maadi Technology Park. There is no pushing or shoving, but rather a few people which decided to be quite problematic, shoving everyone on their way onto the front of the stage, catching up to the music. 

"Hey, the participants for 21km will need to go first."

Dinie, Timah and Tipah nodded with determination. Iswari, Syalla and I will be running for 7km, I was hoping to run in 21km category but due to some unfortunate condition, I was thankful to even participate in the marathon. 

"Do your best, guys!" 

My friends shrieked at me, laughing and holding their breaths as they were ready to run. Some minutes later, the runners in our category were called. With a medium-length blue pole with a GoPro attached on it secured firmly in my hand, Syalla stood beside my left and Iswari was on my right, the siren finally rang. 

I sprinted, while recording with Syalla. Iswari was running behind us, taking her sweet time. Other runners were sprinting and some were walking side by side, talking and laughing while enjoying the beautiful fresh morning. 

We passed the checkpoints- each checkpoint was lively to say the least. There were people along the road giving you encouragement as you ran. Some drivers were actually gave us support by honking their honks in rhythms. 

"Syalla, I swear this is some of the silly thing I've done while I was sick! What was I thinking?"

Syalla chuckled, but based on various beads of sweat covering her face, I could tell that she felt the same. My lungs was parched, begging for me to stop for some air. We stopped by the booth to drink some water for a few seconds before we ran off again. 

"Have you seen Iswari?"

I looked behind my shoulder, even went looking by my sides. "No. I guess we will have to meet at the end."

We finished our course in under one hour and I was quite proud with our achievements. The last time I ran in marathon was in Los Angeles, three years ago. With only two weeks of running laps at the stadium, I managed to run again. 



"Heck, this was awesome!"

When casually asked to recall the journey, I was surprised by the reality that it's only been a couple of hours. We waited for almost three hours before we met again with Timah, Tipah and Dinie. They were thrilled when reaching the end, exhaustion were obviously etched on their faces.

Cairokee (famous local band) fired up the stage with their hit songs after the marathon ended. They sang along with the other participants under the scorching hot sun while Iswari, Dinie and I were chatting away under some tree.   

On the last day, we awoke before the sun. Actually we didn't even went for sleep after playing many games, we were just watching our GoPro videos on TV, laughing at each other for our own silly antics that were recorded and broadcasted among us.

I know. We are silly.


Groggy, we filed out of the suite into the beautiful chilly dawn towards Sunna Day Palma's most beautiful spot, the bay. The surrounding was quiet and remnants of the night still pooled behind the buildings. There were no other people in sight and any boats that passed kept their distance away from our spot. The sunrise was slowly approaching and we felt like we had the entire place to ourselves.