Lithuania was surprised by the situation in Egypt: you have to pray there every day to survive

If you have ever cursed the situation on Lithuanian roads, if you thought that our country’s drivers are something bad, unprofessional, then immediately remember all the curses. After the trip to the Egyptian capital, everyone would change their mind. I also changed for life. That’s where, in that megalopolis with a population of twenty-one million, you can see things you didn’t see in even the most terrifying dreams. There is a nightmare of the traffic police, there is a hell of driving instructors, there is more fear than fear. And the most terrifying would be there for all the righteous, the educated, the precursors of the few rules. There they would simply be turned into flour.

What a terrible situation on the roads of that city I tried to reflect in my travel program “Orijus Reis”, season 2, series 12.

Nobody, absolutely nobody, follows any rules, at least not the ones we Europeans know about. Leftists travel as they see fit. And that’s not even a full ride, but a real fight on the roads. Imagine a situation: On a five-lane highway, all types of vehicles – from buses and trucks to motorcycles and horse-drawn carriages – travel on seven, maybe even eight lanes. There they create them themselves, maneuvering between the eternal traffic jams. If you only see at least the slightest gap, read it, warn others. Sometimes draw one side. But none of that, even if it bends a little. Turns out those things, all kinds of car damage in Cairo, no problem. And by no means an accident. According to locals, an accident only happens when a person is affected by the incident. But it’s not that it falls off, he scratched his hand. Must be seriously injured, bloodshed. Then there is an accident, in which case you are already recording the incident, calling the police. As officials find out who is at fault there, there is another topic here, I really won’t examine it for you. In the event of an accident, they maintain the car in such a way that no one will be able to repair it and then record the event.

That is why, on the streets of Cairo, almost all vehicles involved in traffic have been severely damaged, scratched and crashed. This is normal, no one is embarrassed, people are not in a hurry to repair. And that? After all, he knows it will be the same again the next day.

For many years, Cairo was famous for being a city with no traffic lights and few traffic signals. And now, often, many more jokes like that. Although this is not entirely true. For a long time, there were two traffic lights in the Egyptian capital, and people came to take photos of them, especially tourists. Imagine two traffic lights for millions of road users! Now the situation has barely improved, the city government is already proud, already boasts. I find in some sources that Cairo now has NET nine traffic lights. While my talking taxi drivers say they do not believe what their authorities write. Taxi drivers who travel around the city with passengers on a daily basis keep their statistics. One explained that there are seven traffic lights in Cairo, the other appears to have eleven, but is not sure of the end. “The traffic is already improving with us, now the situation is much calmer than ten years ago,” he tells me.

Another taxi driver, Ahmed and Ibrahim, explained that if they wanted to stay alive and if they wanted to go somewhere in Cairo, they would not pay attention to the road signs at all. Because if you just try to follow them, nothing will work. “If you only see one space, go ahead. Don’t miss a thing, because you’ll get stuck,” says Ahmed, who has been at the wheel for twenty years.

The interesting thing is that his uncle who did not drive taught him to drive. But that guy repaired the machines, so he gave Ahmed to sit down, try to start the machine, move out of place. And so the taxi driver learned to drive. He went to the local “Regitra”, passed the exam and drove. “For many years we did not have a single driving school, people learned from each other. They are already appearing, but they are not popular. Why pay money when you can learn the same with your friends? For example, I have already taught many family members, ”he says. And that’s normal, no one is caught.

You don’t even have to drive a car to experience that horror. Pedestrians are also faced with the struggle for survival on a daily basis. On the left, I didn’t see the crosses, but I looked for them specifically, but I didn’t see them anywhere. That is why people cross the street where they yearn. Even on the busiest street. As machines get stuck forever in traffic jams, people fly into the spaces between them and that’s it, as God will give. Although in Cairo it would be more acceptable to say Allah. They even have such a sacred saying, suitable for such situations: Inshallah (In sha Allah) – rain. If God gives.

According to the locals themselves, those that are not cars and not even large trucks are the most necessary on the roads. And for horses and camels, they often crush distracted pedestrians. He doesn’t stop in time and put his foot over his head, his back, or the like. Painful ends and not quite good.

The driver Ibrahim, who spent a week in Cairo, became a good friend of mine, quite close, and with him we politicized and grabbed each other by the teeth. We became so friendly that he tried to teach me the language of the local road. It’s a beep, or as my grandfather would say, “signaling.” There, for a variety of reasons, they all “point to” each other. You want to let it go – press two short beeps, miss something else – press four short beeps. You swear, you mean something that prevented you: press two short, then one long, and again two short “beeps.”

They chirp for everything, for good and bad events on the roads. And although it gave me a severe headache, for the people of Cairo, it is the backdrop of the city. “That is the sound of Cairo, for many years,” Ibrahim said.

This driver, warning me about the situation on the roads, told all Lithuanians to warn that only no one coming to the Egyptian capital would think of renting a car. “There will be many problems, the Europeans will not be able to come to us. There will be many scratches, many cracks. You will have to pay fines to the rental company,” he says.
And you probably don’t lie. It is definitely more worth taking a taxi everywhere and always or inviting the drivers of the transport devices. Prices in Cairo are low, and with a local driver, those roads will definitely be bolder.

Well, the last fact that made me happy about the traffic in Cairo is that it is interesting that they consider themselves the best drivers in the world, even though they are driving very crazy. “We always have chaos, but we are capable of driving, nobody has problems with that. All tourists are surprised, that’s why we are the best in the world”, says Ibrahim with pride. And he adds about himself: “And the best of what better me, a copper like Schumacher “.