6 Days in Cairo during the Riots: Witnessing history in the making and trying not to get shot!!

Friday January 7, 2011

So I survived the Riots in Cairo and the 2 day stay in the Istanbul Airport.

Let me give you the low down on Egypt; Cairo in particular:

I arrived on the 27th of January Knowing that there was a bit of unrest happening in the country, but i figured i would get my bike and be riding south before it all got worse. that was the plan, and as i have said before plans change without notice. I arrived at Cairo International as 1130pm picked up my bags from the baggage claim and looked around for my bike....NO BIKE! So i went to Egypt air who handles all the baggage for Cairo the nice man behind the counter explained the box was lost and he had at this time no info on where it is, so i gave him a hard time about loosing a giant box but all that came of that was his apology and his promise that package would show up, i was not convinced but had to exit the airport i had a driver from the Hostel Meremees waiting for me, i was not happy about leaving without my bike but was crossing my fingers that it would show up the next flight....It didn't!

I arrived heart in throat at the Hostel, after a harrowing drive through Cairo at 100k an hour and with only the Driving lights no headlights on for most of it, the driver would use the headlights and horn to let others know he was passing, The staff at Meremees is super cool the nicest guy is Akmed (probably spelled wrong) he is super fun but watch him he will eat and drink your food, he will replace it if confronted but you have to confront him. I hate it when others eat food that is not theirs, but he is so nice it is hard to stay mad at him, lady's watch him he is a terrible flirt and can be a little much.

day 1: I slept like the dead and awoke to a beautiful morning in Cairo. Breakfast was served 3 pieces of soft bread good coffee (for instant) and jam, butter and cream cheese, this is included in the price which was 80ep for a single with shared shower. The crew let us know that today was a planned protest tat would start after prayer at 12:30.

Like clock work the prayer ended and on our street thousands of people started to gather,as well as about 3 dozen riot geared police and an Armored vehicle with a officer in the open top with a tear gas gun. Things were pretty calm at first but as the protesters got closer to the growing line of police they opened fire with rubber bullets and teargas. The people scattered and ran as the gas shot across there heads and blocked the route , more was shot in front to stop the advance and we were caught int the middle 5 stories up. the gas lifted by the wind made its way to our balcony and we all were suddenly choking and crying it was horrible, it burns the eyes and the skin and make breathing hard.

After the gas settled enough we went back on the balcony to take a look. the police had advanced to the block before ours and were holding position as the now angry protesters threw rocks the police threw them back, neither had good aim, after a bit the police opend fire with more bullets and gas, this time using Buck shot as well as Rubber Bullets. The gas once again over took us and we retreated inside.

I was not happy with just witnessing the riots form the balcony i wanted to be a part of it and see what was happening on the ground, so against the advice of the Hostel employees i headed out to Taharir Square!

I am surrounded by tens os thousands of people all chanting the same ting over and over "mubarack must go, death to mubarack" we are facing a wall of police and armored vehicles i am about half way back on the side of the crowd standing on a small building to get a better view when suddenly the police let loose a barrage of 10-20 teargas canisters that fill the gap between them and the rioters then more come and fly over our heads and into the crowd, buck shot can be heard pinging of metal signs and people are being struck in front of me. Tear gas makes its way towards my position so i take off in a run with the crowd, as more canister land around us i am starting to choke, when a lady hand me a paper towel with vinegar on it and another man hands me a mask, as i am trying to get the mask on a guy i am filming comes passed me and says " Welcome to the New Egypt" I tell him i hope so and am praying they get democracy soon. just as i finish my sentence another canister lands to my left 30 yards away and the crowd runs right surging forward and towards a side street, just as we are about to make the right turn down the street police come form all over the road and block our escape, you can here the buzzing of the cattle prods they are using and see people fall down as they are struck with them , i quickly move left and head for another street the police advancing behind us as we make it to a clear road.

People around me including myself are having a hard time breathing, some are throwing up others are in tears and crying uncontrollably, i am out of breath and my eyes are on fire. i stop only briefly to take a picture of the line of advancing police as soon as i do a barrage of tear gas sails over my head landing in the road and under a car, one even lands on a balcony and starts a small fire. The police have a large and very loud canon on the top of one of the armored cars and they fire this off to scare the crowd, it works and soon we are running towards my street and the hostel i am staying at, as i get close to the door more tear gas goes off and buck shot fly's near buy, i make the door and bang on it until the silly doorman opens it, heart pounding and adrenaline coursing through my body i run the 5 flights upstairs and collapse in a chair, gald to be back and stunned at what i have seen.

I relax for a while before i head out again and the cat and mouse with the police continues, i run the streets of the center of Cairo with the crowd taking amazing video.....I am more alive now than i feel i have ever been and have been a witness to history and change as it is happening something i will never forget.

Day 2: a crowd gathers outside of the hostel confronting the police once again, thousands of people are in the streets and are right up at the police line, today unlike yesterday the police seem to be be having. Me and Reuben take to the street to get a closer look at the line of police and see whats happening at the front, we make our way through the crowd and are within spitting distance of the front, when a guy lifts me up on his shoulders so i can get a better view , i take some pics and a video. As i am filming the guy in the armored carrier with the teargas gun i notice he buckles his helmet, so i tell the guy to let me down ans i make my way back through the chanting crowd to the rear, about a minute later the crowd is running towards me as the tear gas and bullets fly all around us , i am swept up with the crowd and taken ast the hostel and in to an open are were the gas isn't so bad. I look back to were i was standing and the Hostel is not visible through all the gas, the police are on the other side still firing gas canisters over our heads and we start to run again....

Day 3: the police are gone not a one in sight and we see the army start to arrive, people are happy and cheering as tanks roll down our street calm seems to have returned for the moment at least. Reuben and i leave the hostel and take a walk to the Auzzie embassy to see what he need to do, the military presence is everywhere and the people seem to be happy about it, we take a few pics of the tanks and army, we even have a chat with one guy until Sargent tells us to move on. I would go to my embassy but it is closed leave it to the Americans to Strand those in need during a crisis, you cant even get close to it the Egyptian Army is guarding the street and wont allow access, the hotline number i have been calling doesn't work . the Auzzie's are more than helpful and allow me to use interweb to let my loved one know i am alive and well, they tell me to evacuate because it is going to get worse, all the Americans are saying on TV is "we urge you to consider leaving" what a bunch of crap.

Day 4 I am not going out to see the riots again i had a bit of a confrontation with a guy last night and so i feel i have seen enough....let me explain. At about 9pm we went to taharir square to see what was going on and as it was before tens of thousands of people are i the square and to the far side is tha police lobbing tear gas at the crowd and the crowd lobbing rocks back. we make our way to the side to take a look as i am taking pictures a guy starts yelling at me "no picture" and grabs my camera out of my hand , luckily i always have it tied to my wrist so i just yank it back, he continues his rant and so i put the camera away, when a member of the crowd he is with says " OK to take pics" so i stand on a railing and snap a few pics just as i am getting down buck shot hits the metal sign next to us and Reuben leaps down form the railing, as i am standing there the guy who said it was OK to take pis ask me for money in a very demanding way , i explain i have no money he continues to ask, and a buddy of his shows up and the 2 are asking then another and 3 are asking, they are smaller than me so i push my way passed them and try to locate Reuben and our other friend the guys behind me following asking for money, i find Reuben give him the details and we agree its time to head back, the 3 guys are on us the whole time until i jump over a barrier into another crowd and Reuben follows suit we make our way through the crowd and into the clear no sign of the potential robbers, as we are walking back a few people yell tourist to us and that makes our pace quicken, we make it back to the safety of the Hostel.

Day 5 Shereef one of the Hostel employees is going off the deep end, he is talking about killing Israeli people and how they are all sluts, i try to distance my self from him as much as possible. I call the airline as i have been doing for 5 days and they say it has been found and is in Amman, Jordan and will be here in the next day or so, and i am to call later to find out more. The day is spent in the hostel mostly with excursions to get food and an outing for a shesha (flavored tobacco) i call later and they say it is still in Amman so i tell them to leave it there i will go to Amman and get it. In the mean time the US hot-line is now working and the guy tells me the Embassy staff is at terminal 4 at the Cairo airport and will be evacuating people over the next few days.

Day 6:

last night i decided to leave tomorrow on the Evacuation transport that the US finally set up. I pack my bags call for a taxis and say goodbye to my Historical moment in time, i get to the airport Que up and within 2 hours i am flying out of Egypt on my way to Istanbul. I arrive in turkey and make a beeline to the baggage claim office and tell them my sad story about my lost bike and Amman, the super nice lady Ila tells me that she will get it here, and so i leave it to her capable hands and head off to get food. This is the most expensive airport i have ever been to, i paid 11$US for 2 slices of cold old pizza, and if you want water it is 6$US a liter, yes i said a liter.

I slept on the floor in the corner that night and at 8am i called the baggage claim office and they told me my bike was on the 130 flight to Istanbul and at 230pm me and my bike were reunited and i cried on Ilas shoulder and gave her a big hug. Serenity was back!!!

Day 7: I spent the day wandering the airport with my bike. I mad a decision to got to Addis Abeba and continue my Africa ride so i had one and a half days more in the Airport then i would fly to Dubai and catch another flight to Addis which is were i am now, i will be here few more days then ride north do a loop of the highlands then head back to Addis to pick up my Kenya visa.....what an amazing African adventure it has been so far i cant wait to see what else this continent has to offer