A tale of two cities: Istanbul and Cairo

Analogies, dissimilarities and discoveries…

Travelling between places, the only point of reference that you know is where you have lived yourself; it influences your vision, understanding and open mindedness to the new host country.

Having experienced life in France, England, a snapshot of the Estonian culture and Turkey, I expected the latter and Egypt to have a lot in common. They have the obvious similarities as for the predominant Muslim religion but also the distinction of cultures, as Atatürk radically changed the future of Turkey by making it a secular country. Both countries took very different paths ever since, as Turkey, once an Arabic speaking country, developed the Turkish language and its entire country’s dynamics changed economically and politically, using the European models.

Each country has its turmoil and it obviously shapes its future, the Egyptians are, as we “speak”, creating their future today and I can only put things in perspective as an eye witness, as I insist on remaining unprejudiced and objective (The best way to travel and enjoy travelling as Paul Theroux implies).

My love for Istanbul is still strong and I know that this is a passion that I will keep forever. I cherish the wonderful city of Istanbul, its incredible history, the beauty of the people whose kindness never ceased to amaze me. I miss Istanbul every day, and it is not only because I am in the city of Cairo, I will miss Istanbul every day in any city.

One analogy that I can make between both cities is the size. Both are incredibly big, with more than 15 million people, buzzing with life and wonderful people.

There is also the culture of “temper”. People here and in Istanbul often have heated discussions and on appropriate topics, the body language, the intonations in voices would make one believe that people are arguing, even though they aren’t. I am myself very fond of this, the temper, the passion in people, it shows authenticity and livelihood.

Another one is the “kolay gelsin” attitude, which is exactly the same here. It stands for “take it easy” in Turkish and it is a great saying. Coming from Europe, where everything work, life passes you by as you run around and everyone is being judged on how quickly they can deal with you, you learn in Turkey and Egypt that you have to take it easy, in every shop, institutions and restaurants! Yes, forget stressing, it will happen, in its own time, inshallah and I personally love it (most of the time).

Nevertheless, there are enormous dissimilarities between both cities.

The first one is the hardest on the eye; Istanbul is simply astonishing, the Bosphorous, the buildings, the colours are vibrant, whereas Cairo’s main colour is beige, and small patches of green if you are lucky. 

Another one is about us ladies. I saw many more women on the streets of Istanbul, either moderately dressed or wearing the tank tops and shorts or skirts that you would see in any European city. Istanbul is a place of freedom as a woman, where you don’t have to think twice before stepping outside. Well, if you remember the grading scale, Cairo is different. The reputation of this country and the harassment towards women is unfortunately real; yet, I would like to stress that generalisation is never applicable or fair and not every man is going to hassle you.

The buildings are also very different here compared to Istanbul. The Turkish landscape changes almost overnight, as they build so much and so fast, however, the buildings are all finished. It isn’t the same here, as most buildings are unfinished and the ones which are, are partly inhabited, partly abandoned.

Some things are not quite the same but you can identify some patterns.

The litter is one. Now, Cairo is DIRTY and that is the best way to say it! There is trash all over and it is smelly and chaotic. There is the strong culture of throwing garbage pretty much everywhere and not bother about anything ecological. Istanbul is much cleaner of course, and most places are cleaned on a daily basis. Yet, there are remnants of the trash culture to be found on the sideways, also in the forest in Istanbul, where it is a habit to have a picnic, put your trash in a bag and leave the bag behind (hoping the trash troll will come and dispose of it).

Another similarity is the driving culture, even if Cairo is MUCH worse. I used to be very anxious in Istanbul, when the taxi would drive on the hard shoulder, slalom between cars as if we were on a racing circuit, and hate when they could use the brake at the last minute! Well, here in Cairo, I have learnt to miss those crazy Turkish soförlar, because I don’t recall seeing someone coming the wrong way, or cutting through the entire lane, or seeing donkeys on the motorway (even though I did see horses once)!

“A tale of two cities” is a work in progress and I will surely be adding to it once I visit more of Cairo, one of the greatest historical capitals, as Constantinople was.