Enjoyable driving in Cairo, Egypt

I was visiting my friends in Cairo. I was in Cairo before, februari 2011. Back then, I thought Cairo had the worst traffic in the world. But I was not driving then... it was a perception from the passenger seat.
I found a hotel in downtown Cairo and my friend drove me from the airport to the hotel. Google Maps as a GPS did an excellent job.

Cairo is a big city! There's a metro, that works really well, but unlike London or Paris, it's a fairly small metro system... only 78km, while the city is much larger then Paris or London. So all other traffic happens by car.

The day I arrived, there was a football match. The Africa cup, Egypt vs. Burkina Faso. No need to tell you that the traffic was worse. Unfortunately we had to drive a few times from one part of the city to the center and back. Traffic was really bad. All that time I was observing my friend driving. It was clear that in this heavy traffic you had to go with the flow and take any opportunity to move on, else someone else would. So drive close to the car in front of you, don't give space. Most of the time there's no lanes, and roads that are ment for 2 cars become roads for 3 cars. Basically they fill in the space... More space, more cars next to each other. Give and take 10cm, so the mirrors do not touch. But this is only at very slow speed. traffic is saturated. Get to know the dimensions of your car!
When the traffic flows, there's more space and cars dance over the road. Left, right, everywhere. There seem no rules. You stay left or right or in the middle, as you like. They will pass you at the other side if they want. Most cars are driving at a moderate speed. Only few are fast and furious.

So we were stuck in the traffic for an hour, late in the afternoon. And it was a long day already... I arrived at 3am at night at the airport. No sleep... I noticed however, that my friend was soo tired and I asked: "shall I drive?" We stopped, changed seats and off I went.
At first I had to get used to the car. Automatic gear, I always drive manual gear in my country! Then the breaks, the dimension... But it took only a few minutes to adapt. I had time, traffic was sooo slow. My friend could relax, and strangely enough, I relaxed too, while driving.

My phone, with google maps, was laying down, near the gearbox and while driving, I glimpsed at it to find my way... It's not perfect, not as good as a car-gps but it helped me a lot.

The following days, whenever we went somewhere with the car, I was driving. And I enjoyed it. I discovered that when you relax into it, it is comfortable driving… just follow the flow and do what they do. Don't judge, everything is different, don't compare, see everything in wonder and laugh. It makes the driving a whole different experience. I would every brave soul that is a good driver encourage to do it. You may enjoy it as much as I do.

I have been driving in many big cities and countries… Coming from brussels, one of the worst traffic congested cities in the west, I drove in Mexico city, Bali, Palermo, London, Paris, to name a few…

So let's summarise, what did you see, how to make driving in Cairo, Egypt enjoyable:

• Get a Phone-holder to use your phone as GPS, I bought one to clip on the ventilator
• Get a USB-lighter plugin to charge your phone
• RELAX, dance on the street
• Humor and wonder. Don't compare, don't judge. SMILE.
• When you want to take a lane or a direction and you move from one lane to another, just move slowly into that direction and you will be able to push yourself through, they will allow you and they will accept that. It's normal behaviour.
• Many streets are one direction, sometimes they drive in the wrong direction. So did I. No problem. Just smile.
• Use whatever lane you like, DANCE.
• There's U-turns to go back all the time.
• There's very little traffic lights, when it flows, it flows...
• Bridges are helping you to go through the city quickly.
• Slowly drive over the speed bumps 
• To park, drive around in circles and be creative, there's always something. People will help you park for a few pounds.  
• Be aware that at night some cars are driving with out lights!!! 
• Egyptians do NOT know how to drive! I guess they buy a license and start driving.
• There's no rules, you can do anything, and they do! 
• Look in your right mirror ALL THE  TIME. Cars will pass you by from the right and cut you off. It's not their fault, it will always be yours. Adapt, don't fight it. 

So if you are an experienced driver, enjoy driving and drove in big cities, don't hesitate... It's fun!