And often the military vehicle bringing up the rear of a convoy, impatient with the slow speed of the vehicles, prefers to overtake the very buses it is supposed to protect. There are other mixtures. Egypt goes to great lengths to protect and showcase a heritage that goes back more than 5,000 years. Yet, the multitheism of Pharaonic Egypt hangs uneasily over the monotheism of Islam and Christianity, the two religions of most Egyptians. This is a country that has experienced three major wars since 1948 but we hardly encountered an aggressive Egyptian, witnessed a violent argument or street fight during the course of a fortnight.
Women increasingly cover their heads.
But it is also common to see young women so attired holding hands with their friends, lovers or husbands and walking along the Corniches that run through every town on the Nile. Cairo has the reputation of being one of the safest cities in the world. It is a surprise and a pleasure to see women and girls walk freely late into the night on the streets of Egypt's capital. Cairo has more people than Delhi and probably three times as many vehicles. But one of the first things to strike a visitor from India is that in spite of chaotic traffic, neither the eyes burn nor do the ears ache from the air and noise pollution that is so common in Indian cities.