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Out of the endless desert
rode a man with a mission.
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00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:39,940
The stranger bestrode his steed
with the ease of a warrior chieftain.
3
00:00:39,940 --> 00:00:44,340
THEME FROM "LAWRENCE OF ARABIA"
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00:00:44,340 --> 00:00:47,500
Some said he was Omar Sharif
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00:00:47,500 --> 00:00:52,900
until he paused to reveal
his hawklike features.
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00:00:52,900 --> 00:00:58,260
Yes, here was a man in search of
something - an attention-getting
title sequence.
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00:01:10,300 --> 00:01:18,180
Two weeks before, I had arrived
in Cairo, capital city of the Arab
world's most liberal country.
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00:01:18,180 --> 00:01:24,700
But the liberal country
has a nervous government
which a fundamentalist movement
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00:01:24,700 --> 00:01:31,540
hopes to overthrow by letting off
bombs to discourage tourists,
thereby wrecking the economy.
10
00:01:31,540 --> 00:01:36,740
No tourist is more easily
discouraged by that than I,
11
00:01:36,740 --> 00:01:43,140
but the only danger I saw in the
streets came from wheeled vehicles.
BUS HORN
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00:01:43,140 --> 00:01:50,500
They're always on the point of
hitting each other, and will hit
you if you stand bewildered,
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00:01:50,500 --> 00:01:58,020
a state easy to achieve,
because you can't tell
what century you're in.
14
00:02:03,500 --> 00:02:08,660
A lot of Cairo is modern looking
but you can get that anywhere.
15
00:02:08,660 --> 00:02:13,580
What you get only here is
the turmoil of alleys and arcades
16
00:02:13,580 --> 00:02:18,620
that have been like this since the
pyramids were just a set of plans.
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00:02:18,620 --> 00:02:24,700
In old Cairo everything's on sale,
for a price, but if you pay it
you're crazy.
18
00:02:24,700 --> 00:02:29,660
What you have to do is bargain,
even for a camel.
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00:02:29,660 --> 00:02:34,580
I needed a camel for my
attention-getting title sequence.
20
00:02:34,580 --> 00:02:37,740
I thought of renting one.
21
00:02:37,740 --> 00:02:44,100
But if I bargained hard enough,
I could buy one
and perfect the riding technique
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00:02:44,100 --> 00:02:51,620
which had gone rusty since the old
days on the set of "Lawrence of
Arabia" when I taught Omar Sharif
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00:02:51,620 --> 00:02:56,780
how to shoot his rifle without
blowing the camel's head off.
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00:03:00,660 --> 00:03:04,980
SPEAKING ARABIC
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00:03:04,980 --> 00:03:12,540
Bargaining consisted of holding on
to each other's wrists. The last
one to let go got the camel.
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00:03:12,540 --> 00:03:17,500
I didn't see how I could lose.
All I had to do was hang in there
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00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:24,460
while they gave way to the panic
which always seemed to ensue
when the pressure was on.
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00:03:24,460 --> 00:03:30,180
MEN SHOUTING, CAMEL ROARING
29
00:03:42,940 --> 00:03:47,180
Welcome. Good morning.
Glad to be here.
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00:03:47,180 --> 00:03:51,140
I was thinking of renting
one of these.
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00:03:51,140 --> 00:03:59,020
But I'm told I may as well buy one
and sell it back later.
How much do they cost? Those two...
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00:03:59,020 --> 00:04:02,380
er...3,000 Egyptian dollars.
33
00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:13,260
That's six hundred quid.
Quite a lot. You want? Well, I...
Some of them are very handsome.
34
00:04:13,260 --> 00:04:19,060
We were sizing each other up.
I'd spotted the camel I wanted,
35
00:04:19,060 --> 00:04:25,140
and I knew how much I could afford
to bid under the tight system
of BBC accounting.
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00:04:25,140 --> 00:04:29,100
Now all I had to do
was stay cool.
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00:04:29,100 --> 00:04:33,140
ARGUING IN ARABIC
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00:04:36,620 --> 00:04:41,060
Half an hour went by
without anyone relaxing his grip.
39
00:04:41,060 --> 00:04:49,100
But at the end, I'd beaten the
locals out of a camel they'd have
given their right hands for.
40
00:04:49,100 --> 00:04:56,140
A couple had already done so since
my purchase had turned carnivorous
owing to mental instability.
41
00:04:56,140 --> 00:05:04,900
But the price included garaging
and advance riding lessons
after dark, so I was satisfied.
42
00:05:08,260 --> 00:05:15,780
Leaving my camel
at the psychiatrist's,
I plunged deep into the bazaar.
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00:05:15,780 --> 00:05:19,900
Most Cairenes are far from rich.
44
00:05:19,900 --> 00:05:24,380
More and more people
share in poverty.
45
00:05:24,380 --> 00:05:30,620
But the despair
that breeds fundamentalism
happens elsewhere in Egypt.
46
00:05:30,620 --> 00:05:39,300
In Cairo, the less well-off lead
a stylish life in cafes which house
the city's most exciting sport.
47
00:05:39,300 --> 00:05:47,940
Here, Cairo's leading dominoes
players, men who dominate dominoes,
gather to share the special thrill
48
00:05:47,940 --> 00:05:54,460
known only to the players of top
level dominoes on a fast surface.
49
00:05:54,460 --> 00:06:00,540
In the west, a place like this
would be called a bar
and serve alcohol.
50
00:06:00,540 --> 00:06:08,380
But even in liberal Cairo,
Islam frowns on alcohol, so there's
nothing stronger than weak tea.
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00:06:08,380 --> 00:06:15,460
There's a water pipe available for
every customer. They don't yield
much in the way of nicotine.
52
00:06:15,460 --> 00:06:22,940
All they offer is a mildly spiced
puff of smoke, like sucking dust
out of a vacuum cleaner.
53
00:06:22,940 --> 00:06:32,140
But I wasn't going to let it lick
me, although I was uneasily aware
that other customers had licked it.
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00:06:45,220 --> 00:06:48,780
The locals were clearly impressed.
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00:06:48,780 --> 00:06:55,100
They paid me the supreme honour
of inviting me to join them
at dominoes.
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00:06:59,580 --> 00:07:04,060
In the interests of research,
I went along.
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00:07:04,060 --> 00:07:11,220
I wanted to know how they were
having such a good time
on just weak tea and thin smoke.
58
00:07:11,220 --> 00:07:19,540
But I didn't want them to know that
when young I was a dominoes prodigy,
so I pretended incompetence.
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00:07:36,780 --> 00:07:40,060
CHORUS OF "NO, NO !"
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00:07:46,620 --> 00:07:49,460
He wins? Yes.
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00:07:50,820 --> 00:07:53,460
Let's play again.
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00:07:54,100 --> 00:08:00,140
When all the bets were in,
I started playing
up to my real form.
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00:08:00,140 --> 00:08:03,100
It was cruel dominoes,
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00:08:03,100 --> 00:08:07,700
ruthless dominoes,
but true dominoes.
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00:08:07,700 --> 00:08:12,700
They had seen Omar Sharif
play bridge like this.
66
00:08:12,700 --> 00:08:20,100
But they had never seen anyone
play dominoes like this. They had
to admit they'd met their master.
67
00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:28,620
And I had to admit I was meeting
a warm welcome. Where was Islam's
disdain for the west? Not in Cairo.
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00:08:41,620 --> 00:08:47,900
A whole day had gone by
with no bombs going off.
Not even a cross word.
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00:08:47,900 --> 00:08:52,380
The only thing that stunned me
was the charm of the people.
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00:08:52,380 --> 00:08:57,380
A new day, and once more Cairo's
pre-market economy engulfed me.
71
00:08:57,380 --> 00:09:02,460
I was beginning to understand
the principle on which it worked.
72
00:09:02,460 --> 00:09:09,740
A lot of people with not very much
money sold not very valuable goods
to each other, some edible,
73
00:09:09,740 --> 00:09:16,980
thereby sustaining life so that
the whole process could begin again
with undiminished verve.
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00:09:16,980 --> 00:09:21,380
Every imaginable living creature
is for sale.
75
00:09:25,700 --> 00:09:30,620
So is every imaginable part
of every living creature.
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00:09:30,620 --> 00:09:34,460
One living creature used to be
the calf,
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00:09:34,460 --> 00:09:39,100
whose chances of growing up
to be a cow are rendered slim
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00:09:39,100 --> 00:09:45,420
because Arab bridegrooms believe
that calves' knees are
a sure-fire aphrodisiac.
79
00:09:45,420 --> 00:09:50,060
Arab men place a lot of emphasis
on their personal appeal.
80
00:09:50,060 --> 00:09:54,860
Every block has a barber
who offers the full treatment.
81
00:09:54,860 --> 00:09:59,660
I could see one wielding
a cut-throat razor, so I hesitated.
82
00:09:59,660 --> 00:10:04,500
But only the brave
deserve the beautiful.
83
00:10:08,660 --> 00:10:15,700
The process starts with a shave
calculated to leave the cheeks
smooth for high-speed camel riding.
84
00:10:15,700 --> 00:10:22,580
But I had been promised
that the treatment would climax
with something uniquely Cairene:
85
00:10:22,580 --> 00:10:26,780
a special technique
to tone the skin.
86
00:10:26,780 --> 00:10:32,060
I couldn't see anything unique
about the baby oil.
87
00:10:32,060 --> 00:10:37,140
I couldn't see anything unique
about the talcum powder.
88
00:10:40,380 --> 00:10:43,700
But the next bit really was unique.
89
00:10:48,780 --> 00:10:53,340
At first, I couldn't see
why he had to floss his teeth.
90
00:10:53,340 --> 00:10:58,260
Then I found out that he was going
to floss my face.
91
00:10:58,260 --> 00:11:02,020
It wasn't as painful as it looked.
92
00:11:02,020 --> 00:11:07,260
It was MORE painful. But I had
to admit, it left my skin tingling,
93
00:11:07,260 --> 00:11:15,340
although 20 lashes
with a stock-whip
would have done the same.
94
00:11:24,340 --> 00:11:29,420
I thanked him by trying to say
"That feels very good" in Arabic.
95
00:11:29,420 --> 00:11:36,460
Unfortunately,
I had learned the phrase for
"I find you very attractive".
96
00:11:38,180 --> 00:11:42,500
I felt refreshed
and ready for a new challenge.
97
00:11:42,500 --> 00:11:50,900
So I melted into the desert
after adopting a new identity -
Indiana James.
98
00:11:52,980 --> 00:11:56,100
There was a sand-storm on the way,
99
00:11:56,100 --> 00:12:01,180
so I headed for shelter in one of
the large pointed buildings nearby.
100
00:12:01,180 --> 00:12:05,780
We archaeologists call it
the Great Pyramid.
101
00:12:05,780 --> 00:12:11,220
The pyramid presents us
with an insoluble mystery.
102
00:12:11,220 --> 00:12:16,380
So we always come back
to probe its secrets.
103
00:12:16,820 --> 00:12:24,660
Some say the pyramid
is a navigational instrument
left behind by Martian spacemen.
104
00:12:24,660 --> 00:12:27,900
Others say it's the work of a team
105
00:12:27,900 --> 00:12:36,660
of ancient architects too dumb
to invent a roof. But this much
is certain: it's dangerous in there.
106
00:12:36,660 --> 00:12:41,340
The passageways are worn smooth
by thousands of TV crews.
107
00:12:41,340 --> 00:12:46,180
A less experienced explorer
might slip, fracture a hip,
108
00:12:46,180 --> 00:12:52,300
and not be found
until five minutes later
by a vacation group from Minnesota.
109
00:12:52,300 --> 00:12:58,580
And I was going in further than
tourists from America, Britain,
Australia, France,
110
00:12:58,580 --> 00:13:01,860
Germany, and the back of Brazil.
111
00:13:05,340 --> 00:13:10,060
I was going to where
the Japanese tourists were.
112
00:13:16,580 --> 00:13:24,820
Beyond the danger of being crushed
by tourists there was the further
danger of being driven mad
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00:13:24,820 --> 00:13:31,700
by the puzzle
that haunts all adventurers in
the pyramid's miles of passageways.
114
00:13:31,700 --> 00:13:39,740
There are no rolling boulders,
suddenly descending portcullises,
or poisoned spikes to perforate you.
115
00:13:39,740 --> 00:13:42,820
There's just nothing in there.
116
00:13:42,820 --> 00:13:49,260
The whole place
has been picked clean
by two millennia of tomb robbers.
117
00:13:55,100 --> 00:14:03,340
Along a secret passage last used
by a 3-coach party from Thailand
the previous Saturday,
118
00:14:03,340 --> 00:14:11,300
I wormed through into the chamber
devoted to the embalmed corpse of
the designer of the security system.
119
00:14:11,300 --> 00:14:19,020
He had installed every protective
device including air-conditioning
and indirect lighting.
120
00:14:19,020 --> 00:14:27,020
But still no answer to the eternal
question: why, if they were hiding
their bodies from thieves,
121
00:14:27,020 --> 00:14:32,300
did the Pharaohs erect
a whacking great building
122
00:14:32,300 --> 00:14:37,300
to tell everyone in 1,000 square
miles where they were buried?
123
00:14:37,300 --> 00:14:42,380
Why not stick up a neon sign saying,
"Secretly buried here"?
124
00:14:42,380 --> 00:14:47,420
When I got outside, the sand-storm
had come up, blotting all vision,
125
00:14:47,420 --> 00:14:51,700
but I had an old Arab method
of finding my path.
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00:14:51,700 --> 00:14:56,940
"Which way is Cairo?
Is it that way? That way?"
127
00:14:56,940 --> 00:15:00,940
Yes, ask an old Arab.
128
00:15:13,220 --> 00:15:17,780
Back in town,
the sand-storm had moved on.
129
00:15:17,780 --> 00:15:24,780
Endless opportunities beckoned
to buy an exotic gift
for that special person at home.
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00:15:24,780 --> 00:15:31,740
I was heading for a famous shop
that a strict interpretation
of Islamic law might frown on,
131
00:15:31,740 --> 00:15:39,220
dealing in essences whose secrets
were old when slave-girl chorus
lines danced for the first Pharaoh.
132
00:15:39,220 --> 00:15:44,300
Or so the perfume man said,
and he could say anything.
133
00:15:46,180 --> 00:15:54,500
I will give you explanation about
how we make the essence. It will be
interesting for you to know.
134
00:15:54,500 --> 00:15:59,540
After that, you can smell whatever
you like, and any quantity you want.
135
00:15:59,540 --> 00:16:03,660
He spoke English
with stunning eloquence.
136
00:16:03,660 --> 00:16:10,900
His stratagem was to list
all the western perfumes
his perfumes could outperform.
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00:16:10,900 --> 00:16:20,180
Sophia Loren, Sauvage, Chanel 5,
Chanel 19, Drakkar, Cartier, Azzarro,
Lacoste, Vichy, Paco Rabanne,
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00:16:20,180 --> 00:16:28,260
Christian Dior... I was already
battered into submission, but
he must have detected resistance.
139
00:16:28,260 --> 00:16:35,460
Estee Lauder, Cacharel, Anais Anais,
Givenchy, Ysatis, Samsara,
140
00:16:35,460 --> 00:16:43,300
Eternity, Paloma Picasso, Salvador
Dali... Now that he had softened me
up, he moved in for the hard sell.
141
00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:49,740
Now, you'd like to smell something
French or something Egyptian?
Egyptian, I think.
142
00:16:49,740 --> 00:16:57,300
I'll let you try the best for man,
called King Tutankamun. He used this
kind. Forbidden to find it outside.
143
00:16:59,020 --> 00:17:03,780
Give me your hand. This hand?
No, the other one. A delicate touch,
144
00:17:03,780 --> 00:17:07,220
and rub. Try it and smell it.
145
00:17:09,220 --> 00:17:16,060
He actually used this? Mm-hm.
How could they tell
he actually used this?
146
00:17:16,060 --> 00:17:21,100
How do you know Tutankamun used
this? From the story, you know.
147
00:17:21,100 --> 00:17:27,180
And also from the history. Uh-huh?
You must read history very well.
148
00:17:27,180 --> 00:17:33,940
I'll let you try also something
that's too famous in Egypt, for lady,
called Queen Cleopatra.
149
00:17:33,940 --> 00:17:38,020
Queen Cleopatra was using this kind.
150
00:17:38,020 --> 00:17:42,900
This is Cleopatra's perfume?
Yes, that's right.
151
00:17:44,660 --> 00:17:50,900
She had this on when she met
Richard Burton, right? Yes.
Which kind you like?
152
00:17:50,900 --> 00:17:59,340
I think maybe the Cleopatra,
a little bottle of Cleopatra.
I'll let you see the small size.
153
00:17:59,340 --> 00:18:01,820
That size.
154
00:18:01,820 --> 00:18:06,220
That's not too small !
How much does that cost?
155
00:18:06,220 --> 00:18:14,420
Could be a thousand pounds. 1,000
pounds ?! Yes, it's a pure essence.
You could mix it with others.
156
00:18:14,420 --> 00:18:17,980
1,000 pounds is a lot of money.
157
00:18:17,980 --> 00:18:22,740
Just a little one. Haven't you got
a special little one?
158
00:18:22,740 --> 00:18:29,980
All right. For that,
I'll let you see the student size.
It's called teeny-weeny.
159
00:18:29,980 --> 00:18:32,780
Teeny-weeny? Yeah.
160
00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:37,780
That size. This is the student size.
161
00:18:37,780 --> 00:18:45,020
Ah! You be student again. That's
more like it. How much is one of
those? Could be 100 Egyptian pounds.
162
00:18:45,500 --> 00:18:51,620
It's still a lot, but yeah, yeah.
Can I have one of those
full of Cleopatra? Cleopatra.
163
00:18:51,620 --> 00:18:59,180
Actually, 100 Egyptian pounds
is only about £20 sterling, and you
get a lot of Cleopatra for it,
164
00:18:59,180 --> 00:19:06,860
probably a lifetime's supply,
because the stuff lingers
like concentrated orange juice.
165
00:19:06,860 --> 00:19:12,940
It was kind of a pity
to see such a gifted flim-flam man
wasting his eloquence.
166
00:19:12,940 --> 00:19:21,060
He could have made it
as a disc jockey, if his English
had been worse. Any something else?
167
00:19:21,060 --> 00:19:26,020
Uh...that's enough,
it's all the money I've got.
168
00:19:26,020 --> 00:19:31,180
Good luck for 1,000 years.
Good luck for 1,000 years!
169
00:19:33,860 --> 00:19:39,060
In the old days, English
was the language of government,
170
00:19:39,060 --> 00:19:44,340
the British ruled,
King Farouk pretended to rule,
171
00:19:44,340 --> 00:19:49,300
and these Art Deco buildings were
the town houses of a smart set.
172
00:19:49,300 --> 00:19:57,100
Now they have little to boast
on the outside, except a couple
of government-supplied armed guards
173
00:19:57,100 --> 00:20:04,700
without whom no private residence
is complete. Among the people they
protect from the encroaching dust
174
00:20:04,700 --> 00:20:11,140
is one of the last shining lights
of the beau monde that was,
Victor Samaika.
175
00:20:11,140 --> 00:20:16,220
While his Nubian servant waited
to dart forward with a Gin Sling,
176
00:20:16,220 --> 00:20:19,380
I asked what Cairo used to be like.
177
00:20:19,380 --> 00:20:23,860
It was gay, it was elegant.
Very elegant.
178
00:20:23,860 --> 00:20:26,500
There was a royal family.
179
00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:28,140
And...
180
00:20:29,540 --> 00:20:35,620
A class of people who lived
graciously, and who had lovely homes.
181
00:20:35,620 --> 00:20:41,060
And there was the fishing fleet,
you know what that was? No, tell me.
182
00:20:41,060 --> 00:20:47,100
The young debutantes that came
in winter to catch a husband.
It was heaven!
183
00:20:47,100 --> 00:20:52,300
Where did they do their fishing?
Mostly at the Gezira Sporting Club.
184
00:20:52,300 --> 00:20:57,620
Oh? It was, without exaggeration,
the most beautiful club in the world.
185
00:20:57,620 --> 00:21:05,500
You had three polo grounds, two
playing in the afternoon, 16 chukkas
on every ground, 3 times a week.
186
00:21:05,500 --> 00:21:12,340
No such thing
as "weather permitting",
because it was always lovely weather.
187
00:21:12,340 --> 00:21:15,980
And then all the other games as well.
188
00:21:15,980 --> 00:21:22,820
But you could go and spend the whole
day, have lunch, have dinner.
Lovely changing rooms.
189
00:21:24,140 --> 00:21:28,700
Pool... It was...
Everything you needed.
190
00:21:28,700 --> 00:21:33,940
Bits of the genteel world that
Victor once adorned are still there,
191
00:21:33,940 --> 00:21:38,620
although nowadays you take
the rough with the smooth.
192
00:21:38,620 --> 00:21:43,860
The Gezira Club's race track still
exists, but now anyone can get in,
193
00:21:43,860 --> 00:21:49,220
even the Egyptians who were once
lucky to clean up after the horses.
194
00:21:49,220 --> 00:21:54,220
The refined European ladies are
gone, probably never to be replaced.
195
00:21:54,220 --> 00:21:59,580
Among the men, there are no diamond
tie-pins because there are no ties.
196
00:21:59,580 --> 00:22:06,820
But a horse is still a horse,
with something a camel hasn't got -
big money-making potential.
197
00:22:06,820 --> 00:22:12,340
The Cairenes back the gee-gees
with almost fundamentalist fervour.
198
00:22:17,980 --> 00:22:25,860
I was a bit confused at the betting
stand because all the horses' names
were in Arabic,
199
00:22:25,860 --> 00:22:31,220
and there was an accumulator system
in a version of ancient Egyptian.
200
00:22:31,220 --> 00:22:39,500
I stuck on a bundle at random
without being quite certain whether
I was backing a horse or buying it.
201
00:22:39,500 --> 00:22:46,220
A man who seemed to be
a student of form was interested
in what I'd just done.
202
00:22:51,580 --> 00:22:56,580
Up in the stand,
he started explaining it to me.
203
00:22:56,580 --> 00:23:03,500
I had bet my roll on the same horse
he had gone for himself.
It was a sure-fire winner,
204
00:23:03,500 --> 00:23:10,740
and in return for a percentage,
he would show me how to bet my
enormous winnings on further horses
205
00:23:10,740 --> 00:23:15,620
so that the final total
would exceed the national debt.
206
00:23:15,620 --> 00:23:20,780
A third man eavesdropped
surreptitiously.
207
00:23:20,780 --> 00:23:27,820
Going backward? They're all going
backward. Yeah, right.
So what are these?
208
00:23:28,460 --> 00:23:34,380
Dream. Dream? Yes, Dream. Dream.
Dream. I like the sound of that.
209
00:23:34,380 --> 00:23:41,220
The third man was hitching
a free ride, but I held no grudge.
There would be plenty for everybody.
210
00:23:41,220 --> 00:23:46,820
Before long I'd be joining the
high-rollers in their private boxes.
211
00:24:07,980 --> 00:24:11,860
SHOUTING HORSE'S NAME
212
00:24:23,300 --> 00:24:30,780
It won! It did! My horse had come
in, and I was about to be buried
under a pyramid of piastres.
213
00:24:30,780 --> 00:24:35,940
There was nothing left to do except
saunter down and collect the take.
214
00:24:41,580 --> 00:24:47,100
I feared they wouldn't let me bet
the whole fortune on the next race,
215
00:24:47,100 --> 00:24:53,140
but I could pay off my camel's
fuel bills and take the rest
to the bank in a van.
216
00:24:53,140 --> 00:24:56,220
He's counting it out in huge heaps.
217
00:25:07,380 --> 00:25:10,580
Is that it? Is that it?
218
00:25:10,580 --> 00:25:15,900
Is that it? Yes. That's it.
COUNTS IN ARABIC
219
00:25:15,900 --> 00:25:18,340
That's OK.
220
00:25:22,740 --> 00:25:26,780
MUEZZIN CALLS TO PRAYER
221
00:25:26,780 --> 00:25:32,900
Next morning, after a long night
of camel training,
I woke late and hungry.
222
00:25:32,900 --> 00:25:38,020
Luckily, back-street Cairo is
well equipped to provide breakfast.
223
00:25:38,020 --> 00:25:44,580
I passed a man who looked
as if he was trying
to attract my attention.
224
00:25:44,580 --> 00:25:52,180
He was engaged in the manufacture
of Cairo's favourite fast food
which is called futir.
225
00:25:52,180 --> 00:26:00,980
Before the fully qualified futir
manufacturer can get the thing
looking like a parachute,
226
00:26:00,980 --> 00:26:08,940
he must first conquer fear. A man
frightened when forming a futir
ends up wrapped like a mummy.
227
00:26:10,060 --> 00:26:16,540
Can I have one? One? One.
Wahed. One.
228
00:26:16,540 --> 00:26:24,660
The price of the ingredients
eats the profits at the same rate
as the consumer eats the product.
229
00:26:24,660 --> 00:26:32,780
As with almost the whole Egyptian
economy except tourism, there's
hardly anything to put in the bank.
230
00:26:39,820 --> 00:26:46,300
It was just oiled pastry dusted
with sugar, but it had a flavour
hard to define,
231
00:26:46,300 --> 00:26:51,420
a sort of oily, dusty, sugary,
pastry sort of quality.
232
00:26:51,420 --> 00:26:58,020
Long after I had finished it,
I could still taste it,
so I suppose it was value for money.
233
00:27:01,340 --> 00:27:06,740
In Cairo, a little foreign cash
can get you a long way.
234
00:27:06,740 --> 00:27:12,660
Amidst the faded glories
of the railway station
I caught the train for Ismailia,
235
00:27:12,660 --> 00:27:16,860
where Omar Sharif had gone
to escape the heat.
236
00:27:16,860 --> 00:27:21,980
Like the Art Deco buildings,
the race track, even the pyramids,
237
00:27:21,980 --> 00:27:30,020
the station is an eloquent leftover
from before Nasser's revolution.
Most trains show signs of wear,
238
00:27:30,020 --> 00:27:37,300
but they still run fast enough
so that you have to run after them
if you're late.
239
00:27:40,580 --> 00:27:46,660
Once everybody is on the train,
it goes only slightly quicker
than a camel,
240
00:27:46,660 --> 00:27:52,140
but at least
you don't have to hustle.
241
00:27:52,140 --> 00:27:58,700
The Cairenes enjoy their leisure,
and Ismailia is
a favourite resort area.
242
00:27:58,700 --> 00:28:06,140
It's Cairo's equivalent of Brighton
or Bondi or Coney Island, but
it's not bathed by ocean breakers,
243
00:28:06,140 --> 00:28:11,620
it's lulled by the less glamorous
waters of the Suez Canal.
244
00:28:11,620 --> 00:28:18,300
When I first came through the canal
on my way from Australia to Britain
more than 30 years ago,
245
00:28:18,300 --> 00:28:23,060
they'd only just cleared
the mines and wrecked ships
246
00:28:23,060 --> 00:28:30,140
left after Britain and France,
who had both run Egypt before,
teamed up to run it again,
247
00:28:30,140 --> 00:28:37,300
on the patronising assumption that
the Egyptians could never operate
the canal by themselves.
248
00:28:37,300 --> 00:28:43,060
Now confident young Egyptians are
in possession of the beach club
249
00:28:43,060 --> 00:28:50,500
and only their parents can remember
when the Israelis were camped
on the other bank.
250
00:28:59,380 --> 00:29:03,500
But we westerners
have still got the know-how.
251
00:29:03,500 --> 00:29:09,140
It takes a long tradition
of sailing the world's oceans
252
00:29:09,140 --> 00:29:14,380
to have the sixth sense
that men call seamanship.
253
00:29:15,620 --> 00:29:18,660
SHIP'S HOOTER
254
00:29:34,660 --> 00:29:39,660
Lucky I had training, or I'd have
been heading for the Persian Gulf,
255
00:29:39,660 --> 00:29:45,460
where a strange westerner clinging
to a tanker's bows might be jailed.
256
00:29:45,460 --> 00:29:54,620
Back in Cairo, the strange
westerner faces no such threat.
Egyptian Islam welcomes the infidel.
257
00:29:54,620 --> 00:30:02,540
Some of the mosques are
architectural masterpieces,
miracles of spacious poise.
258
00:30:18,020 --> 00:30:25,460
The carpets are threadbare
and the colours on the walls
have been eaten pale by the dust,
259
00:30:25,460 --> 00:30:28,540
but that only adds to the beauty,
260
00:30:28,540 --> 00:30:34,740
making the buildings feel
like giant bubbles
blown from biscuit mixture.
261
00:30:34,740 --> 00:30:42,700
No Christian cathedral feels so
uncluttered, and no oriental shrine
gives such a sense of shelter.
262
00:30:46,980 --> 00:30:52,100
Unfortunately, the stairs
to the minarets are a killer.
263
00:30:52,100 --> 00:30:57,100
Once, a man used to climb up
and call the faithful to prayer.
264
00:30:57,100 --> 00:31:03,780
Now it's through a loudspeaker,
and only foreign tourists go up
in search of a vision.
265
00:31:03,780 --> 00:31:09,380
I had my first vision halfway up,
a vision of myself on life-support.
266
00:31:09,380 --> 00:31:14,580
But when I arrived wheezing at
the top, there really was a vision.
267
00:31:16,540 --> 00:31:19,580
It was Cairo.
268
00:31:19,580 --> 00:31:22,860
MUEZZIN CALLS
269
00:31:22,860 --> 00:31:25,940
From that Allah-like altitude,
270
00:31:25,940 --> 00:31:32,740
you can see the origins
of the city's strange air
of eternity and evaporation.
271
00:31:32,740 --> 00:31:37,820
It's because the concrete and the
dust are made from the same stuff,
272
00:31:37,820 --> 00:31:43,700
so eventually the dust has to win,
because there's more of it.
273
00:31:43,700 --> 00:31:50,580
But the dust will always be there
and so will Islam. The only
question is, which version.
274
00:31:50,580 --> 00:31:53,860
So far, Cairo has the mild version.
275
00:31:56,180 --> 00:32:02,100
SINGING A PRAYER
276
00:32:02,100 --> 00:32:07,460
The men pray at required times but
won't preach at you if you don't.
277
00:32:07,460 --> 00:32:11,460
Christianity used to be
less tolerant.
278
00:32:11,460 --> 00:32:17,660
Despite the fundamentalists'
efforts to make invisibility
compulsory,
279
00:32:17,660 --> 00:32:23,420
women still have a choice about
whether or not to wear the veil.
Some women don't.
280
00:32:23,420 --> 00:32:26,140
Some women do.
281
00:32:27,500 --> 00:32:30,620
And some women really do!
282
00:32:32,780 --> 00:32:38,060
In the 1960s in London, freedom
from convention was my religion.
283
00:32:38,060 --> 00:32:42,820
Now London is a city where
a woman can't walk home alone.
284
00:32:42,820 --> 00:32:49,860
Cairo's women are safe.
Does that make them less free?
What kind of cover-up is the veil ?
285
00:32:49,860 --> 00:32:56,060
I asked a teacher of English
at the American University
in Cairo, Sanaa Maklouf.
286
00:32:56,060 --> 00:33:03,460
I think the root of it in Islam
is to cover what is very attractive
in a woman's body.
287
00:33:03,460 --> 00:33:09,220
And I think it has to be done in
a whole community, a whole society.
288
00:33:09,220 --> 00:33:14,700
Because when it's done,
when women follow this system,
289
00:33:14,700 --> 00:33:22,580
without any implications that
women are dependent and repressed
and so on, just their appearance,
290
00:33:22,580 --> 00:33:31,820
the society may become a healthier
society in terms of less crime,
less violence, less women abuse.
291
00:33:31,820 --> 00:33:37,660
Doesn't wearing the veil
imply submission,
lessen women's independence?
292
00:33:37,660 --> 00:33:41,700
When you live here, you see how we
live, you see that wearing the veil
293
00:33:41,700 --> 00:33:46,860
has nothing to do with our
individuality and our independence.
294
00:33:46,860 --> 00:33:49,620
I remember my mother in the 60s.
295
00:33:49,620 --> 00:33:57,340
It was short skirts, sleeveless
dresses - not my mother necessarily,
but our older generation -
296
00:33:57,340 --> 00:34:05,020
but they were more conservative
in many ways. Socially they were.
Lots of them were not working.
297
00:34:05,020 --> 00:34:08,580
They didn't drive or have jobs.
298
00:34:08,580 --> 00:34:13,980
I am veiled, I'm a university
professor in an American university,
299
00:34:13,980 --> 00:34:21,340
There's no problem whatsoever.
I socialise, I go out with anyone,
friends, family...
300
00:34:21,340 --> 00:34:30,260
There's no control whatsoever,
no relationship between being veiled
and being dependent.
301
00:34:30,260 --> 00:34:35,420
Will you be able to travel abroad
without your husband's permission?
302
00:34:35,420 --> 00:34:43,780
Well, according to Islamic law,
a woman, a wife, should not travel
without her husband's approval.
303
00:34:43,780 --> 00:34:49,860
Er, but...I'm married
to a very broadminded husband
who's a good Muslim.
304
00:34:49,860 --> 00:34:54,580
He would give me approval, and
I would travel, and I have done it.
305
00:34:54,580 --> 00:35:03,140
But within the wide limits set
by the Koran, Cairo still has
a soft spot for western ways.
306
00:35:03,140 --> 00:35:08,100
The rich keep their money in the
west, bringing only enough home
307
00:35:08,100 --> 00:35:13,340
to pay for the odd modest little
shindig behind closed doors.
308
00:35:13,340 --> 00:35:18,220
Tipped off that Omar Sharif
would be among the revellers,
309
00:35:18,220 --> 00:35:23,220
I gatecrashed
a high society wedding.
310
00:35:23,900 --> 00:35:30,780
The bride's dress was ordered
directly from the catwalk
of a Paris couture collection.
311
00:35:36,540 --> 00:35:39,940
WOMEN ULULATING
312
00:35:39,940 --> 00:35:45,340
If the bridegroom had eaten calves'
knees, he was discreet about it.
313
00:35:50,180 --> 00:35:55,660
The formidable mothers of the
betrothed do the organising.
314
00:35:55,660 --> 00:36:02,820
Lost somewhere in the background,
all the fathers do is fork out
from their Swiss bank accounts.
315
00:36:02,820 --> 00:36:05,460
The bill is colossal.
316
00:36:10,180 --> 00:36:14,660
PIERCING TRUMPET TUNE
317
00:36:22,180 --> 00:36:26,740
The whole deal is like
a multi-media production.
318
00:36:26,740 --> 00:36:31,740
There's a video unit present
to create an instant TV programme
319
00:36:31,740 --> 00:36:36,540
transmitted to the revellers
on giant screens.
320
00:36:40,020 --> 00:36:43,460
ULULATING
321
00:36:49,020 --> 00:36:55,580
The revellers generate their
high spirits unaided by alcohol,
at any rate in theory.
322
00:36:55,580 --> 00:37:01,380
Some of the boys seemed to be doing
very well on iced tea (!)
323
00:37:02,900 --> 00:37:09,740
Fifi Abdou is the belly dancer
for A-list weddings.
Her overheads are immense.
324
00:37:09,740 --> 00:37:14,980
Her back-up band costs a fortune
to hire.
325
00:37:21,820 --> 00:37:29,860
For most of her routines, Fifi was
diaphanously clad, but would allow
filming only when wearing her shirt,
326
00:37:29,860 --> 00:37:37,700
just in case western male audiences
were driven mad with desire
and bit pieces out of the TV set.
327
00:37:51,580 --> 00:37:58,580
Then another orchestra took over
while a major production number
raised the question
328
00:37:58,580 --> 00:38:03,540
of whether the challenge of Islam
to the west was really as serious
329
00:38:03,540 --> 00:38:08,820
as the challenge of the Andrew
Lloyd Webber musical to the east.
330
00:38:17,180 --> 00:38:25,740
If the marriage lasted as long
as the wedding, those two would be
all right. But I was short of time.
331
00:38:32,180 --> 00:38:40,460
On my last day in town, I plunged
once again into the bazaar
where the word was already out
332
00:38:40,460 --> 00:38:48,180
that the westerner who had been
training at midnight on a mad camel
might be in search of a galabiyah,
333
00:38:48,180 --> 00:38:52,180
the Arab one-piece nightshirt
for day wear.
334
00:38:52,180 --> 00:39:00,180
Aware that I knew how to bargain,
two renowned galabiyah salesmen
coaxed me to their boutique.
335
00:39:01,500 --> 00:39:04,700
No? I'll go in here.
336
00:39:04,700 --> 00:39:08,980
Something you've never seen before.
Oh, right.
337
00:39:08,980 --> 00:39:16,300
This is my brother. Hi. Hi.
What's your name? My name's Clive.
Nice to meet you. Abdu, and Sama.
338
00:39:16,300 --> 00:39:23,820
Something extra large. I have.
For you or somebody else? For me.
OK. My brother show you. Dress?
339
00:39:23,820 --> 00:39:30,380
With sleeves. Sleeves? Long arm?
But now it's summer,
we have short sleeves.
340
00:39:30,380 --> 00:39:35,140
Where I'm going
I need it with long arms. Right.
341
00:39:35,140 --> 00:39:42,980
That's it? Something like this?
Plain design, long arms.
Extra large. Elephant size.
342
00:39:42,980 --> 00:39:49,460
That isn't the way I'd have put it
myself, but that's extra large?
OK. Looks great.
343
00:39:49,460 --> 00:39:54,660
How much is that? I'll give it
to you 200 Egyptian pounds.
344
00:39:54,660 --> 00:40:02,220
I've been here a while now,
I've learnt a bit about bargaining.
I'd say...30 ? Oh, my goodness!
345
00:40:02,220 --> 00:40:08,100
You want to break my heart,
my neck, my legs? 200 is too much.
346
00:40:08,100 --> 00:40:15,380
I'll give it to you little bit
discount, but not this price.
How much? 160 Egyptian pounds.
347
00:40:15,380 --> 00:40:18,700
Leave out the 100, say 60. 60.
348
00:40:18,700 --> 00:40:26,900
Huh? Uh...I lose my brother!
Can my brother give it to you
more discount. How much you say?
349
00:40:26,900 --> 00:40:35,380
I say 160 Egyptian pounds. How much
you want? 60. English pounds,
US dollars? No, Egyptian pounds.
350
00:40:35,380 --> 00:40:42,220
We lose if we give it for this
price. But I want to help you.
Not 160 and not 60. OK ?
351
00:40:42,220 --> 00:40:47,340
What about 145 ? What about...
what about 90 ? What about 143 ?
352
00:40:47,340 --> 00:40:52,100
What about...91 ? Oh...!
140, OK ? 100.
353
00:40:52,100 --> 00:40:56,540
135. 100. I'm sorry.
100...110.
354
00:40:57,180 --> 00:41:01,020
130. 130 ? Yes. 125.
355
00:41:01,020 --> 00:41:05,500
Good luck! Make a deal. Deal ?
All right, my friend.
356
00:41:05,500 --> 00:41:08,700
Well, I've learned to hold my own.
357
00:41:08,700 --> 00:41:13,420
I had beaten them up to less than
five times my starting price!
358
00:41:13,420 --> 00:41:19,820
Later I heard that they sold
their business that same week
and went into retirement.
359
00:41:19,820 --> 00:41:27,100
Thanks, fellas. See you! Goodbye.
Have a nice time. You're welcome.
Goodbye, my friend.
360
00:41:27,100 --> 00:41:33,300
Having stashed my galabiyah
at the camel garage,
I headed for my last appointment.
361
00:41:33,300 --> 00:41:41,220
Omar Sharif's agent had told me
that this time he would definitely
be there
362
00:41:41,220 --> 00:41:49,060
at his favourite secret restaurant
beside the Nile, best reachable by
ferry. He said not to tell anyone.
363
00:41:49,060 --> 00:41:54,260
It looked as if
there was no-one left to tell.
364
00:41:57,900 --> 00:42:02,300
LOUD POP MUSIC
365
00:42:02,300 --> 00:42:10,660
Once on board, the Cairenes
were soon drumming up their usual
good time out of next to nothing.
366
00:42:13,140 --> 00:42:19,300
They did it
with a surplus of enthusiasm
and a total absence of violence.
367
00:42:19,300 --> 00:42:27,460
A group of young British football
supporters would have reduced
the boat to matchwood in minutes.
368
00:42:36,300 --> 00:42:43,940
But all the Cairenes did
was to spontaneously combine
in a belly-dancing competition.
369
00:42:43,940 --> 00:42:48,900
Some of the best young male belly
dancers vibrated with an abandon
370
00:42:48,900 --> 00:42:54,020
that left Fifi Abdou
looking low on batteries.
371
00:43:01,740 --> 00:43:06,620
But the word must have got out
that the infidel happened to be
372
00:43:06,620 --> 00:43:14,140
one of the great belly dancers
of the western world.
I was reluctant to humiliate them.
373
00:43:14,140 --> 00:43:19,220
But belly dancing is one of
those talents it's death to hide.
374
00:43:19,220 --> 00:43:24,740
Hiding it becomes impossible,
so you might as well flaunt it.
375
00:43:45,780 --> 00:43:53,460
One man who never needed to flaunt
it, but has certainly got it, was
the man I'd tried to pin down -
376
00:43:53,460 --> 00:43:58,300
film star, bridge player, the most
famous Egyptian since Tutankamun,
377
00:43:58,300 --> 00:44:03,140
the Nemesis from the Oasis himself,
Omar Sharif.
378
00:44:03,140 --> 00:44:11,460
Does the man in the street envy you
your international life? No.
You know, they identify with me.
379
00:44:11,460 --> 00:44:18,860
In other words, all these leading
ladies I've held in my arms,
THEY held in their arms.
380
00:44:18,860 --> 00:44:26,060
They... On screen, I'm saying!
They feel very proud,
as if it happened to them.
381
00:44:26,060 --> 00:44:32,300
Would a young person starting off
now, to do what you've done,
stand a chance?
382
00:44:32,300 --> 00:44:40,780
I think the young generation have
a much harder time than we had,
or the intermediate generation had.
383
00:44:40,780 --> 00:44:47,820
It's very tough to be a young person
today. Some of those young people
are really worrying, in a sense.
384
00:44:47,820 --> 00:44:56,500
Is that where fundamentalism
is coming from, from frustration?
Um...I don't believe that Egyptians
385
00:44:56,500 --> 00:45:04,300
are in danger of fundamentalism,
really, because I know these people.
I can't imagine them being...
386
00:45:04,300 --> 00:45:09,260
I think there are probably...
I don't know, maybe 5,000 people.
387
00:45:09,260 --> 00:45:15,740
All this is about 5,000 people
who are very poor - despair has
something to do with it -
388
00:45:15,740 --> 00:45:23,100
and who are being paid to do that.
This is not something
from within the country,
389
00:45:23,100 --> 00:45:30,860
it's something that's happening
from outside the country towards
the inside, I'm pretty certain.
390
00:45:30,860 --> 00:45:35,940
You mean, the more extreme Arab
states? Yes. Because Egypt is...
391
00:45:35,940 --> 00:45:43,300
If Egypt goes fundamentalist,
that's the end of the Middle East.
A big victory for fundamentalists.
392
00:45:43,300 --> 00:45:51,980
How about the increased number of
women taking the veil, is that part
of it? Well, it's economical also.
393
00:45:51,980 --> 00:45:59,900
I daren't pronounce myself on that.
These are very treacherous grounds
for me to tread but, you know,
394
00:45:59,900 --> 00:46:09,020
I find that in our business, the
theatre business, a lot of actresses
are starting to wear the veil.
395
00:46:09,020 --> 00:46:16,540
Except that they're usually...
over 45, you know,
they're getting a little bit fat,
396
00:46:16,540 --> 00:46:22,380
they're a little past their...
let's say their star prime,
397
00:46:22,380 --> 00:46:27,180
and so it's a good time
to start covering up all this.
398
00:46:27,180 --> 00:46:34,500
It's treacherous! Some people
are really religious, also! You
sound like a dominant Arab male.
399
00:46:34,500 --> 00:46:42,980
No! No, no, no, not at all !
You know that the Arab females
are the strongest,
400
00:46:42,980 --> 00:46:50,060
and they are the ones
who are most...have most influence
of any women I met in the world.
401
00:46:50,060 --> 00:46:57,820
All the males, the Arab males, are
completely dominated by their women,
completely, I can assure you!
402
00:46:57,820 --> 00:47:04,420
They have a way of doing it
in an underhand manner
that people don't realise they are.
403
00:47:04,420 --> 00:47:09,580
They're very strong! I know. My wife
was my boss when I was married.
404
00:47:09,580 --> 00:47:15,660
It gets to you, this place.
Anything beautiful's got dust on it,
but the dust is beautiful.
405
00:47:15,660 --> 00:47:23,940
It's wonderful, it's slow,
it's a kind of life that...
406
00:47:24,140 --> 00:47:28,820
the kind of rhythm
that is disappearing slowly,
407
00:47:28,820 --> 00:47:35,540
and you only find it in this part
of the world. Even this river
inspires you with slowness.
408
00:47:35,540 --> 00:47:42,900
It's not a fast river. It's slow.
It's kind of eternal, and it makes
you want to take your time.
409
00:47:42,900 --> 00:47:48,780
You sit for a long time
before you do something active.
I left Omar to be lynched
410
00:47:48,780 --> 00:47:56,020
by older Egyptian actresses.
It was time to say my goodbyes
to Cairo.
411
00:47:59,740 --> 00:48:06,620
In the City of the Dead,
more than a million people
live among the tombs.
412
00:48:06,620 --> 00:48:14,580
Most of the people in Egypt are in
Cairo, and too many of the people
in Cairo live in the cemetery.
413
00:48:14,580 --> 00:48:22,500
But in Rio de Janeiro
they'd be living on garbage tips,
in New York they'd be panhandling,
414
00:48:22,500 --> 00:48:27,580
in London and Tokyo they'd be
sleeping in cardboard boxes.
415
00:48:27,580 --> 00:48:34,260
Few Cairenes believe fundamentalism
knows how to make things better,
so they take what comes.
416
00:48:34,260 --> 00:48:38,340
People have always lived
among the tombs.
417
00:48:38,340 --> 00:48:46,860
Around here, 1,000 years is just
the time it takes for the sand
in an hour-glass to swap ends.
418
00:48:50,300 --> 00:48:57,620
Yes, there are moments when
at least one jaded westerner longs
for the purity of the desert.
419
00:48:57,620 --> 00:49:02,700
So he dons his flowing robes,
springs to his ivory saddle,
420
00:49:02,700 --> 00:49:07,540
and speaks to his camel
in a secret language, saying,
421
00:49:07,540 --> 00:49:14,180
"Take me to my destiny
in the everlasting sands,
for it is written."
422
00:49:14,180 --> 00:49:21,300
And the camel says,
"I will take you to the airport,
for it is getting late."
45789
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