Home Posts tagged "recycling"

Tag: recycling

Why you never have to leave home in Egypt

Back home, convenience shopping means a major supermarket chain has opened up a small version of their corporate behemoths in your area, putting your local shops out of business by pricing them out of the market. But hey! They’ve got some parking spaces, cheap booze and a cash machine so it can’t be all bad! Although big supermarkets have appeared in Egypt they cater more for wealthier citizens with cars, so, for the moment the local shop remains king of…

Continue reading

Welcome to the back end of Cairo

A visit to Manshiyat Naser, Cairo There is one major obstacle taking the back streets in a walk to Manshiyat Naser: tea. At times it’s only a matter of minutes between the shouts of hearty fellows inviting you over to join them in another glass, that traditional measure of hospitality throughout so much of the world. My clumsy pronunciation of, “shukran, ana lissa shribt shai” (thanks I’ve just drunk tea) my only weapon to politely stave off the numerous calls…

Continue reading

A tale of two beaches in Chittagong

The pair of young men gunned the throttles of their bright, scarlet motorbikes as they hurtled past me over the damp, beach sand. Cool kids in black and shades. Their girlfriends behind, clinging tightly, their black burqas streaming with a wild flutter in their wake. Back they raced to the throng of well to do families, having found the kind of seclusion at the far end of the beach that young couples seek everywhere, away from protective families. Just north of…

Continue reading

Armenia: too much history

History is everything in Armenia, particularly its Christian heritage. In fact to question someone’s religion can be seen as questioning their very Armenian character. Given that it became the world’s first Christian state in 301 AD (followed in the next few decades by Georgia and Ethiopia) one could hardly blame them for thinking otherwise. Decades of atheist communism made not the slightest dent in their belief. So it comes as no surprise that the landscape is dotted with ancient monasteries…

Continue reading