Well, I know it's only been 24 hours, but what a 24 hours it has been!!

As noted, last night we went to see the whirling dervishes at the Auditorium Hall in Islamic Cairo, thanks to the french professor we met yesterday. It was amazing, really great!! They played traditional instruments (many drums) and the dancers, some in white, some in black and some in bright coloured outfits with layers of impressively patterned skirts performed incredible whirling feats. As you can imagine, Rohan was totally blown away (as were the rest of us, but Ro's eyes were shining like a crazy man!!), not knowing what to expect, and he's got some amazing photos. The performance was free, which was a surprise to us - but I'll return to this point later when I tell you about Mohammed.

I should note that on the way the traffic was so crazy that we may as well have walked. Rohan and I were piled into the front seat, and it's probably just as well we were going at 2kph because we got slightly rear-ended (it was the impatience of the traffic jam that actually caused the prang)- but this was in fact of no real consequence to anyone despite the distinctive sound of a light breaking somewhere. The driver just got out, checked out the minor damage and drove off again. All in a days taxi driving I suppose. Once we got there we faced the major challenge of actually remembering where to go, but luckily we eventually got there with a bit of assistance after having gone round in a bit of a confused circle. By then we were then worried about being late, but as it happened we were perfectly on time and there were five seats just waiting for us all in a row. It all added to the experience really!!

So, in the end, it was a great ending to a great day. As we trundled off to our rooms last night Fraser said a number of times that it was one of the most interesting days of his life and that he never thought that he would see and experience so many new things in one day.

Today, Rohan, Fraser, Jenny and Jeff were (and still are currently) meeting up with their Egyptian contact and touring the fava bean markets. It sounded reasonably interesting, but I decided that there were probably better ways to spend my day. I think I made a good decision, because it has been another fascinating day. In so many ways it is disappointing to have to leave tomorrow as we've only begun to scratch the surface of this incredibly multilayered, varied and complex city - so much history, culture, chaos and such lively, interesting people.

Anyway, as I was saying, rather than looking at fava beans, instead I decided to take a trip out to Coptic Cairo. I left Rohan and Jeff to go for a walk around Zamalek, and Jenny and Fraser in the hotel, and jumped in a taxi with quite a chatty driver who took me to Coptic Cairo via Cairo's large and rather impressive aquaduct - a remnant from the days when the Nile was a mighty flowing river in this area ( a little hard to imagine now), but now just part of the urban sprawl of Cairo. Coptic Cairo was a bit of a maze even though it's a pretty small area, and there is a massive amount of restoration going on. The churches were really interesting - quite a contrast to the mosques with their extensive iconography. I met a Canadian girl called Jessica who was also travelling on her own and we had quite a pleasant time chatting and wandering around.

Oh, I also saw them defleecing and cutting up a lamb suspended from a tree which had evidently been bled to death. Yes, so that was rather interesting...I was rather glad not to have been early for that one!!

Afterwards I decided that it was time to check out Cairo's remarkably efficient metro system. I jumped on, it was pretty crowded but generally good - quicker than a taxi. Didn't see any other tourists (or westerners generally) on there at all though, clearly not the preferred mode of transport - but pretty good value for 20 cents in my opinion!! Still, it was quite comfortable, after successfully changing trains and generally negotiating the metro system to my great relief I jumped out by the Opera house on Zamalek. I wandered around looking for the entrance and saw a half open gate. As I was wondering whether I could go in, a fellow with a massive smile laughed and said it was ok to go in. As it turns out, he was one of the directors of Cairo's Cultural Institute, which is based in the same complex as the opera house. We chatted as we walked towards the opera house, and he was extremely pleased to hear of our enthusiasm from the whirling dervishes performance. He invited me into their Office and, swallowing back the skepticism and reservation that always accompanies an approach by an unknown male to a single female (slightly warranted, but Anna he is very keen to meet you) I followed him through the Cultural Institute Building (there were people everywhere), to his Office (which also contained about five other staff). There we all had a cup of tea and a chat and they began to tell me all about their activities, which are incredibly varied and extensive. They didn't have anything to eat, which clearly concerned them trying to be hospitable they offered me half a cucumber out of a drawer somewhere. I declined explaining that I had already eaten (not true as I was starving as it was getting near to 2.30).

It was pretty clear from their office, their website and their publications that they really are passionate about what they do. It turns out the whirling dervish performance we had seen was funded by them because they were concerned that cultural activities cost too much to be accessible to normal people, and we had a really interesting discussion about the origins and support of the performance. Such an amazing coincidence!! They had a whole range of programmes, sponsoring music, art exhibitions, theatre, opera and more. I met a budding young singer, and have got a cd of a Yemeni lute player, tape and many other bits and pieces to take home. Mohammed than took me on a private tour of the opera house (otherwise not accessible), where they were preparing quite a dramatic set for a performance of swan lake. It turns out that the opera house was a gift from the Japanese, who fused all of Egypt's principal architectural traditions and essentially made the building in a shape that Mirror's the sphynx, even though it's principal features are square lines, columns and moderate domes. It was really quite remarkable and I was so impressed. He then also showed me a Tunisian art exhibition, and Cairo's music library. Then he hailed me a taxi, and I returned to the hotel and a had a shower before desperately going in search of yet another cheese sandwich. As I left I kept reflecting on the remarkable cultural diversity of this city, and the way it all mixes together to make it such a uniquely fascinating place.

So, yet another interesting day! Now I'm just waiting to hear from the workers. It's nearly 6 and I have no idea when they'll be back. Might be time for a nap...!!!