Being upgraded to a window seat at Istanbul airport was a bit of a score but I didn't anticipate the rollercoaster landing in Cairo.
As we got closer having crossed the Mediterranean sea I saw the coast of North Africa. The yellow brown and incredibly flat terrain stood out as we passed unknown cities clustered with buildings of similar dull colours.
After a short time we were over an urban landscape which could only be Cairo.
Thousands and thousands of brown and grey/white buildings scattered far below like a sea of distant shoe boxes going on and on. We hovered over them, shaking in the desert wind and seemed to circle around for an endless nervous time.
The seatbelt signs are lit. The buildings seem so close and I keep imagining careering into them. Scenes of 9/11 play somewhere in the back of my mind.
WHERE IS THE AIRPORT?
Time goes on and still we are buffeted in the wind. Still the city seems close enough to clip the wings. At last the captain makes an announcement.
We are preparing to land. I felt an almost religious sense of relief when we touch ground. All around us is yellow and I can see miles to the horizon.
I am in the desert.
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