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A trip to Egypt can cost you your hearing

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Travel Articles >> City Travel Travel Articles >> Locations >> Africa >> Egypt

Thousands of tourists rush in th the touristic Mecca of Africa - Egypt. People hurry to dive into the warm sea, drown in the night lights and fully appreciate the local flavor. But the national interestingness can be dramatic for the tourists. Especially if you are headed to Cairo.

This city is often called "a state inside a state". The largest megapolis of Africa (more than 18 millions of people) never sleeps, never stops and is never silent. Most of the locals complain that in the times of so quickly changing life it becomes more and more complicated to have one's own voice and to be heard. They talk about noise - not about the politics.

The noise in the city beats all the impossible limits. Millions of drivers on the roads listen music at the full power, at the same time shouting at each other and pedestrians, beep, wave hands and sing. This is even not an ant hill. More like a swarm of the giant bumblebees chaotically moving and constantly buzzing. You can't hide here from the noise as for example in London, New-York or any of the megapolises of the Middle East. The noise in Cairo - is not simply noise - it is a stunning roar - everywhere. As if a circular saw would function near you the whole year round. The local scientists have measured the noise - and the usual rattle from 7 a.m. till 10 p.m. varies at the level of 85 decibel - that is louder than a freight train running in 5 meters from you. On the roads that lead to the pyramids, on the squares of Tahir and Ramses - and on many other streets - the noise level reaches 95 decibel - what is a little less loud than a pick hammer. Just to compare - the speech noise level varies from 45 to 60 decibel, the sound pressure of a chainsaw makes up 100 decibel and a bullet creates a noise of 140 decibel. This scale is based upon common logarithms and each additional 10 decibel mean 10-times increase of the noise level. Such conditions are normal during the whole life for these people.

The constant sound attack negatively influences on the human body. The noise becomes the reason of the high blood pressure and leads to the excessive irritability. Appetite and ability to sleep can even disappear after some time. People do not have any conditions to spend at least some time in silence and on alone.

The never ending noise - is a kind of reaction to the serious economical problems in the country. On the one hand it is an attempt to screen off from the unpleasant reality of the life in the country. On the other hand - the deplorable situation in the country - is the reason of the constant fuzz and noise. The citizens have to fight to get at least any job. There are almost no jobs at the market - a shop seller, a cabby or a taxi driver - if you have your own transport. A local taxi driver, not making the crying radio less loud and not taking his hand off the horn, says: "Yes, noise depresses me and everybody around. But I have to beep, shout and be louder than the others. Why? To tell that I am here. For the passenger to notice me before he notices the other ones and I manage to get his money. There are more than 2 millions of cars on the roads. Traffic jams are everywhere. So, we have to shout so that the others move away and we can drive through. This is not greediness - rather the struggle for existence. Business is business."

But in many respects, noise - is the natural habitat of the temperamental Egyptians. The hot Africans prefer to live in big communes, they like to share the rumors, love high speed driving and loud music and find emotional relaxation in quarrels. Hundreds of them can sob sadly at the funeral and right there, in a couple of meters would shout out the congratulations to the just married. Muezzins on every corner call hundreds of people into mosques using loudspeakers. Even those who dislike such loud lifestyle, get accustomed after some time - and begin to shout and quarrel in the same way after some time.

And most of the Cairo inhabitants, when they are asked - how can they live in such a noisy city - are puzzled - "Which noise? There is no noise here.",- they shout at the top of their voice not even mentioning that they shout. Well, nobody asks them to change their habits. But the foreign tourists should better take the earplugs with them.

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Article Submitted On: April 17, 2008