Looking for
No Trails

The stream of cars, colourful and battered buses and roaring motorcycles fill the night air with their noise and light, while the shops around slowly quiet down and close, their lights going out one by one. The upper floors are packed with people and so do the tables placed on the sidewalk, so that we hardly find a place at one of the tables placed directly in the street, with all traffic rushing past us a mere meter or so away. There is a quite strong contrast between the street noise, respectively the rather low voices and smooth conversations of those at this place, yet that happens because there are some other things that rule here: the sheesha and mint-infused chai on the one hand, and the wonderful voice of Umm Kulthum on the other.
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For pictures from my trip, click on the link below.

It is past 10 PM. There is no stage, a couple of loudspeakers have been placed on the sidewalk, the old world, elegantly dressed singer performs in the street and hundreds of people surround her, clapping their hands and singing together, while young girls in their colourful dance attire come and go around her every now and then. There is no playlist, roadplan or staging, yet it all smoothly goes on. The whole quite large square reverberates with the music, yet, if one looked at it all without hearing anything, he or she could easily say there is no music at all, as elderly ladies sit on benches chatting, mid-aged men play chess, children go tumbling on the ground, ambulant coffee sellers, as well as shoe polishers are in high demand. With the sound off, the whole square, those around the singer and the others, would seem to be going in rather slow motion, as nobody rushes, there is no ado, and it takes me quite a while to oblige and walk in their slow, relaxed, peaceful pace. But only this way one gets home to his inner self.

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For pictures from my trip, click on the link below.