Chapter 1168: Alexandria Port
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Other than Du Xuetao, who was the top-scorer type, when the three other young people who liked to play heard of Zhang Zian’s itinerary, they all showed envy and jealousy. They were anxious to throw away the dull academic doc.u.ments and let the Department of Biology at Cairo University go to h.e.l.l, to go sightseeing with him to Alexandria Port and the Port of Mersa Matruh, to soak in the beautiful bathing pool of Egypt, and maybe to beautify their faces.
Because of the long distance, Zhang Zian thought that Wei Kang would oppose it. However, Wei Kang just nodded and said, “Well, in two days our field scientific research route will take us to Alexandria and Mersa Matruh, and then we’ll enter the western desert from the Siwa Oasis. It’s good that you can first make a trip. It’s a way for us to explore the route.”
“Alright.” Zhang Zian was scared that Wei Kang would go back on his words, so he agreed instantly.
“Then you guys continue working. I’ll go off first.”
After Zhang Zian said goodbye, he jogged back to his room and announced, “Let’s go!”
Cairo was the capital and the largest city in Egypt. It had a pyramid, which was the first of Seven Wonders of the World. It was the tourist center of the whole Middle East and North Africa. Alexandria Port was the last capital of ancient Egypt and the second-largest city in modern times. It had the Alexandria Lighthouse, which was at the end of the list of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was a famous seaport and industrial city. Many multinational corporations were headquartered in Alexandria Port. These were the two most important cities in Egypt and could be called Egypt’s Two Walls.
Because of that, the main road between Cairo and Alexandria Port was in quite good condition. It was the model road of Egypt’s city roads, and it was wide and not rocky. Heading out from Cairo, Zhang Zian drove northwest.
The arrival of Ramadan had dramatically reduced the number of vehicles on the highway. He drove as fast as he was allowed to save as much time as possible. The household car he’d borrowed from Lazart was racing along the highway.
On both sides of the road, there was rolling yellow sand, but the nearby places had quite a lot of greenery planted. Rows of tall date trees and low shrubs formed an endless green pa.s.sage. It caused people to temporarily forget that 95% of the country’s territory was desert.
One of Cairo’s specialties was dates. Because the sun had been s.h.i.+ning for a long time, local fruits, including dates, were so cheap that it was insane, and they were very sweet. Many people bought bags of dates before leaving Egypt and brought them back as local specialties. Zhang Zian also had that plan, but there was still quite a long time before he would be going back, so he was not in a rush.
The elfins watched the date trees skimming quickly across the windows for a few minutes with interest before they got bored and started to take naps.
After more than two hours of driving, the car approached Alexandria Port. On both sides of the road, besides date trees, there were occasionally large banana plantations, as well as orchards planted with grapes, apples, and oranges. The scent of fruit overflowed, and the air was full of sweet smells.
The closer they were to Alexandria Port, the more colors there were. In addition to red, orange, yellow, and other colored orchards, industrial development zones began to emerge on both sides of the highway. The blue gla.s.s reflected the suns.h.i.+ne, giving a modern city feel. It was completely different from the grey buildings and the appearance of the old city of Cairo, and the roads were also very clean.
The Free Industrial Zone in Alexandria Port was the equivalent of Zhongguancun in China and Silicon Valley in the United States. Relying on the tourism industry to fuel their economy carried the hope of Egypt’s industrial revitalization—but the hope is still slim.
Zhang Zian woke up the elfins and told them that they had arrived at Alexandria Port. It would be better to have a simple tour here, have lunch in advance, and go to the Port of Mersa Matruh.
This suggestion suited Fina’s stomach, and the other elfins did not have many opinions on it. The only one that could have a problem with it, Sihwa, was still sleeping in the phone. But where should they eat lunch?
As the van entered the city of Alexandria, the familiar smell of the sea penetrated the car through the closed windows.
“Follow them.”
Vladimir’s eyes suddenly brightened, and it patted Zhang Zian’s shoulder so he would look upward.
There were quite a few stray cats that ran quickly across the roofs. They were coming from different directions, but they seemed to be running in the same direction.
Vladimir squinted its eyes to observe their reaction and muttered, “They seem to want to go and eat lunch…”
Anyway, they were unfamiliar with this place, so Zhang Zian listened to it and drove the car to follow those stray cats. The stray cats took them northwards, and the smell of the sea became stronger and stronger. Zhang Zian did not stop until a crowded market appeared ahead.
“So many places selling fish.”
“So many…stray cats.”
They observed the market in surprise. It had more fish than cats and more cats than people. The strong scent of fish, prawns, and crabs could be smelled clearly through the car window. This was Alexandria Port’s fish market and the canteen for the stray cats in this city.
There was more than one fish market on the seaside avenue of Alexandria Port. They were usually smaller, but they were all very crowded, even during Ramadan. As long as you followed the stray cats, you could easily find these deeply hidden fish markets. As the biggest port in Egypt, this city’s specialty food was fish.
Alexandria Port was probably the city most tolerant of stray cats in Egypt. The tolerance level was around the highest in the world, either first or second.
When people walked in the alleys of the fish market, cats often rubbed at their feet. Humans and cats went to the fish market together. There were more cats than people. Everyone was accustomed to this.
At roadside restaurants, the stray cat entered the place and jumped on the dining table in a magnificent way, like royalty. First, it looked at the diners, and when it saw that the diners had no intention of driving it away, it was brave and dared to eat the fish on the plate.
The waiter of the restaurant walked between the table holding plates and ignoring the existence of stray cats. As long as the diner did not have an opinion, or it did not like the stray cats, the waiter would not meddle.
When the diner left the table after eating, if there was any food left on the table, the waiter would wait until the stray cat on the table had filled its belly, was satisfied, and left.
Few people knew that while people in other countries spent money to feed cats in cat cafes, in any restaurant in the fish market in Alexandria Harbor, one could have free meals with cats.
Local people were indifferent to this, but a few foreign tourists were surprised, and they barely ate a few mouthfuls of their own meals while they concentrated on taking pictures of the cats eating fish on the table. Their dishes all benefited the stray cats that ate them.
Unfortunately, there were very few foreigners in the fish market because the fish market was well hidden. Generally, only those who had visited Egypt several times and liked cats knew this little secret.
This was practically heaven for the stray cats.