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Babylon & Beyond

EGYPT: The endless clanging

By Jeffrey FleishmanStaff Writer 
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Cairo is a symphony of clatter, ragged, loud, fuming, insane. It is relentless noise through the day — car horns, the tin hum of machines, the metal prattle of engines, the barking of vegetable vendors, the clop of hurried footsteps. The call to prayer can barely be heard through the cacophony; even the leaves shudder.

So it’s not surprising to learn that, according to a study by the Egyptian National Research Center, Cairo’s noise levels reach 90 decibels. Health officials advise 55 decibels as the maximum safe level. To beat the noise, one must roam deep into the night. Around 2 a.m., the clamor subsides, the traffic clears and the boats quiet on the Nile. The footsteps you hear are likely to be your own. But that can be deceptive. Cairo is a city of tricks. In the instant you’re enjoying the silence, you can turn a corner, and suddenly, like a windstorm lifting from nowhere, you’re scurrying through traffic.

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— Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Babylon & Beyond
Jeffrey Fleishman

Jeffrey Fleishman is a senior writer at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, he was the foreign and national editor. A 2002 Nieman fellow at Harvard University, Fleishman was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing. A longtime foreign correspondent, he served as bureau chief for The Times in Cairo and Berlin, and was previously based in Rome for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He also was a writer on film, art and culture. Fleishman has been a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and a finalist for the Center for Public Integrity’s Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting. He is the author of five novels, including “Good Night, Forever” and “Last Dance.”

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