Cairo-Alessandria

On my first trip I traveled this route by car, at night and the darkness interrupted by the flames of the refineries, the variety of vehicles that I meet surprised me, but more than anything the fact that there is only one point to stop after about 150 km of road hit me.

On the way back I noticed that for long stretches of road there is nothing but huge multinationals billboards and oasis of palm trees as far as the eye can see.

In complete contrast, there were spontaneous "informal" structures created by locals.

Initially I could not understand it until my driver stopped to buy water and biscuits from a cart. In that moment I realized that it was possible, despite the lack of conventional parking structures, finding assistance.

I returned on a second trip to explore and I found very interesting the dynamics implemented by different traders of the street, for example, along the way there are stacks of wheels so if you happen to drill is not the car tire to be adjusted but changed with another more or less similar already equipped with circle and ready to mount. The punctured tire aparently home from tire and returned the next day on the way to a new gearbox.

The seller of oranges adopted a more interesting business strategy: to allow you to slow down, has fruit boxes at about 150 meters from the actual sales position so as to allow the development by the driver and in order to compensate for the lack of communication.

The same dynamics are repeated for other basic necessities.

The thing that has enthralled and intrigued me is the offset between the communication multinationals which moves on billboards from 6x10 without offering anything real and ingenuity of individuals that fill the gaps of inefficiency and who know the eating habits and needs of motorway users.

This road has for me a great importance, the one of the journey between the two cities separated by a nothingness that is charged with formal and informal mechanisms.