Cairo

Where to begin?

It was somewhere that I REALLY wanted to go to while we were here. I always dreamed of seeing the Pyramids, Sphinx etc. It was NOT somewhere that Kelli was too pumped about seeing. I will admit that I was a tad apprehensive simply because I had never been in a place THAT foreign. Going to different countries in Europe is about as easy as driving to Ohio (not that anyone would) or flying to Orlando. Sure, the language is an inconvenience but the cultures are generally the same. You can make out the letters and get a book and at least translate what you are eating. Not so easy with Arabic. I thought we were throwing all of that out the window. I was wrong.

Smiling faces on EXTREMELY kind people, more English spoken than France, American restaurants (Chili's. TGI Friday's, Quizno's to name a few), BEAUTIFUL Hotels, great food, surprisingly good beer! Not that any of these things would have made us want to go there in and of themselves, but it is always good to see and/or experience a little bit of home when you are a little nervous.

Obviously there are differences. Egypt is not doing to well financially right now and there is a great deal of poverty, trash and what I would initially have perceived as lawlessness. The lack of sidewalks (people are EVERYWHERE), apparent lack of building codes, non-existent traffic lights or cars manufactured since I got my driver's license makes you feel like you are in the tumble cycle of a clothes dryer as you barrel down the road. However, there seems to be a very eerie hum of control below it all. The lack of rearview mirrors and lane markers has forced every driver to use their horn as a sort of "HEY I'M OVER HERE" beacon to any car within earshot. It was not really lawless at all, it was just, different.

To walk around and past unbelievably beautiful Mosques and hearing the call to prayer, to see how men reacted to Kelli and women reacted to me, to feel totally and utterly foreign was a very new feeling. But it was not uncomfortable. As long as you were kind, smiled and respectful, people would smile back, knowing full well where it is that you come from and that you are different. In many ways, I couldn't help but think, we Americans should pick up a few things.

We spent the first night walking along the Nile and got to bed early ready for our only full day.

Saturday morning we got to the Pyramids early enough to get a ticket to go inside the largest of the Pyramids. They only give out 300 or so passes a day to keep the wear and tear down and they are first come, first served. What a workout, and it is NOT for the claustrophobic. There is one stretch that you are hunched over at a 90 degree angle and climbing a steep incline while trying not to pound your head on the millions of pounds of Limestone between you and the sky. After moving in and out of a few chambers, you end up in the central room where the Pharaoh was buried. Absolutely nothing in the room but about 15 tourists panting. And then back out the way you came in.

That is when we met Moses and Ahmed. After a little bit of bartering, and Ahmed grabbing Moses' buddy Charlie Brown, off we went on camelback walking around the pyramids and out into the desert. (We discovered that camels get their name from the first person (tourist) to ride them. Moses was named by an American, Charlie Brown was named by a British woman, and they had a third camel that was named by a German, he called him Lufthansa.....poor camel)

We toured around a bit, saw the Sphinx (smaller than you think) and were back to the hotel in about 5 hours. We hung out by the pool and rested up for the night.

We headed to the Khan el-Khalili market at dusk for a couple hours of shopping. What an experience. There are NO price tags. Everything is bartered. We picked up a few things and did alright bargaining with some guys that would put some Western businessmen to shame. We were offered Egyptian tea while we bartered in one shop as is custom. It was great. Kelli and I realized that this one man was uncomfortable dealing with women so we teamed up very well and used this to our favor. Kelli was the hard ass (not a stretch!), and when the man would get flustered, he would drop his price and come back to me. I would continually defer to her. Very entertaining.

We then had a Nile River Dinner Cruise to hit after the market. It was phenomenal. The food was all Egyptian. Egyptian food is very similar to Lebanese or any other that you would find in any Middle Eastern restaurant. Hummous, Tabbouli, Kebab, Kafka etc. We had a belly dancer to live music and a traditional male dancer that seemed to spin forever in this colorful robe. Then we had a Egyptian Lounge Act that wasn't so bad. We spent this time on the outside of the boat watching Cairo go by.

On Sunday morning we headed to the Egyptian Museum. Our primary goal was to see the Tutankhamun rooms but we were able to pretty much see EVERYTHING we wanted to see in a couple of hours. Absolutely amazing place. Strange to have these priceless pieces of history displayed in only a VERY basic manner. There did not seem to be any security systems at all in the Museum. The large items were laid out for you to touch (although that was discouraged) and the mummies and most of the VERY priceless items were in a basic wood case and behind a thin sheet of glass that you could walk right up to.

We only had 48 hours in Cairo and I would say that is not enough. There were some neighborhoods that we missed and I am sure some other sights to be seen, but for a weekend trip, not so bad.

Enjoy the pics and leave some comments!