It's Just About Cairo

When not exploring Pharaonic wonders, we spent our days walking through various neighborhoods of Cairo and finding our way among the city streets. Cairo is a city of 20 million and truly puts NYC to shame as the city that never sleeps. We have heard that the time to really see the city is after midnight; however, at this time there is a curfew on so that is not possible for us.

One of the most invigorating aspects of touring the streets of Cairo is the game of human frogger that one must engage in when crossing. We had some experience with this in Amman, but there are more cars and much wider spaces for traffic to fill in Cairo, so it takes a little more maneuvering (one lane at a time). Speaking of lanes, we don’t think they exist because we have also taken some cab rides and witnessed firsthand the ways in which drivers push themselves right into any open space. It’s quite fascinating and we have yet to see one accident (though there was a very close call at a corner we crossed on one occasion). We also quickly observed that the majority of vehicles’ bumpers are scratched and scraped and that parking is also a free-for-all – cars double and triple-park stopping right up against the bumper of any car in the vicinity.

Our explorations of Cairo brought us to several points of interest. On our first excursion, we headed straight for the Nile and crossed onto a small island at an area called El Gezirah where the Opera House and a Museum of Modern Egyptian Art can be found in a lovely peaceful courtyard. It was a nice little quiet space outside all of the traffic and blowing horns. We also saw the Cairo Tower, the tallest city structure providing 360˚ views of the city (the entry fee is steep – higher than to visit the pyramids, so we just looked from below). Our stroll continued along the Nile on both sides and through Tahrir Square, which you surely have heard of in the recent news and revolution (some of which we were able to observe while waiting to meet up with a friend for dinner Friday night).

We spent an entire day walking through the Egyptian Museum viewing the over 250,000 relics from Pharaonic sites all over the country. It was information overload for sure, but amazing to see so many artifacts in such good condition and with such detailed hieroglyphs and designs and paintings. We even saw the Rosetta Stone and didn’t realize it! We were looking at it talking about the 3 languages inscribed and it resembled something familiar, but it wasn’t labeled and at the time we couldn’t quite place it. It wasn’t until later that Anthony remembered it was in the museum and when we were enjoying a snack outside a friendly Egyptian man told us right where it was at the front of the museum where we returned to view it.

Thursday took us to the Islamic Cairo (also on the World Heritage List) section of the city where we toured the al-Azhar Mosque; in addition to removing our shoes, ginnie had to cover her hair and her hoodie made a good scarf for the occasion. This was our first time in a mosque and it was a very ornate one at that, with three sections that have been added onto during successive periods (a caretaker gave us a tour and spoke in a mix of Arabic and English, so all we know for sure is that one section is Turkish and one is Suni, we did not get the last).Across the street from the mosque is the Khan al-Khalili souq (bazaar; market) where vendors sell their wares always at a negotiable price. We wandered the alleys in search of anything that caught our eye. Along the way we even visited a shop where we found a man weaving large ornate Oriental/Persian rugs.

During our wanderings we also discovered The Egyptian Pancakes House where we tried fatir, an Egyptian version of pizza, thin flaky pastry dough filled with your choice of items (we got cheese and fresh olives – delicious for ginnie; nice of Anthony to go with the olives). It was delightful. We continued on our walk through Bab Zuweila, an old southern gate for the city that then led onto the Tentmakers’ Bazaar, where we met a very kind man who wrote our names in Arabic in fun shapes. We viewed many different weavings and after some negotiating and bargaining, settled on a fair price and purchased a beautiful piece from him that says Salaam (peace in Arabic) in the shape of a bird. Ginnie was also able to pick up a nice Egyptian cotton scarf for a great deal (under $2!).

To close out the day, we meandered over to the Nile River for a sunset felucca ride with a wonderful guide from Asuan (a site we will visit on a future trip to Egypt).

On Saturday we hopped on the Metro, which has a stop right by our hotel, and went to Coptic Cairo (aka Old Cairo), which is the Christian area of the city. We disembarked right inside the walled area of a few of the Christian churches built thousands of years ago. The most interesting, for us, is the Hanging Church built on pillars above a now ancient Roman water drainage system. The artwork on the panels is reminiscent of that in the mosques but with crosses interwoven within. The church holds relics of several saints, as well as paintings from as far back as 12 A.D. It is quite different from the Spanish colonial churches of Latin America. We also visited Saint George’s Greek Orthodox Church.

Continuing along our journey Saturday, we visited The Citadel. On a side note, this involved stopping 4 taxis before finding one who knew where we were going (or understood us). Disappointingly, many of the areas within the Citadel were closed, but we were able to enjoy the views of Cairo from above (even seeing as far out as the Pyramids at Giza) and enter the ornate Mohammed Ali Mosque. We also walked through the Military Museum and quickly discovered that neither of us has much interest in military history and artifacts! At least we tried. The evening was relaxed with a visit to the incredible sweets stop, El Abd, where we were overcome by the delicious aroma of freshly baked treats. There were so many cakes, pastries, croissants, cookies, and candies; we were overwhelmed. We selected two delightful sweets (one with an apricot topping, one chocolate) that were essentially layers of cake or flaky pastry dough and cream – fantastic! For those who know Boston, picture Mike’s Pastry with lots more people and a wider, cheaper selection.

In addition to the sight-seeing, we’ve been able to spend time visiting our friend and fellow BZ RPCV, Catherine. We are also enjoying some great Egyptian eats, ginnie has had a lot of koshary and Ant is loving the taamiya (fava bean falafel that is flat). Not to mention these delectable eggplant sandwiches we have been eating. On our latest visit to Felfela (a takeout place where we get the koshary and taamiya) one of the employees told Ant he has become a regular since he’s seen him so frequently! Nice J

We only scheduled a week in Egypt, so we are now relaxing on a final day with a planned walk across the Nile again and another evening with Catherine. Now, it’s time to guess where we’re heading next!

Next Destination Hints:

~claims are made that its stock of arresting architecture is one of its most attractive features

~opportunities to explore the arts of beadwork and basketwork

~exploration of lush gardens and beautiful beaches

~boasts adventure outdoor activities such as kloofing

Al Hub as-Salaam!

The Pyramids of Giza

On Tuesday we ventured to the outskirts of Cairo to Giza for a visit to the Great Pyramids, another World Heritage Site and another of the new7wonders (the only ancient one remaining on the list). We conferred with a friend who resides here and were given a heads up for costs and what to expect en-route, which incidentally ended up probably saving us a few headaches, as well as a good deal of money. Getting to Giza is an adventure in and of itself. The trip begins with a rather lengthy taxi ride through the belly of the beast (Downtown Cairo), in one of the largest and most populated cities in the world (20+ million). After fighting through traffic for about an hour, we reached the suburb of Giza and saw the Great Pyramid off in the distance behind the surrounding buildings and street signs. As we approached the entrance, a number of excited Egyptian peddlers attempted to join us in our taxi in hopes of becoming a tour guide or assisting us with commandeering an air conditioned taxi (in the form of a horse or camel ride). We politely declined many of their offers, sometimes over and over again (they can be very persistent).Some even went as far as telling us that the entrance was closed and that it was required that we rent a horse or camel because there was absolutely no walking allowed. (J) We both got a good chuckle out of this, Anthony even went as far as saying that he would love to have the opportunity to ride a camel, but unfortunately he just was not able to. Finally we were left alone for a few minutes, as time went by though, more people attempted to lure us in with different offers, this time our driver had had enough and he began sending them away in loud and firm Arabic which was quite helpful.

We reached the entrance finally and many people circled around looking to assist us in any way they could in order to earn Baksheesh (a tip). We purchased our tickets, proceeded through the gate, and began our walk into the complex. A few minutes later we realized that we had forgotten to pick up our change at the entrance booth and worried we would never get it back since we had already passed through. Fortunately, when Anthony returned to the window the woman smiled and said, “Oh, yes, here is your change sir, no problem.” It was at this moment that we both realized how thankful we were that we were visiting a country where people are very honest.

The first relics that come into view as one enters the complex in Giza are The Sphinx and The Pyramid of Khafre (Chefphren) (one of the 3 largest of 9). The area is home to a number of structures with the three largest being (The Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), the Pyramid of Kahfre (Chephren, built by Khufu’s son and smaller in size but on a hill to appear taller), and the Pyramid of Menkaure (Mycerinus). The 1^st built with stone carried from the present day Cairo area, the great Pyramid made of stone from Asuan, and the final larger structure with stones from Luxor. Other structures in the complex include a number of smaller tombs and remains of residential and/or farming areas. We spent the better part of the day exploring each in great detail, taking a number of silly photos, and finishing things off with a camel ride on a middle-aged beast named Michael Jordan. This was something that we found quite entertaining as we traveled around the different structures and were offered rides on various taxis whose names coincidentally referred to both fictional and real people. In fact, to try to allay some hassles we began speaking only in Spanish, but sometimes a peddler would be able to haggle in Spanish, too, or a version of Spanglish and Italian words. We met a very nice camel driver with a famous Giza camel named Charlie Brown who spoke Spanish fairly well, that led to a long conversation and us having to decline helping some university students with a survey since it was in English and Charlie Brown’s owner was still with us. Ginnie felt she should have earned some money when she caught a boy and a man taking her photo and then was asked by a young Egyptian girl and boy to take her picture with each of them. If we took pictures of Egyptians we’d be asked for Baksheesh, so it seems only fair to do the same! All in all we met quite a few Egyptians attempting to get us to take a ride or buy cheesy pyramid statues, and actually had some great conversation with a few along the way. Considering the steep decline in tourism since the revolution, competition is more cut throat for the limited number of tourists visiting. This decline made for a great opportunity for us as there were far fewer people around to get into our photos!

As we made our way around the complex, we eventually opted for a camel ride because, well, Anthony had really wanted to ride a camel around the desert in Egypt and what better place than at the Pyramids. The ride offered great views from atop the camel and also allowed for us to take in some great vistas across the desert on one side and the entire Giza complex on the other. Not to mention that it gave us time to reflect on where we were and consider how we were traveling through the same place as ancient pharaohs from over 4000 years ago.

After about four hours or so we headed out, secured a great deal on a taxi by pitting a couple of drivers against each other and causing them to negotiate with us for the fare. We returned to Cairo via a somewhat wild taxi ride (lots of tight squeezes, hairpin turns, near misses, and a great deal of traffic while waiting to go through the now- famed Tahrir Square). Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the ride was a stop at the gas station where the driver purchased 8.5 liters of gas for 3.6 Egyptian Pounds – the equivalent of about $0.30 per gallon. Shocking, but true!Now, if everyone could just officially get on board and start boycotting the huge oil companies in The United States, maybe we could get a decrease. No matter how you slice it, $0.30 per gallon at the pump in Cairo, adding in transport costs to North America, still does not equate to nearly $4 a gallon. Well, that’s it from here, time to get off the soap box and head out on our next adventure.

Al Hub as-Salam!