Day 6 - Cairo, Egypt

At 9am we met our local guide, Amira. After last night’s fiasco at the airport, I was so glad we had an English-speaking guide for our two days in Cairo. Without her, I don’t know if I would have made it out of the hotel. Our first stop was the pyramids at Giza. While there are over 100 pyramids scattered across Egypt, these three are the largest, most well-preserved, and most famous. They are the burial sites for three generations of kings from the Old Kingdom, dating from around 2700 B.C. The pyramid of King Cheops is the largest (the Grand Pyramid), followed by his son Cafferin, followed by his son Menkaure. There are a few “baby” pyramids surrounding the larger ones for wives and daughters.

The Grand Pyramid is estimated to contain approximately 2,300,000 stones, each weighing several tons. The Egyptians quarried the stone several kilometers to the east and transported it to Giza by boat during the flood season of the Nile. We entered the second pyramid and saw the king’s burial chamber, although it was discovered empty, probably the victim of grave robbers.

While at the pyramids, Brian convinced/told me that we were going to take a camel ride. While this may seem innocent enough, I had just been told a story of how a woman broke her back falling off a camel, and had to stay months in an Egyptian hospital (aka hell). Add to this seeing one too many camel-related challenges on the Amazing Race, and I was fairly scared. It is not like riding a horse. You are about 8 feet up, and bobbing all over the place, and that’s only after you get up. Brian got some good video and pics of me as he was holding the camera – there was no way I was releasing my kung fu grip on that saddle. After we made it safely back and my feet touched the ground, I was much happier and glad we did it. However, I will probably not be riding a camel again anytime soon.

After the pyramids we saw the Sphinx and then stopped by a Papyrus factory to learn how papyrus paper is made. We then journeyed into downtown Cairo to the Egyptian Museum. Although only a few kilometers away, the trip took about an hour because of traffic. In the museum, we saw artifacts from the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of Egypt, including the contents of Tutankahmen’s tomb (aka King Tut). He only ruled for seven years, and he had a lot of treasures, so one can only imagine what is in the undiscovered tombs of other kings.

After our tour we decided to go to the train station to purchase our tickets for the overnight train to Luxor the next evening. We couldn’t reserve tickets from the U.S. because you need to go in person with your passport. We left around 7pm, to try to avoid what we assumed would be rush hour. Little did we know that the worst traffic in Cairo is around 9pm [Note: there is no rush hour in Cairo, but instead, rush days (excluding Fridays, which is the Muslim holy day)... traffic usually ends at 1 or 2am, then kicks back up in the morning]. The cab ride to Giza station took about an hour (after figuring out exactly what train station to go to, which in of itself was unsettling). The driver dropped us off outside a dilapidated building with crowds of rowdy men outside it, indicating that this was the train station. We cautiously approached, and thankfully saw a sign in English indicating the line for foreigner reservations on the overnight train. And then we waited. Imagine me, the sole white woman, nay the sole woman, in a crowd of Arab men. Much oogling ensued. It was extremely uncomfortable, and I told Brian he was not to let me go. As we waited in “line,” men started pushing their way in front of us, and we kept getting pushed to the back. After 20 minutes, one friendly man helped us (i.e. me) get to the window. We asked to purchase tickets for the overnight train for the next night. The attendant asked, “Sit or sleep?” We responded, “Sleep.” “That’s the next window over,” he said. Great. Just Great.

Thankfully there’s no line at the next window. Unfortunately, there’s no attendant either. We wait for another 5 minutes, through another round of gawking, until a man leisurely approaches and asks us what we want. Again we tell him, and he says “Next window over.” But there are no more windows! We are thoroughly confused. Brian tries to get a better explanation from him as to the location, and the attendant calls over another rifle carrying guard. Awesome. They have a lively conversation in Arabic, with much pointing at us. Finally the guard approaches, and points to a small shack next to the building. This, he says, is where they sell tickets to the sleeper train. One minor problem. It is closed. He confidently tells us the window will open at 8am the next morning. Defeated, we find our cab driver and return to the hotel.

By this time, it is around 10:30pm and we are starving. We make our way through an Egyptian wedding happening at our hotel, to what else, than a Tex-Mex restaurant. We enter, and there is American rap music pumping and disco lights flashing. Apparently, it is “Party Hour” at the restaurant. The waiter asks if we want smoking or non-smoking, and we respond “non.” Then he proceeds to seat us next to the only other occupied table in the restaurant, where people are smoking. Non-smoking in Egypt is a relative term apparently. Alas, I am too tired to protest. With nachos in our belly, we go to bed, hoping to be more successful tomorrow.

Brian:
Additional Notes/Thoughts:
- Traffic: All I can say is wow. I thought Istanbul was bad - add to it no lanes, no traffic lights, no crosswalks, tons of pedestrians darting across the streets/highways, ten times the traffic, and you've got Cairo. If you happen to hit a pedestrian on a street (which seems highly likely), it is your fault, and you could be sentenced to death. However, if you hit a pedestrian on a highway, it is the pedestrian’s fault.
- True story: I saw two babies cross a busy 6 lane highway. I wish I had a picture.
- Below is a video we meant to publish in the Istanbul blog. It goes on for at about 5 - 10 minutes. I don't know how these guys don't get dizzy.

Whirling Dervish - Istanbul, Turkey from Brian Burns on Vimeo.