Cairo

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After 17 hours spent in planes and airports we finally arrived in Cairo from Douala via Casablanca (figure that connection out). Appropriately, the hotel where we met the rest of the group was called the Canadian Hostel - 7 of the 15 group members are Canadian.

Our first full day in Cairo we went to the Cairo Museum and paid an extra $20 to see the royal mummies. Neat experience, no photos to show for it as they made us check our cameras at the door. The museum is incredibly disorganized and it probably helps to have a guide (we had none). There are so many artifacts in there and there is little description to go along with them. Still, it's one of those things you have to see when you go to Cairo.

Our second day was spent on a whirlwind tour of the pyramids at Saqqara, Dashur, and Giza. It would have been nice to have more time at each of the sights and by the time we got to Giza it was tour bus madness! Even people who had been to Cairo before had never seen the pyramids this busy. Just our luck to be here at high season late in the day on the busiest day of the week. But still, it's hard to ignore the presence of the huge pyramids.

The rest of our time in Cairo was spent in and out of McDonalds! It's amazing how much you miss the junk food after 3 months in West Africa.

A note about hassle: Egypt in general seems to have a reputation for being full of hassle for tourists. While it is out there we found that many places in West Africa were much worse - perhaps we're just so used to it now that we tune it out. We've had a fantastic time in Egypt so far and for the most part have felt quite welcome.

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Photos

Giza 5
With the masses from tour hell.

Giza 8
The proximity of the city of Cairo to the pyramids is clearly visible.