Cairo, Egypt - Day 1

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Day 1 – Cairo, Egypt 9/1/12

First off, let me start out by telling you that I have wanted to see the pyramids since I was around 5 years old. I have always been fascinated with the Egyptian culture and history. I actually remember telling my grandmother when I was young that I wanted to go to Oxford in England and study archeology so I could work at the pyramids and unmask lots of cool and mysterious Egyptian secrets.

Wow. I’m sitting on the porch of my hotel and hearing the cars constantly beep at each other. Cairo is crazy but more about that in a minute.

Our flight took off around 7:00 pm Eastern Standard time from JFK in NYC and arrived in Cairo around 10:30 am, Cairo time. The flight was good, relatively low turbulence and a smooth ride, however I could tell from the get go that women are considered a lower class of citizen than men…even from the male stewards on the airline. We had a meal that consisted of typical international airline food but with an Egyptian spin. I had beef in some sort of sauce and my mom had chicken. It came with rice, bread, chocolate pudding and tea. It was actually pretty good for airline food. The men got served first and then the women. When I was waiting in line to go to the bathroom, there was a man next to me, and he went in first. I guess this is just the way it is in Egypt and would definitely take some time to get used to. It’s kind of a weird feeling. Don’t get me wrong, from what I have experienced so far, Egyptians are nice. They expect a tip for everything, even if you ask where the bathroom is. The Egyptian pound is 6 pounds to a US dollar, so everything that they charge for seems way more expensive than what it actually is. However, after tipping everybody, it is actually kind of expensive. My mom and I really have to convert some currency before we go out to the pyramids tomorrow, otherwise we will blow through our cash in no time. Tipping even one US dollar is like us receiving $6 for pointing somebody in the general direction of a bathroom. I guess not too shabby, huh?

Once we arrived at the Cairo international airport, we went through customs, grabbed our bags, and hopped on the van that was taking the tour group to the hotel. The hotel ride was about 40 minutes of the most insane driving I have ever experienced. People weave in and out of traffic, walk in the middle of the road, stop their cars and buy stuff from people walking with baskets in the middle of the road where vehicles are traveling probably at least 50 miles an hour. It’s crazy. I will try to take a video of it. The first thing I noticed about Cairo is how brown it is. Not shocking since it’s the desert. All of the buildings, which there are TONS of, are sand colored. And of course, with all the sand here…it’s just brown. The hotel is actually really nice. We are RIGHT next to the pyramids and the hotel is considered the nicest hotel in the country and is a 5 star hotel. With that being said, it is nice, but definitely doesn’t compare to the 5 star hotels we have in the U.S. When we arrived to the hotel, we had to wait for the tour guide to check us in, so the tour group went to the bar….naturally….haha. Side note: the hotel is so lavishly decorated and the architecture is amazing. They have old lanterns hanging from the copper ceilings and the whole place is a mash up of colors ranging in shades of brown, red, beige, orange, gold, etc. Definitely what I would expect from an Egyptian hotel. Most of you know that I love my wine. My mom and I ordered a glass of wine which was about $10 each and let me tell you…it was not good. It was drinkable, but not good. But since this is a Muslim country, where drinking is usually reserved for tourist, I guess I can’t complain. I’m glad they have it in the first place! I also noticed that the winery was desert wine. My question is….where the hell do they grow grapes around here? I bet they don’t. I’m sure it’s imported from some other place in Africa and then a desert wine label is slapped on it to make it seem more appealing.

So far, we have had two guides today (day 1). We are expected to be with them tomorrow as well and then on Tuesday, we will fly to Luxor to start our journey on the Nile River. There’s so much to say about this place, I can’t even wrap my head around it (Cairo, that is). Tonight we went to dinner at this place called Calamari. The food was ok. Nothing really to write home about….wait….is that what I’m doing right now? I had the mixed grill which was beef and chicken and my mom had the fish, which I believe was sea bass. It was at dinner that I really noticed that I was losing my steam. I guess that’s what happens after a few hours of sleep and such a long day! After dinner, our guide dropped us off at the pyramids to see a light show. On the way to the pyramids, we drove through some alleys and saw camels and horses. The camels are huge and the horses are so skinny! They just roam the streets when they aren’t working. According to the tour guide the horses know where their homes are and will go home eventually and be home in time to work the next day. So strange. We also saw some dogs. Somewhere I heard that Muslims don’t like having animals in the house because they think they bring evil spirits in. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. But it makes me think about all those hungry dogs with mange in this crazy city and wonder how they are treated in general. On our way to dinner, I got a little nervous because a dog was lying in the middle of an alley and the driver just kept driving. When he got close to the dog he honked but didn’t really slow down. Guess it’s the way of life here? The dog was ok, thank god! Not sure how I would have handled that one!! Anyway, back to our pyramid trek. We were driving down the alleys with all the horses and the camels and people just standing around. There are medians in between the streets where people just go sit and tie their horses or camels to a tree and hang out. There are tables and chairs for people to sit at and drink tea or smoke hookah or do whatever they do. I can’t imagine there are people out there drinking because this is a Muslim country and it’s not very common, at least not what I’ve seen in the entire day that I’ve been here J. When we arrived at the pyramids, we walked in and were heckled by a little girl probably around the age of 9, trying to sell us postcards. She was pretty persistant, but I managed to not buy one! Apparently, the people around the pyramids are really pushy and you can go elsewhere and buy postcards and souvenirs at a cheaper price and less of a hassle, so that’s what I’m going to do. By time we arrived to the pyramids it was dark but I could still see the outline of the pyramids and the Sphinx from the desert sky behind and of course was amazed. What?? I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I just saw the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx!!! Once the show started, they lit up the pyramids and the Sphinx with blue, red, and green lights. It was pretty cool, even with the crazy Arabic music that was coming from the streets behind us. Oh yeah, that reminds me to tell you that the pyramids are literally at the edge of town, right across the crazy streets from Cairo. So, when you see pictures online of the pyramids and you see lots of sand and what looks like they are in the middle of the desert…they aren’t. Note the angle that the photographs are taken from, you’ll see a pattern.

So, there are a lot of beggars here. I’ve heard it’s the same in India, however I think it’s a little less extreme here. Not to say this place isn’t extreme in general. It’s a pretty awesome experience so far, but so strange. Definitely not what I’m used to…but this is the beauty of traveling, right? To experience different cultures and ways of life? Tomorrow we have to get up at 6:00 am to get ready for breakfast and a crazy long day at the pyramids and then the bazaars in Cairo. I can’t wait!!! I can already tell that this trip is going to be constant on the go and will probably fly by. But for now, I’m ready to pass out from my insanely long day!! I will try to write more tomorrow and will try to upload some more pictures tomorrow night. After all, it is 3:41 in the US, which makes it 10:41 here and I am beat! On that note…Good Night!!

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