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Published: September 10th 2007
Our Beautiful Bedroom View
Our 2nd impression of Cairo (after the chaos of arriving by bus from the airport!). And what a splendid impression it was! :@We arrived in Egypt the first of September--it seems like a month since we've been in the cool weather of the UK. We arrived in Cairo international after getting up at 4AM (thanks again, Paul, for the ride at that obscene hour!!), changing in Milan and having the child from hell sitting behind me screaming, whining and kicking the back of my chair. The customs gate at Cairo was a joke--we bought our visa stamps at the bank and had them slapped in and stamped by the guard who barely gave our passports a glance. The whole process took 15 minutes!! As soon as we got to baggage claim the taxi touts were on the hunt for fares. After that kid behind me, I was ready for a fight! We were expecting a pick-up from our hostel and when one wasn't there a "generous" taxi driver let us use his mobile. Then tried to charge us 5 British pounds for it!! No chance--if it was that expensive he wouldn't have a phone! We told him we were taking the bus, and then we got blatant lie #1: he promptly told us there were no buses to the city from the airport!
Holy Bus Bumbles!
Hold on tight if you want to take a bus here... they keep the doors open and you're on your own! I told him, "Well, what is that thing that just drove by then??" and we walked off to the bus. (There are always blatant lies told to get us to spend money with the teller of such lies.)
We waited at the bus stop for an hour waiting for the right bus. In that time, we got a great insight into Egyptian transport and learned our Arabic numbers. The numbers are easy, the writing isn't. There can be up to 4 ways of writing each letter depending on where it is in the word!! I'm not even trying to learn! The bus system in Egpyt is fantastic. The buses are packed full at all times with men, so packed that most of the time there are men hanging out of the open doors because they can't fit on the bus. We sat at the bus stop watching buses slow down (but not stop) and men fighting and scrambling with each other running after the bus trying to get on, all while others are fighting their way to get off the bus. Lachlan and I looked at each other like, "are you ready for this?" with a gleam in our
A typical street in Cairo
Actually... this street is a little tidier than normal, but it adequately illustrates the general chaos! eye. Finally, after waiting for the 356 bus that never came a local tells us, "you need this bus." It slowed down about 50 yards away and about 20 men started running for it. Without a second thought (we figured it was obvious where we wanted to go) we started running too, packs on. I don't know how we got on--it all happened so fast! I think I was shoved on by the back of my rucksack. The whole time we're thinking, "how are you supposed to pay?" It was body to body in the bus, but about 5 minutes later the same guy manages to get back to us and say, "you get off here". We arrive at a transfer bus station in which he finds us a new friend to take us the rest of the way: 23-yr-old Amr. Amr even goes 5 stops past his and walks us to the door of our hostel and gave us his mobile number in case we have trouble in Egypt. We were starting to wonder about his intentions that he would start to ask for "backsheesh", but he was genuinely just friendly and helpful.
We find a lot of
Lachlan finally took to beating Brigid's feet...?
... nope. The dirt and grime of 3 hours' walking in Cairo. It is REALLY grotty here. Our bogeys were oil-slick black as well, but Brigid wouldn't let me take any pictures of them! people in Cairo are very friendly. Most of them just want to take us to their papyrus shop or perfume store, but a lot of people just start talking to you on the street--we almost feel like celebrities. We've had our picture taken (we still don't know why), been in someone's wedding video, and lots of teenage boys like to shake my hand. We've gotten a lot of unsolicited advice on where to go and what to see in Egypt and how to avoid other people's scams.
On day 2, we decide to brave the way to the train station to buy our onward ticket to Aswan. Blatant lie #2: the manager at the hostel tells us that we can't buy our ticket at the train station. "They don't sell sleeping train tickets to foreigners." We can only buy train tickets through him with a package deal and he leaves on Thursday. Hmmm...I don't think there are many Egyptians standing in line for a $60 sleeping train ticket... We tell him we'll take our chances going to the train station and he says, "OK, but you'll be back and buy your ticket with me." OK...
Going to the
Giza! (scamland!)
Dodgy scammers are EVERYWHERE around Giza, but we made it onto the backs of some desert caddilacs, and set forth thru the sands... Lawrence eat yer 'art out mate! train station was an experience. It involved crossing several of the busiest roads in Cairo--which is both fear-inducing, yet exhilarating. There is major traffic in Cairo, with honking taxis (explains A LOT the NYC taxi driver!!!), zooming mini-buses and the odd motorcycle with a family of three on it (child in front of dad and mom in burka sitting side-saddle on the back). There are no traffic lights in Cairo, only traffic police that (rarely) stop traffic. Everyone is always going, so pedestrians are left to weave their way through oncoming traffic that is usually coming from at least two directions, if not more. We've been told more than once that the way to cross the street is "to close your eyes and pray to God". My strategy is usually to find a few locals and use them as "blockers". Crossing the street usually involves standing in the middle of the road in between two "lanes" (if such a thing in Egypt actually exists). We've both had a few close calls, but we've learned you must never hesitate--if you make a move just get going. As crazy as the traffic is we've never seen an accident or even anyone brushed
Brigid and the Great Pyramid
What a face... believe it or not B didn't have a clue as to where exactly the camel was putting it's head! by a car. It's a fantastic system that somehow works! Anyway, made it to the train station, bought our ticket and had a fantastic lunch of pizza and ice cream at the city's favorite bakery on the way back--for $2 for both of us!!!!
Went to the Giza pyramids and Saqqara the next day. Took a mini-bus to Giza instead of taking the overpriced taxis and braved the driving in Cairo. Made it to Giza town and got swayed into following some guy to taking a transfer bus (which took us away from the government ticket office and to his boss's stables instead). Once we got there and realized our mistake, we insisted on being taken back to the main gate, which of course they didn't do, but instead lowered their price for a camel ride. After much hesitation and more insisting we wanted the main gate and more price lowering, we just gave up the fight and took his camels. Then, we realized we really shouldn't have when he guided us through some dodgy back gate in which he had to bribe the security guards to let us pass. We came through the back way on a two
Great big piles of stone!
The great pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) and the slightly smaller one of Khafre. Forget offhand what the third one is...! hour camel ride and another guard came to question us and more bribes were slipped (all while we were 'distracted' having our pictures taken). We didn't enter the Giza pyramids as they were more money to enter and we heard they aren't good inside anyway. So we just followed our guide around the pyramids overlooking smoggy Cairo on one side and the great expanse of the desert on the other. We worked our way over to the Sphinx where we departed from our guide and had an arguement on how much tip to give him. We held firm only giving him 30 Egyptian pounds even though he wanted twice that (probably to cover all his bribing), but we didn't want to give him anymore for doing it the illegal way. Also, we could't get in to see the Sphinx because we didn't have a government ticket.
From Giza, we took a taxi to Saqqara to see the step pyramid. Our taxi driver kept wanting to take us to the carpet school, the papyrus shop, a restaurant, but we were feeling annoyed already by being 'taken' at every point, so we refused them all until we got to the pyramids. See
B and L, 'living it up'
Don't we look cute!? After 2 hours on these beasts we could hardly walk...! picts of Giza and Saqqara.
After the pyramids, we had to get to our train station by 8pm for the sleeping train to Aswan. Due to a taxi driver who didn't know where the train station was and Cairo traffic, we were cutting it very close. We got dropped off in a dark dead-end with a metro sign that didn't look like a main train station. Of course, it was the only place in Cairo where no on spoke Engligh either! Trying to find the train station and not the subway involved us running up the stairs, then down the stairs, down the hallway and practically accosting anyone who spoke English and knew the way. We find came around a corner and could see the train and we were just waiting for that moment when it starts to pull away... We got to the door the train, sweating, with 8 minutes to spare. Hamy, our waiter, calmly greeted us and showed us to our cabin. He served us a much needed dinner, turned down our bed, and served breakfast in the morning. It was fabulous to take a sleeper instead of sitting up all night for a 12 hr
A truly fantastic view!
They do look good! Once up close though, they become quite bland... we never actually went in any of them, as that costs a lot extra and we've heard that it is pretty dull...! ride!! We followed the Nile the whole way down, with one side of the train being green and lush and the other side being brown and barren.
Arrived in Aswan at 10:30AM and had to walk down the main 'souq' (market) street to our hotel. Lachlan was told several times that he is "a lucky man" (this happens a lot in Egypt! 😊 ), I got asked if I had an American sister "because I am a single man in Egypt" and we were told several times, "Welcome to Alaska!" (Aswan is about 40 C now).
In fact, the weather in Egypt is very much like St. Louis without the humidity. Nighttime in Egypt is my favorite time. This is when families come out to walk on the corniche and watch their kids play, dads hold babies, couples sit by the Nile, and women stroll the clothes shops. The weather is still warm, but there is a cool breeze from the river that drifts over you and a peacefulness sitting there watching locals pass by. In fact, anyone in St. Louis: you can go sit under the Arch steps one hot night and be doing exactly what we
An arty shot...
...of the great pyramid do every night in Egypt--sit and watch the river.
One last story to leave you with: market shopping for sunglasses in Aswan's souq. I decided to try out this bargaining buisiness on something I didn't really need anyway. I passed by a few sunglass sellers and then one seemed like he had good selection so I stopped to look. I knew I wasn't paying anymore than $6 (30 LE), which is how much a Target special can be at home. I found a pair I liked and asked how much. He quotes 50LE, but I think he says 15LE. I say no way and start to walk away. He asks my price and I say 8LE. He laughs at my low offer and I continue to walk saying I don't really want them anyway. He follows me for about 50 yards, always getting lower with his price. I say, "no more than 10LE". He says, "but that is a price for a small child, you are bigger". To which I reply, "Ahh, but I look so young!" This got a good laugh out of him and he says, "OK, 13, 14 pounds." I say, "HA! 13 pounds ($2.60)!" He
The Sphinx!
Smaller than you would think... but still impressive when you consider that it's one solid peice of stone! says, "ahh, ok, ok, 13 pounds, you get the Egyptian price, not the tourist price." So that was our agreed on price, but then I saw later a local who paid 11 LE for two pairs...oh well. I just used that to our advantage later when Lachlan was looking for sunglasses...! Too bad he never decided on a pair...
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Brendan
non-member comment
Jealous
I am soooooooo jealous of you two right now. All the art and history that you two are surrounded by in Egypt. I think I would kind of go into sensory overload. Not sure if I could try the Fried pigeon or cow hoof but sounds interesting. If you guys are out and about in Cairo or Egypt some more, see if you can find Bin Laden for us ;) Stay Safe!