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Published: March 23rd 2008
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Cairo
We made our taxi driver stop on a freeway bridge so we could take this picture of the Nile and Cairo! Ahlan wa sahlan! Welcome to the first chapter of our Middle Eastern Adventure.
We are writing this entry in a little internet 'cafe' (all internet no cafe) in the Downtown area of Cairo. We have found ourselves with four hours to kill before we board our overnight sleeper train to Aswan and thought it was the perfect time to update you on our adventures so far. Ev has been dispatched to fetch cold drinks because we are suffering from mild heat stroke after spending the day roaming the desert playing "spotto pyramid"!
Our taxi driver Nasser turned up bright and early this moring full of stories about how much he loves Australia since his brother was lucky enough to meet Valerie from Sydney while he was a tourist taxi driver. They are now living in married bliss in North Ryde! Romance is truly universal.
Anyway back to us! After introductions we set off, making our way determinedly through the angry Cairo traffic which is loud and aggressive and lane markings are really considered more like "guidelines" than actual rules! Pedestrians as we have come to learn are a despised species whose main goal is to slow down the
View from the Red Pyramid (Dashur)
This is the pyramid we went inside. traffic and therefore must be eliminated. The government has helped this goal by erecting high metal barriers down the middle of traffic islands which the locals (and us) just scale or make holes in!
Today we were heading to the village of Dashur, site of the oldest true pyramid - the Red Pyramid. In the same desert area are the Black and Bent Pyramids. The whole region used to be run by the military but in an uneasy alliance the Red Pyramid has been opened to tourists while the others remain off limits to civilians.
The Red Pyramid is awesome. Older and taller than the Great pyramid it is also one you can go inside! Leah mastered her claustrophobia and we desceneded down a steep ramp into the inner rooms of the pyramid. It was hot and airless but what an experience to be in side! Wow!
The next stop was Saqqara home of Zoser's Step Pyramid - the oldest stone monument in the world. This pyramid is amazing and very reminiscent of some we saw in South America (eg Palenque). The desert air though is dry and hot and we couldnt seem to drink enough water
Cairo
The view from our hotel in Cairo. to keep hydrated.
A welcome respite in the form of a total tourist trap and tasty kebab helped to revive our flagging spirits for the big one - the Great Pyramid of Cheops and the Sphinx.
Giza is really an outer suburb of Cairo and the urban sprawl is confrontingly close to the edge of the site which makes for interesting approaches where glimpses of pyramid keep appearing between high rise blocks of units and hotels.
Fortunately so many people had told us how disappointing the Sphinx is and how much smaller it is than you are expecting that we were truly awed and amazed and thrilled at how much larger and more impressive it was than we had been expecting!!!! We sat in a welcome niche of shade and just gazed at the sites and tried vainly to absorb the history of the place.
Ev was determined to touch the Great Pyramid so we set off to do it on the sly only to find the lower levels full of tourists clambering for the best photo backdrops. Yay! We have now climbed the Great Pyramid. (Tick!)
That has been an absolute highlight of our
Taking tea Cairo style
Fishawi's Coffee House in Islamic Cairo three days in Cairo. The other days we filled with a visit to Islamic Cairo for the Khan Al Khalil market which was intense and overwhelming in its size and scale and press of people. Mint tea and turkish coffee at the famous Fishwari's coffee house was a relief and joy!
The mosques and buildings of this part of Cairo are incredible and beautiful but interspersed with areas of rubble dating back to an earthquake in the 1990s which is eery.
Ev's travel tip no.1: No matter how full the metro train is DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BOARD THE WOMEN ONLY CARRIAGES ! There are few things more frightening than the hostile stares of a hundred veilled women. Nor are the tourist police terribly forgiving. We found a delightful local Koshari restaurant (a carb extravaganza of macaroni, rice, lentils and fried onions topped with a hot sauce) which was a delight. And yes Ev did eat lentils - I have a photo to prove it!
We also visited a pastry shop, ate street stall food, walked around Coptic Cairo, visited the vast and overwhelming Egyptian museum and had a totally indulgent and airconditioned
lunch at the Nile Hilton. Ev has had morning coffees with the men in the ahwa (coffee house) below our hotel and has earnt their grudging respect by drinking it without sugar!! In Cairo he is a very big man!
I must tell you that the men of Cairo have been vocal in their welcome to me while we have been walking the streets. The sound "sssssttt" has been heard numerous times in passing. I am thinking this is either the universal language of construction workers upon sighting a, lets face it, hot chick or else it means "Loose Western Woman". For obvious reasons we are blithely assuming the former!!!
Ev's travel tip no.2: Treat overtures to your gorgeous blonde girlfriend as a mark of respect to you as a successful man. Best to refer to your girlfriend as your "wife" to keep her off the open market. Using the term "wife" is an unfamiliar but not entirely unpleasant experience. Well thanks for your thoughts and advice and everything to help us get ready for this adventure. We are having a great time and wish you were here with us (okay we're being polite
The Sphinx
Believe it or not it was actually bigger than we were expecting! - its going to be more fun for us to bore you with our photos and stories when we get back!) Before we go dont forget to check out Ev's running Kebab Count which will be updated regularly.
Love from Leah and Evan.
Ev's Kebab count: 3
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