Cairo, Egypt

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Seventh Stop: Cairo, Egypt.

After a fun-filled day and a half in Amsterdam, we made the trek into the most distinct part of our trip: Egypt. From the moment we set foot off the plane, it felt like we entered a different world. The airport was filled with comotion. Tons of Arab men walked around in long robes and turbans with the women completely covered from head to toe in black (several with only their eyse peering through a small openning).

After purchasing our visa, we waited in a long immigration line. There were several instances where people were stopped and arguments ensued. We weren't completely aware of what was going on but I was almost certain that our U.S. passports were bound to create issues. Amazingly, the immigration guy was nice. He asked where we were staying and was impressed with the fact that we were staying at The Oasis (wasn't as nice as he made it out to be). Once in the baggage claim we joined hundreds of onlookers as we watched bag after bag pile up on a small conveyor belt. There appeared to be only one belt and maybe four flights...complete insanity. After several minutes of worrying, our bags finally made it through. I was convinced they were gonners.

Now we made the trek to the outter portion of the airport. Two obvious foreigners wearing gigantic backpacks made us an easy target. We were hoping to be escorted by our tour guide but our flight landed so late that we had to find our own way. The first few minutes in any new country is daunting, especially when you're in a place so different from home. We had drivers constantly heckling us. One guy convinced us that the easiest thing to do would be to follow him upstairs to a taxi office, which we did, and hire a driver there. The only problem, once upstairs we noticed signs that read "Tour Company." He could have been trying to help us but you can't blame our distrust.

After about an hour of waiting around and turning away several drivers, one guy came up to us while eating an apple with a knife and asked where we were from. I hated this question because I never knew if we should lie and say we're Canadian or something safe. Nonetheless, I told him we were from LA. His face lit up and he told us he lived in Santa Barbara or somewhere and pulled out his old California ID. We figured this is probably as "legit" as it will get and we decided to get into the car with him.

Ryan sat in front and I crammed in the back, which happened to have no seat belt (but this was common in Egypt). Once on the open road, this guy started to pick up speed zipping through traffic at 130kmph. He then decided to lecture us on how much safer driving is in Egypt all the while completely turning his head to talk to me (for several seconds at a time). Whenever someone would try to merge into his lane he would reach underneath his steering wheel and turn on the sirens (it appears that many drivers in Egypt buy police sirens to help them plow through traffic....insane). Maybe half way to our hotel the driver starts to tell us about how he was arrested in Rhode Island for suspicion of being linked to Osama Bin Laden and was detained for 30 days. At this point I would have flipped out but he appeared to be a pretty cool guy.

When we finally made it to the Oasis we both crashed for several hours. The next day was going to be a big one, we were going to see the Egyptian museum, the Pyramids and the Sphinx!

At the end of our trip we also had a chance to explore more of the Islamic culture in Cairo and we visited a couple of mosques. It was definitely a great experience to learn about some of the tenants of Islam and I left with newfound respect for the religion. It was also a little funny that everyone had to pay to get in but me...because I'm a local! Everywhere we went people thought I was Egyptian. All I needed to do was throw out a "Salem Aleikum" (which means peace be with you in arabic) and I was golden.

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Photos

Me in front of Khafre's Pyramid
One of the Great Pyramids of Giza built from 2558-2532 B.C.

Inside Khufu's Pyramid
We crawled up a narrow and hot passageway to get to the burial chamber inside the Pyramid. Definitely quite an experience!

This Camel Rocked!
Our child guide not so much. He was so over it and he frequently gave me the reigns and bailed out.

View of all Three of the Great Pyramids
One of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Me in front of the Great Sphinx of Giza
Built between 2520 BC and 2494 BC. In Ancient Egyptian mythology, a Sphinx is a zoomorphic figure, usually depicted as a recumbent lioness or lion with a human head, but occasionally with the head of a falcon, hawk, or ram. The figure had its origin in the Old Kingdom and is associated with the solar deity Sekhmet, who also was the fierce war deity and protector of the pharaohs.

The Step Pyramid
Earliest of Egyptian Pyramids built during the 27th century B.C. by Imhotep (yes, same as the high priest from the Mummy....but he was actually a good guy!)

King Tut
At the Egyptian Museum. King Tut is a famous Pharaoh who came to power at age nine but died around the age of 17-19.

Mummy of Rameses II
At the Egyptian Museum. Ramses II was one of the most powerful Pharaohs of Egypt . He created the temple at Abu Simbel (you'll see later). It's hard to believe that he was born in 1300 BC...making this a 3,000+ year old body!