No Visa For You!

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Had a hellish time at the Indian Consulate today. Long story short, they weren't able to process our visas within the standard 4-day period and weren't the least bit apologetic for it. We only have 2 weeks in Egypt so don't have the luxury of time to play lapdog to a soul-less, lumbering government official. We sought an explanation to which they took offense and immediately became uncooperative. On the rare occasion, I can be a right bastard when tickled the wrong way-- in this case, getting shafted by a government agent and STILL receiving a frosty attitude. Un-niceties were exchanged, squinty cold stares were traded (for me the squinty part was easy) and they even resorted to name-calling ("this man, he is arrogant"). So in the end, despite paying the full $65 US for the standard 6-month visa, we were issued purely out of spite, a restrictive 2-week-only stamp. I questioned their lack of ethics-- it's a mundane, paper-work issue, why involve personal grudges? Heroically, Carolee stepped in with a level head and charismatically played the groveling card which was all they wanted to see in the first place. With charm and and a bucket of merciless ass-kissing (that they gloriously lathered in), she managed to get it extended to 3 weeks.

But I won't let that tarnish our otherwise enjoyable time in Cairo. On our first day we went to the Islamic quarter. Rambled through the famous Kahn al-Kahlil bazaar though it was dead on Sundays, passing by beautiful mosques and ancient gates and towers to reach Salah-al Din's Citadel. The next day we visited the monstruous Egyptian National Museum which is home to a wealth of the country's archaeological finds. Our Rough Guide explains that the overwhelming number of artifacts in the Museum, if given 1 minute for each piece, would take 9 months to take in. Realistically, you should give it 2 full-day visits. Doing it in our bundled Epcot way, we condensed it to 3 hours. There's tons to see (literally- they have pieces that didn't make the showroom cut, stored in the basement, that are sinking in the ground) but like the true package travelers we are, we headed straight to the highlights including Tut's treasures and the Royal Mummy room (an extra $14 ticket). Tut's funerary mask was cool to see-- nothing like the pixelated 4-bit image I remember from the Atari days. The mummy room was also interesting though Carolee couldn't manage to find the grotesque pleasure in staring at withered 5,000 year old guys like I could-- 11 total, including King Merneptah, Ramses versions II, IV and V, and Seti I, who closely resembled a guy I used to work with at PBS (Michele, you remember Nosferatu).

Our final day we went to the Pyramids. Despite having its aura tarnished by the encroaching urban sprawl of Giza (many well-placed photos give the impression that they lie in the middle of the desert but in reality they're only a few hundred meters from town-- you can park your car in their shadows by driving in on "Pyramid Road"), peering up at these massive structures and imagining the majesty and effort it must have taken to build these monuments still strikes a chord. I did end up putting up the extra 100LE to crawl into Khufu's Pyramid. As everyone warned, snaking through the dank, airless tunnels that smelled of stale roast beef and Chiclets wasn't worth the high price of the ticket, but sometimes you pay just to kill curiousity.

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Photos

Khafre's Pyramide
Still has the Limestone Cap

Comments

[Joanna]

Go Team!
You two make quite a bargaining team - I'm impressed.