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Published: March 29th 2006
We had heard so many horror stories about Cairo. People warning and warning. Yes they were all true. It's noisy, busy, dirty and hot. Also though it is exciting, friendly, diverse, beautiful, interesting and fun!
I wake to the call to prayer and a few hours later descend from our bargain roof top hotel in a very cool marble 1930's art deco stair well and fancy lift to get take away breakfast. I'm not too hot on architecture terms but Cairo has great buildings and once they were even clean and new. It would be easy to get overwhelmed by all the hectic nosie and fumes (as all the people who warned us about the place must have done) and stop appreciating that this city is really cool.
Downtown there are beautiful people posing, the girls all looking wonderfull in fully colour co-ordinated headscarf outfits. There are cinemas and icecream shops, fast food and fancy cake shops. My huge appetite is easily accomodated by specialised koshary restaurants which serve vast plates of carbohydrate fit for cyclists! Outside of the smarter downtown district the streets are even more chaotic and the bazaars and markets go on for miles and miles,
Cairo's last Fez-maker
Skillfully brewing tea, smoking, and making a Fez at the same time.with entire blocks devoted to selling certain produce.
Crossing the road is fun but basically involves walking out in front of anything and just keeping walking, ignoring all the blaring horns. Most drivers here seem to constanlty toot their horns for no reason other than to let everyone else know they are there. If they really want to signal annoyance then they just lean on their horn forever. There is lots of public transport, including a smart but usually very crowded metro and of course micro-buses. Buses in Cairo are not just crowded, they take the concept to new levels. It is normal to see buses so full that you just see a mass of human bodies squashed up against the windows, with a crowd of half a dozen or so men bulging out of the open door and hanging onto the outside of the bus. Because of the traffic these rarely actually stop, with passengers just jumping down from them as they slow, whilst hopeful passengers run alongside trying to jump and fight their way in. They are dirt cheap though and riding one is definetly worth the experience.
I am so glad we came to Egypt.
River Nile
Exactly 10 months after leaving Britain we arrive in Africa and the banks of the worlds longest river. I looked out accross the rubbish strewn rooftops of Cairo and was realy grateful that I am here. I am happy to see the crazy mixture that is this wonderful city. Although there are maybe 20 million people here (I don't think they really know) there is hardly any street crime and people are very friendly. We have spent days getting lost in the backstreets and alleys observing the daily lives of local people.
All this fun and we had not even done anything touristy yet. However the muesum was great. I knew about the pharoahs but it is not until I saw all the wonderful antiquities stuff that I could begin to get a grasp of the scale and splendour of the civilisation here. This is doubly pleasing since we had seen so many roman and greek archaelogical things on this trip that I did not think I would be excited by a museum of old stuff again, not true. I am really looking forward to seeing the tombs and pyramids in situ.
The road here from Suez was not that much fun but we have completed another challenge, to cycle from Scotland via Istanbul to Cairo.
Bab Zwayla
The gate into the city of Al-Qahirah, from which modern Cairo takes its name. We have done 7595 miles in 11 months, we took 10 months exactly to get from Calais to Cairo, people's reactions have increased to complete disbelief, especially the Egyptians. But the best thing is I now feel totally like a cyclist, I am no longer impressed by my own cycling, it is just something we do now. At the start I kept amazing myself that I had managed to pedal my self so far, but this had lots to do with the fact I did not really believe in my own abilities on the bike and my mental strength to carry on. Of course Robin had none of these doubts and now I have learnt from him too. I can now do 100-120 km days ( 60-70 mile) without totatally dreading it, at the start I really struggled to make 80 km (50 miles), the change has happened in my mind and self belief. Also on the way I have overcome a serious irrational fear of fish and all things aquatic and even become friendly with slugs! In fact slugs would be quite good now as they would indicate we have gone back to a habitat I am familiar with,
Cairo Streets
A peaceful sidestreet in the centre of downtown Cairo, for drinking tea and smoking shisha, not for traffic. and am no longer in the desert...
We have spent 10 days in Cairo and not done an awful lot. The "Dahab Hotel" roof top where we are staying is a great place to relax in the sun away from the chaos of the streets below. We did go wandering round the streets in Islamic Cairo for a few days and we have had good days eating street food and watching people's lives on the streets here. There are not many cyclists in town, but the few bikes we see are working bikes delivering huge metal canisters of gas or churns of milk (and we thought our panniers were heavy). Also there are some very skilled bread delivery boys who cycle the crazy Cairo streets one handed balancing huge racks of bread on their heads with a pedal footbrake rigged up to the bike frame. We have a lot to learn about cycling in the city so have stuck to walking.
We went to see the sufi dancing one night and were totally mesmerised by the performance. Whirling dervishes span for upwards of 30 mins each and then were not dizzy! The dancing originated in Turkey and is
When in Cairo.....
Robin, Ben & Maarten enjoying a last session of tea, shisha and backgammon before we all go our separate ways. supposed to help the participant become closer in their relationship with God through entering a trance. The music and the spinning made us dizzy and we recoverd in a tea house off Hussein square near Khan el-Khalili ( Cairo's famous tourist market).
We found some peace and quiet in Cairo's coptic christian quarter. The cemeteries there were some of the only green space we had been in for quite a while. We enjoyed visiting the hanging church but were too late to get into any of the other churches. On the walk back we visited Egypt's first mosque, and got some street side koshary made in a mobile handcart. We also visited the Citadel, which gave great views of Cairo and our first glimpse of the great Giza Pyramids through the thick haze of dust and smog. The rest of the citadel was a bit disappointing though, since the mosque was in ottoman style but I did not think it compared very well to the fantastic mosques we had seen in Turkey, and the rest of the citadel was military. I know that is the point of a citadel but I did not expect to find the soldiers still
Biking Bread
And we thought cycling in Cairo was tricky without half a bakery on our heads. These guys can't turn around and operate a sinlge brake (if they have one at all) by a foot pedal. in residence along with the military museum (pure propagnda about how Egypt has won every war it has ever been involved in, and was instrumental in other victories too) and the police museum.
We went to visit the pyramids at Dashur and Sakkara. I can really recommend going down to Dashur even though it takes a bit more organising. We got together with two other guys and hired a taxi for the day. On finally leaving the city behind, passing the Giza pyramids on the way, we entered the lush green farmland of the Nile valley - a network of canals and ditches running through fields of fruit, vegetables, and cereals shaded by date palms, and a breath of fresh air after a week in the city. The Pyramids sit on top of the rocky desert ridge that forms the western boundary of the green valley below.
The Red and Bent Pryamids at Dashur are amazing. There are hardly any toursits there and the desert stretches out all around these seriously impressive structures. Also from here you get a great view north to the Step Pyramid at Sakkara and the ones and Abu Sir with the famous Giza Pyramids
Cairo Couriers
Immense amounts of goods are moved around the markets of Islamic Cairo on handcarts, often pulled by small boys. These guys enjoy a free ride on an empty cart being pulled by another boy thier size. beyond- a true field of pyramids. You also get good views across the green Nile Valley to the southern industrial suburbs of Cairo on the opposite bank and their numerous smokestacks. We pondered whether these symbols of modern 'civilisation' would still be here in 5000 years and whether tourists woud be coming to visit them.....
We went inside the Red Pyramid at Dashur. It was very exciting, and steep. The tunnel went down and down and then there were three very strange rooms inside. Also when we got down there was a group of people chanting and holding hands in a very eerie ceremony, cults we thought, but they helped us appreciate the accoustcis of the place. The passage into the Bent Pyramid is closed but this didn't stop Robin and Paul, an Australian guy, from squeezing under the door when nobody was looking, and descending down the long dark passageway into the chamber with ony dim headtorches. Apparently they could see other passageways leading out of the chamber but couldn't really get to them. The guards had by now realised they were missing, despite my attempts to tell them they had gone round the back of the Pyramid.
They climbed up to the locked door and shouted down to them to come out. Seemingly Robin and Paul heard nothing, but when they emerged a few minutes later covered in dust the game was up. A lot of apologising and a sharp exit prevented any nastiness though. We had a really good day and saw our first heiroglyphics at Sakarra.
Eventually we decided to make a trip to the Giza Pyramids and after a very hectic charge at a few buses aided by friendly locals we found ourselves squashed into seats or standing on a bus heading out of town. It took an hour to get to The Pyramids and it was 3pm before we got to the gates. Determined to make the best of it despite the fact we were a bit late we stormed in and walked around the great and middle pyramids. We had heard from a number of other travellers that they did not find these pyramids that special. Now I could see why; the hoards of tourists, tarmac roads and tour buses have taken away the mystery of the place. We made our way down to the Sphynx and were disappopinted that we
could not go up to it, to stand between the paws. Still there are so many toursist here that they do need to be controlled, but I found the renovations that have been done to the Sphynx to be a bit out of place too.
We managed to laugh off a lot of ridiculous attempts to get us to pay baksheesh (including a old guy with a whistle who blew it, pretending to be some kind of official, and informed us the path we were on was closed, only to then demand baksheesh for making an exception and letting us pass - we just laughed at him lots) and headed out to the desert beyond the smallest of the three pyramids. Our plan was to be furthest from the gates, near to closing time which was very early at 4.30pm. We were enjoying a sit down in the quiet desert when a policeman on camel back spotted us and asked us to leave as it was 4.30. So we slowly started walking back towards the great pyramid, not quite believing our luck that the place had already emptied of all the tour buses and the light was improving by
Cairo Streets #2
Typically chaotic street with people, donkeys, bikes, mopeds, taxi's and trucks all competing for limited space, and all making lots of noise too. the minute. The serenity and energy of the structures were now apparent to us and we were even able to walk right around the great pyramid and touch it with no-one else there. There is something very uplifting and relaxing about watching the light of the setting sun play on the stones of the pyramids, I loved it.
Trying to watch the sunset from the Sphinx was more frustrating though. The authorities have developed the area in such a way that free views are obstructed, in order to get a good view you either have to pay to enter the 'sound and light show' or baksheesh someone to let you onto their roof (a thrivng industry in this part of town). You are also unable to go anywhere here without iritating men or boys latching onot you in attempt to gain commission of baksheesh - if you walk towards a cafe they spot you and run up to tell you how great it is and urge you to sit down etc., even though you had already decided to go there. They then expect commission from the cafe for 'bringing your business' to them - this is of course added
Spinning Sufi's
The free 'Whirling Dervish' concert. to your bill so really it is you who pays for someone to annoy you for several minutes. We had heard stories of this sort of thing but thought they were all overblown until we came to Giza. After being pestered by a small boy for some 20 mins we bought some falafel from an old guy passing on a bike, the boy playing no part in the transaction but trying to argue for commission from the falafel guy. He shouted at the kid and then clumped him round the head - something Robin had been wanting to do for some time. We were almost tempted to tip him for this service!
Thats about it for Cairo- We spent a few hours checking out lots of hotels since the Dahab Hotel, despite advertising luggage storage, does not let you store luggage and certainly not bikes.
We have changed hotel to the more expensive but very nice and friendly Lialy, and have bought our train tickets for Aswan. All that is left now is to enjoy a last day relaxing in tea houses or juice bars and eat lots more koshary, before taking the night train to Aswan.
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Johnny
non-member comment
What A Trek!!
Wow...and I thought that walking from my hotel to the coffee shop was a trek each morning. Your bike ride is amazing. I'm currently in Bangkok (from San Francisco) and on my way to Kenya and Cairo tomorrow. Thanks for the insight into this wonderful city. I can't wait to get there. --Johnny Moretti (travel blog ID "johnnymoretti")