Blogs from Cairo, Lower Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 3

We arrived in Cairo exhausted but excited. It was hotter than we had hoped, hotter than expected for late September. The drive to the hotel was exciting. Cairo is such a mixture of modern and old, western architecture and ancient looking alleyways. It promised tantalizing views of what lay ahead. The hotel, The Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino, is across the Nile in the Zamalek district on Gezira Island so we had our first look at the Nile fairly quickly after landing. The hotel features two towers and a central building called The Palace. The name became apparent once we looked through some of the luxurious rooms it features. It has several restaurants and, my favorite, an open air promenade café that served several delicious Egyptian wines, as we found out later that evening. ... read more

Addio pace e quiete: sono arrivato al Cairo, che con i suoi piu' di 10 milioni di abitanti si appresta a diventare una delle piu' grandi megalopoli del pianeta. E come non accorgersene? Viali ad otto corsie attraversano il centro e mostruose sopraelevate oscurano il cielo; fiumi di automobili intasano le strade e muri di gente ostruiscono i marciapiedi; rumore di clacson e fumi di gas di scarico appestano l'ambiente, cumuli di rifiuti per la strada e palazzi decrepiti prossimi al crollo: una dannata citta' infernale? Niente affatto, il Cairo non e' poi cosi' male! La gente e' in gamba, simpatica ed affabile, alcuni quartieri sono ovviamente peggiori di altri ma in ognuno di essi e' possibile trovare qualche vicolo tranquillo dove la gente ama sedersi all'aperto gustandosi un caffe' fumando rilassatamente una pipa ad acqua. ... read more

We finally arrived! After a long flight Renata and I finally reached Cairo. At the airport, we were greeted by a representative for Travel Talk Tours who kindly helped us with obtaining our Visa and Luggage (which took forever). We were then on our way to our hotel, the Oasis Hotel Pyramids, which I highly recommend. Today was a day to relax as we slept and swam in the luxurious hotel pool. Later that evening we met up with our tour mates and Egyptologist guide, Sam. Sam went over the itinerary and optional excursions of the Egyptian part of our tour. Afterwards a group of us decided to go on the optional group dinner and cruise. In hindsight, the cruise was unremarkable and the food tasted bland. However, it was great getting to know the other ... read more

My eyes were burning from tiredness, I needed sleep. But that wasn't going to stop me. Tonight the very first outing in Cairo, a visit the Khan Al Khalili bazaar with my guide Galael and driver Salaeh. Driving through the streets, the teeming chaos of traffic and people still fascinate me. People LIVE here! This city, this place belongs to them - they do exactly as they please. Drive as they wish. The Cairo Symphony... honking horns. Cars squeeze 4 lanes into a 3 lane highway or 5 into 4 lanes, honking to announce every change of direction on the way while pedestrians suddenly appear, crossing the road anywhere. Even I did it too! It's what you do. Men, women, mothers with toddlers, children. Cars even honk at the traffic cops telling them to hurry up. ... read more

I'm back on the road and back with the blogs for a few weeks, and as the title suggests I'm EGYPT!. My earliest memory of learning about the ancient Egyptians comes from when I was in year 4, so when I was around 8 years old. Ever since it's been a dream to come and visit some of the oldest structures in the world, built by some of the most amazing humans to ever walk the planet...or aliens ;). I wanted to come when me and Dave first set off 15 months ago, but due to flight prices going up when we wanted to book we went straight to India, much to my dismay. Given the current “situation” in the country, now seemed like the perfect time to visit Egypt. A situation that doesn't exist by ... read more