Show us Your Pyramids!

Egypt, we’ve all heard about it since we were very very young. So many movies, cartoons, books, and dreams have talked about this mysterious and ancient land. To be honest, neither Michele nor Trent ever thought they would make it here, even as they were planning this trip. It took quite a bit of research to be convinced that it was safe given the way everything is portrayed in our news at home about the terrorist attacks and general bad stuff going on. 

We All Good
So, probably the first thing to mention is that you always feel very safe here. Remember, these attacks are happening in a lot of places that we still feel safe (London, New York, Las Vegas, etc), but the unknown part of Cairo made it seem more dangerous. To set the record straight, we were comfortable here, especially Cairo. If you go up towards Gaza, well, that may be different, but the main tourist stops felt as safe as anywhere we had been. So, after convincing ourselves that this was actually possible, this odd feeling of disbelief and excitement took over. We were actually going to Egypt, and we were going to see the last standing wonder of the ancient world, the Pyramids of Giza. Given that we had limited time for Egypt prior to our Kenyan adventure, and adding in the fact that we agreed to go slow, we spent time in Cairo and Cairo only. No regrets though, we’re just here for your pyramids and mummies. For now at least.

When we arrived, we figured out quickly that Egypt was going to be just a little different. We booked a hotel transfer, and a man named Mohammed met us almost as soon as we got off the plane. We found that kind of weird, apparently its ok for people to meet you past security and customs here if they are part of a tour company. So he stepped us through the whole process of getting our visa, getting passports stamped, walking us through security, teaching us to eat, as well as speak Arabic. Okay, maybe not all of that, but still quite a bit for a ride from the airport. We actually hit it off pretty well with Mohammed, but we’ll come back to that later.

BEEP BEEP
The first thing that you notice in Cairo is the traffic. Dear God. Cars weaving everywhere, in and out, and honking. Non-stop honking, the entire time you are here. Seriously, there should be a limit to the number of times you can honk within a day. Honking for you to move over, honking when they’ve been cut off, honking to let you know they are passing you, honking to say hello. Similar to New York City, if New Yorkers popped adderall, snorted an eightball and chased it all down with a double shot of espresso. Cairo is the biggest city in Africa, and it shows. The greater Cairo area has almost 23 million people living there. For perspective, NYC only has about 8.5 million. Luckily, Morocco traffic prepared us for this pretty well. For instance, Trent just sits back, closes his eyes, and hums “Jesus take the wheel” and lets everything go. Very freeing. On the other hand, Egyptians have a great sense of humor. One day when walking across a large bridge two guys stuck in traffic jumped on a motorcycle and rode it down the sidewalk right towards us. One of the guys simply smiles and yells, “This is Egypt!” to us as they careen down the sidewalk towards other pedestrians. Road rules are for wussies.

Zamalek
We stayed on a “quiet” (by Cairo standards) little island in the middle of the Nile river called Zamalek. It ended up being a good call, we could actually walk around, go for a run, and find good eats pretty easily. The island is host to many boutique hotels, trendy restaurants, and expats. It’s surrounded on all sides by the Nile River and while at first that may seem appealing if you love being by water, the Nile (at least during the time of year we visited) is nothing to write home about. Along with slow boats and upscale river cruises, the city’s trash also uses the Nile form of travel apparently. Even though it had a lot of plastic bags and coke cans (U.S.A!!), it is the longest river in the world, so it was still kinda cool to see.

Ok, we’re not going to lie. The single biggest reason why we came to Egypt was to go to the Pyramids. Actually, it was Trent’s #1 thing he would go see in the world if he could before this trip ever happened. It’s rare with such lofty expectations that something as simple as buildings made of stone could live up to them, but, they did and then some. Of course, words and pictures will never do them justice.

As your driving up to them, you can start to make out the silhouette of these massive structures looming over you in the distance. It gives you chills. At this point they are just shadowy behemoths, but as you get closer it starts to become more clear how massive and old they are. 4500 years old and they are still standing right in front of you. Crazy. There’s not really much to say about touring the pyramids ground, we had an egyptologist with us who gave us some great historical context.

But, really, it’s just about being there. And, apparently tourists taking really cheesy pictures like holding the top of the pyramid from a distance. But, who would do such a thing?

At the end of the tour you stop by the Sphinx who appears to be guarding the ancient grounds.  The Sphinx is technically huge, but, after seeing the pyramids it is surprisingly underwhelming.

Still cool, but, you should probably start the tour here instead of ending it, because the pyramids themselves are just too awesome. It’s actually hard not to feel bad for the Sphinx. Kind of like Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips, she was part of one of the greatest pop songs ever created as well as some acting success. But people seem to remember her sisters more. Poor Carnie, I mean Sphinx.

“He was Born in Arizona, Got a Condo Made of Stone-a”

“We’re just not museum people”. Not sure how many times we have said that throughout our journeys, and we’ve had a lot friends who sympathize with us too. But, even if you’re not a museum fan, go to this one. Its waaaaayyyyy too massive to see even close to everything, so it’s worth having an Egyptologist guide to get you through the highlights as a pro tip. We’ve never seen artifacts as well preserved as the ones here.

The color and paint on the jewelry makes it look like you could have bought it yesterday. Oh, and it’s a mere 5000 years old. No biggie. Of course the highlight of the museum is getting to see King Tut’s tomb and treasure. He’s not supposed to have been a “major” pharaoh, having only ruled 9 years and died very young. This fact makes the amount of treasure, clothes, furniture, and jewelry that was contained in his tomb so staggering, and equally hard to fathom how much crap a major pharaoh would have had. Apparently minimalism hadn’t caught on there yet. How many frickin’ footstools do you need, man? 

Egyptian Hospitality

Remember that guy Mohamed we mentioned earlier? The one memory, even with the pyramids, that we will take us from his place was when Mohammed invited us to go to his home and have dinner with his family. One thing about travel, you learn to say yes to things you normally wouldn’t. Dinner with someone you just met and their entire family? Always. Stranger asking you into his van for some candy? Why not. You get the idea. (Unless it’s riding elephants, then Just Say No)

The level of hospitality you receive when going into an Egyptians home for dinner as a guest is overwhelming. Mohamed picked us up (an hour drive for him in traffic), and brought us into his home where his wife, Lamyaa, had cooked for us. The amount of food served was similar to a Thanksgiving feast. As soon as we had finished anything, they would literally plead with us to eat more. “Please, please eat!”. Often just putting more food on our plate. The thing is, it would be accurate to describe the means that they possess as very modest by U.S. standards. The only reason to point this out is that we were blown away by how much they shared, when they did not appear to have an abundance for themselves. Not only shared, but they loved sharing and took pride in it. It was beyond humbling and touching. So we ate, and we ate, probably more than we’ve eaten before. Michele had to discreetly unbutton her pants to make room for more. We got to meet their two sons, both incredible kids who, apparently, both want to be famous soccer players (and maybe a doctor if you ask Mohammed.) Lamyaa was working towards her masters and taught math (in English) at a local school. Just exceptional people. As we were leaving, Lamyaa pulled Mohamed aside and gestured towards a mostly empty cabinet where they displayed their nicer items near the kitchen table. She wanted us to have a gift.

Us, strangers until that night, and they wanted to share something from their home. They did not have a lot, but they wanted us to have, as far as we could tell, one of their nicer things. Lamyaa picked out a handmade Egyptian cat god, Bastet, from their display and gave it to Michele. (Shown above) It was one of the most generous gestures we have ever seen. And then, the entire family, kids and all, piled into their car to drive us the hour plus back to our place because they wanted to say goodbye. One of the best experiences we’ve had on our travels, hands down!

That is about all the we can tell you about our time in Cairo. Besides Zemalak, the city is about as basic as it can get.

Q & A

You mention it was safe, did you ever feel unsafe there?

Not really, it took some getting used to the police / military presence everywhere. Guys with large automatic weapons standing around every major street and site. But, you actually do get used to it after a bit.

I’ve heard the harassment is bad here, is that true? In truth, yes it is. Young men (probably in their 20s) and younger boys frequently make crude remarks and gestures to women. It’s not every man, but it’s enough to make you think ‘wow, this is a problem.’

What’s the food like?

Other than our delicious meal at Mohammed’s, we found the cuisine elsewhere just so-so. We did have some excellent Mexican food though – go figure.

Is it expensive?

Very cheap actually. With tourism taking a big hit since the Arab Spring, the dollar goes a loooong way here. A liter of water is 5-10 cents, a beer would run you maybe 50 cents, and you can get a meal for a few bucks.

Click above for a bunch of pics of the pyramids.