I not talking to you, I talking to him!

...said the little girl hawking postcards at the Sphinx to me as she patted BA's belly. Nuff said about that!

Let me start with Cairo is a street photographer's dream. All I want to do, even though I am not a street photographer, is stand still and shoot. There are tons of people, talking, smoking, moving from place to place all at dizzying speed and full of expression and emotion. It's incredibly inspiring.

It was a crazy day today. A lot of hurry up and getting nowhere, at least that is what it felt like. We walked over to the Egyptian Museum late morning and joined the throngs puttering about the artifacts. BA opted for a self tour experience while the rest of us hired a guide for an hour or so. We learned a bunch and saw some extraordinary pieces of history. It is unbelievable how much is there and the guidebooks are correct when they describe how poorly labeled things are and how remarkable pieces are simply lumped together in a cabinet with no description whatsoever. That said...amazing statues of pharoahs and scribes, hieroglyphics I so wish I could read and decipher the content of! That isn't even to mention the King Tut exhibit.

It was a lot to see and at some point it all began to look the same. In Thailand they talk about getting "temple-ed out" and here it is possible to get "tomb-ed out" after a while. We decided to hit the Khan el Khalili bazaar and grab lunch there. HAH! 

The bazaar was a sprawling behemoth and we just could barely take it.

Couldn't find the recommended restaurant and we all started to get cranky. I have always been able to orient myself in a city but I could not get a grasp of where we were exactly. So finally we opted for late lunch in Zamalek and jumped in a cab back to 26th of July street for a civilized meal.

We like this area of Cairo best. It is soho like and much more gentrified than the rest of the city. Tomorrow on to Siwa!

extremes of one kind or another

People queue at the bakery throughout the day for fresh bread.

A few quick observations
at the end of day two.
1. You almost never see women walking alone.
2. Have not yet seen a woman driving.
3. Have not seen a woman pregnant, many children, so we know they are pregnant at some point.
4. See lots of boys walking and playing in the street, never the girls.

Today being just our second day we wanted to take things a little easy. Landing on Thursday then hitting the Pyramid route Friday a rest was in order. LC said he would wake us up at 8a so we could get up an going. At 9a I awoke thinking I had missed his knocking, but no, he had simply slept in himself. Go figure - seems the earplugs I gave him drowned out the 5a call to prayer (and, ahem, BA's snoring! - doh!)

We had a small and tad lame breakfast at hotel and hit the road. The Islamic road today. I wanted to see the Gayer-Anderson house down in Islamic Cairo area. We got there and discovered you have to check your bags with a not so trustworthy looking guy standing next to a sign that says do not leave prized valuables in bag left with attendant. Needless to say we sent the boys in while we held all bags and would go in after them. About 15 minutes later a small group walked right in with a big fat camera bag and a purse in tow. We went and said if they could go we wanted to go with our bags too. A small verbal scuffle ensued wherein no one really understood what the other was saying until JS said, ok then give us our money back. The woman at the door was stubborn but when she told some guy sitting nearby drinking tea that we wanted to get reimbursed he said it was fine that we go right in with all our bags. Mind you at this point I was carrying three bags! My own and LC's too.

ANYWAY, the place was amazing. A British general lived there, put two houses together, restored them and filled them with antiquities from the area and neighboring countries. When he died he left it to the Egyptian people and it became this museum. The woodwork was exquisite and the decor, while a bit ornate for my taste, was striking in its craftsmanship. They just don't seem to make artisans like they used to. Views from the rooftop sitting area were splendid - you could see the spires and domes of the Citadel and few neighboring mosques.

A particularly interesting feature of the house was a hidden tiny room behind a built-in corner curio cabinet. When the cabinet was pulled forward, as if out of the wall cavity, it exposed a hidden balcony where the women could watch the men socializing in the large room below without being seen. There were several other areas designated as such along the perimeter of that room as well as the roof. Ladies, we are sure lucky to be as free as we are! Made me grateful.

Then we went right next door to the Ibn Tulun Mosque which is one of the oldest ones around still fully operational. The structure is architecturally interesting and has several pointed arches, which apparently were used here before anywhere else in the world until Europeans did so some 200 years later. Some of us climbed a spiral staircase to the top of a minaret to find indescribable views of the city there. (it is amazing how many satellite dishes and wire antennas there are adorning the roofs here!)

We had enough of that and headed to Zamalek, another taxi adventure. Alarmingly few if any taxi drivers speak English, and they certainly can't read it. And forget about a map! Several times today we thought we were being taken for more than a ride, but somehow ended up exactly where we belonged.

Zamalek is not so much prettier being across the Nile - but it is cleaner, much less dusty and smoggy, and far more gentrified. Some nice boutiques and shops and a gourmet food shop selling luxe food items like a small bag of spelt granola for nearly $20 (healthy, organic is not an option here). They alos had a lovely refirgerator filled with gourmet Otis Spunkmeyer muffins, cookies and pizza dough. That was  good laugh!

We had drinks after our shopping at a place along the Nile called Sequoia. Very trendy with a South Beach vibe - lots of dark wood and white everywhere. Lots of sheesha being smoked by the elite Egyptian's kids and expats.

After a few wild goose chases it was another adventure trying to get back to the hotel. It is really easy to get turned around here, but GML is the best navigator and we all vowed to stop doubting her after getting home tonight!

Tomorrow the Egyptian Museum and Khan El-Kalilli market. Wish us luck!
xoxx

Memphis, Sakkara & the Great Pyramids of Egypt

We started the day with Sammy and a new driver, ironically also named Ahmed like our first driver, that had a car that fit our 6' 4" friends. It's a bit of a dusty ride to our first stop in Memphis where we saw the oldest existing pyramid remains. There wasn't too much there aside from a huge statue of Ramses II sans legs below the knee. An inspiring beginning tho.

Then on to Sakkara for an amazing small but fascinating Imhotep museum tour. This is the newest museum in the country. We saw an actual mummified body, a high priest, and it was remarkable to see how much of his body's features were intact. (Are you listening Joan Rivers?)
The remains had shrunk, but looking through the glass into the refrigerated coffin there was no mistaking the the body...down to the long toenails!

The pyramid above, known as the step pyramid, was designed by Imhotep, known as the first ever engineer. The place was pretty cool. We were able to go inside and visit the burial chamber and offering rooms. The photo above doesn't really capture short ceiling height justice. I was bent at the waist (and still bumped my head) for the descent and climb. I know someone who won't attempt this climb, JR!

We lunched at a place where they make fresh breads as you request it. Then it is was on to the Great Pyramid. The sites were awesome. Although for a minute I thought to myself, hey, it's just a buncha rocks! Then the history, the age, the dimensions, the pure unadulterated size of it all come through and it is clear - yes, a bunch of rocks, from eons ago, still standing 60+meters high...tons and tons of limestone and granite ferried down (or is it up?) the Nile by thousands of workers to create the king's burial chamber. Wow.

We paid 20 extra clams to get a chance to climb inside to Cheops actual burial chamber. A very narrow, steep climb practically on your knees as you again bend yourself in half to get there. Then you are in this large rectangular room made of solid black granite - floor, walls, ceiling and sarcophagus - no grout, no sand, nothing but stone on stone, immovable for centuries.

We said no to a camel ride for the moment, maybe in Aswan. It's hard to watch the animals and how they're treated. But then it doesn't feel all that different than when I walk by Central Park South with all the horse drawn carriages in NYC.


Given the option to see yet another site, this one a papyrus museum, we passed and hit the road as well as some soccer stadium traffic on the way back to the hotel.

Drinks at the Four Seasons. Dinner at trendy Taboula. Now it's time for some rest!

More tomorrow...

Arrived in Cairo.

For me the flight over was a breeze. I, unlike my three traveling companions, reclined my seat to the flat bed position and slept nearly the entire way.

Our guide was a bit tardy arriving to pick us up which caused the first bit of anxiety, but after a few minutes Karim arrived and off we went into the afternoon traffic. We arrived at our hotel and got all settled in before setting out for a first glimpse of downtown Cairo.

I had no idea it would be as crowded as it is and with tons of people and cars all over the sidewalks and streets. A zoo. Thursday night here is the start of the weekend and they are all out.

We went to a great restaurant recommended by a friend of a client, Felfela Al Aadin. We had great mezze, stuffed vine leaves, taaim, foul and then on to Kabab and Kofta along with rice and stuffed veggies & artichokes.

After braving the crowds back to the hotel, we are exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep.

More tomorrow after Giza.