EGYPT
I visited Cairo as part of a whirlwind, ten day trip that also included stops in Amman, Bethlehem, and Tel Aviv. I don't disagree with a whirlwind approach to visit this area although I should have spent more time in Egypt - I didn't particularly enjoy the country but there's still things I want to see in the Upper Nile area so at some point I'll be returning to a place I don't really enjoy.
My views of Egypt are a bit skewed. I visited over Thanksgiving 2011. Protests erupted earlier that year and Mubarak had been overthrown. When I booked my ticket I thought I had a window of calmness before mayhem erupted again. I had a layover in London and on the final leg of the flight to Cairo I watched a BBC News broadcast on the plane. The newscast showed footage of the protests in Cairo and I thought it was strange for the BBC to re-air six month old footage. Unbeknownst to me a new wave of protests had started. Primary elections would be held the last week in November and protesters had started to aggregate once again in Tahrir Square. My hotel was two blocks away.
You haven't lived until you've had military personnel point guns at you, been chased by someone using an extension cord as a whip, or returned to your hotel, only to find it boarded up and you need to enter through the kitchen door on the far side. Wild times. Whether it was the Thanksgiving holiday or protest mayhem I saw virtually no other tourists. Even at the pyramids I saw one other Westerner and he was on a business trip (he was a bit loud). Despite the perceived chaos, as soon as I ventured into further away neighborhoods it was calm and quiet. People were excited to see an American and enjoyed having a conversation and having their photo taken with me.
My big regret with Egypt was given how chaotic everything was I should have ventured south / up the Nile to the Valley of the Kings and a few other areas of ancient Egypt. I'll head back at some point but given the current environment and how lucky I considered myself last time it will not be for a while.
My big regret with Egypt was given how chaotic everything was I should have ventured south / up the Nile to the Valley of the Kings and a few other areas of ancient Egypt. I'll head back at some point but given the current environment and how lucky I considered myself last time it will not be for a while.
Here's some shots of burned out roads leading into Tahrir Square and an distant overhead shot of the square from the Cairo Tower. While walking through the square I inhaled remnants of tear gas and wow, remnants from earlier in the morning is still powerful and burns your lungs. I can't imagine getting hit with a burst of tear gas real time.
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I stayed at the Shepheard Hotel - the original Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo was a landmark hotel where dignitaries stayed when they came to town and was featured in several movies. That hotel was burned to the ground in 1952 during protests against the British. A new Shepheard Hotel was built along the Nile. in the first photo below on the left you can see the hotel and Tahrir Square. The hotel is the on the right of the photo - the square white building with black windows and a boat in front. Tahrir Square is the open space to the left. Those "dots" are protesters. The view is from the Cairo Tower.
Periodically throughout my stay the bridge crossing the Nile was closed with either protesters or military.
Periodically throughout my stay the bridge crossing the Nile was closed with either protesters or military.
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To the Pyramids! Visiting any site like the Pyramids has the potential to be underwhelming. I set low expectations. The Pyramids turned out to be a decent site. What's frustrating about the Pyramids is that you can't really enjoy the Pyramids because there's sooooo many touts inside. They are like a bunch of gnats constantly hanging around you. From the moment you enter you are being badgered by someone asking you for money. It's a pain from beginning to end.
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The Sphinx...very, very cool. It's a lot smaller than the Pyramids. You may not be able to tell from these photos but when you are up close to these structures you see how much larger the Pyramids are relative to the Sphinx.
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I'd always heard there was a KFC across the street from the Pyramids and, sure enough, there was a KFC across the street from the pyramids. Again you can't really tell from these photos but the city of Cairo comes right up to the Pyramids and then the desert starts to the West.
I don't have any photos of the Egyptian Museum presumably because the Museum did not allow photography inside. As I've said before there were no tourists in Cairo while I was here. I arrived at the Egyptian Museum when the Museum opened and was one of the first ten people through the door. At the time, the King Tut Mask was located toward the rear of the Museum. I race to the back and had the room all to myself. I felt like Howard Carter enjoying the mask in all it's glory like a new discovery.
I don't have any photos of the Egyptian Museum presumably because the Museum did not allow photography inside. As I've said before there were no tourists in Cairo while I was here. I arrived at the Egyptian Museum when the Museum opened and was one of the first ten people through the door. At the time, the King Tut Mask was located toward the rear of the Museum. I race to the back and had the room all to myself. I felt like Howard Carter enjoying the mask in all it's glory like a new discovery.
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Beyond the Pyramids...
Al-Hakim Mosque is a grant, old (built in 1,000) mosque. As a non-Muslim I was allowed to enter and allowed to walk around most, if not all of the complex. For a few extra bucks you can climb on of the mosque's towers.
Al-Hakim Mosque is a grant, old (built in 1,000) mosque. As a non-Muslim I was allowed to enter and allowed to walk around most, if not all of the complex. For a few extra bucks you can climb on of the mosque's towers.
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A short walk from the Al-Hakim Mosque is the Khan el-Khalili market, which has been going strong since the 1200s. I drank a Turkish coffee at El Fishawi, one of Cairo's oldest, if not the oldest cafe. This was the first time I drank a Turkish coffee and it's a bit of a jolt. Not from the caffeine but from taking a sip too many and getting a bunch of coffee grounds in my mouth.
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I walked around several central neighborhoods during my last day in Cairo. The photos in left-to-right order below: Talaat Harb Square, El Abd (a famous bakery), and Cafe Riche, a literary, intellectual, and revolutionary haunt. It's where Naguib Mahfouz, author of Palace Walk, and Nasser hung out to discuss Cairo's current affairs.
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For lunch I went to Koshary Abou Tarek, an Anthony Bourdain choice.
Near the restaurant I met a local couple and talked to them for a bit. I asked for their thoughts on America. They said they liked America but they wished the country would just leave Egypt alone.
Near the restaurant I met a local couple and talked to them for a bit. I asked for their thoughts on America. They said they liked America but they wished the country would just leave Egypt alone.
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My impression of Cairo is quite simple...I'm not surprised Egyptians protested and overthrew the government. The city and country does not seem to have any modern infrastructure investment. I talked to a couple briefly about the events and all they said was they still respect the U.S. but don't want the U.S. involved in the future of the country given that the U.S. supported Mubarak for thirty years. That's foreign policy in a nutshell for you.
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Cairo has its spots and the city, for as beaten down as it seemed, has a ton of potential. American's don't hear much about Egypt anymore - when this part of the world is brought up the discussions are usually around Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Israel, but Egypt is bigger than all of them. It's a country with an amazing history, a fascinating recent history (that many people don't know much about post WWII), and with 100 million citizens it can be a dominant force in orchestrating peace and stability in the Middle East.
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I went all over Cairo - my guidebook made it seem like I could walk all over, however, that wasn't the case - there are a couple of flyovers and I don't believe the map I had was to scale. Plus there's no telling what neighborhood you may be walking through even near the Nile.
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For additional photos see Cairo Flickr Album.