Egypt - Cairo

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

So yesterday, we drove all day long from the border of Israel/Jordan/Egypt down to Cairo. From the time we crossed the border there was a noticeable change in the feeling of the country. The men are much more aggressive and creepy. I think in Israel I’m mostly afraid because I’m American where as in Egypt I’m nervous because I’m blonde and female.

From the border to our first rest stop the landscape was pretty remarkable. It’s a daunting desert, but it’s not flat like Arizona. It has huge desert mountains and ridges and sand dunes. It’s crazy. Our first rest stop was in a little strip of shops that seriously looked like a ghost town. I heard the bathrooms were horrible but didn’t have the guts to check it out myself. We ate lunch in what seemed like an abandoned mosque; it had beautiful moldings all over the walls and ceilings, but plastic lawn chairs and tables. Men in dresses and head wraps with machine guns were all over the place. A few years ago in Egypt a tour bus was attacked by some radicals so now armed guards are required to travel on every tour bus. The men wear suits and sit up at the front and don’t make you feel much better. If things got ugly I’m not convinced they’d be on my side.

Here’s a few interesting things about Egypt.

1. This is a seriously 3^rd world country. There is so much poverty. The buildings along the side of the road aren’t finished, they all have open roofs and unfinished walls on top. They told us this is so the people can avoid paying the various taxes associated with completing a building project. Hmm, seems someone should’ve closed that tax loop hole before the entire town ended up looking like a war zone.

2. Camels and donkeys are actually used as methods of transportation. Cairo is a huge city (almost as big as Los Angeles) and their roads aren’t well developed. The traffic is terrible. On Monday night, after arriving in Cairo we went from our hotel to the great pyramids for the Sound & Light show. We traveled literally 2 miles and it took us 1 hour. I’m not kidding.

3. The Great Pyramids are actually located in the middle of a town. You never see if from the photos that are taken, but the city creeps all the way to the feet of the pyramids. It’s not what I expected! If you can go see the pyramids at night, you should. It was remarkable sitting and staring at the huge structures with the stars and moon hanging around. I hope I’ll remember it forever.

4. The pyramids are amazing. Can’t believe I’ve already checked that site off my Life To-Do list! Just as at any other remarkable historical site, beware of the vendors. Being friendly is not an appropriate technique for getting them to leave you alone. Instead, the the Egyptian will offer your guy friend 20 camels to take you home. Ew.

5. Camels make a lot of strange noises. Beware of the spit.

6. Don’t eat Egyptian Watermelon. You will be ill.

7. It’s extremely hot here. Well over 100 every day. (We start at 6am to try to beat it as much as possible) And Egyptian pyramids & tombs are built to have no ventilation. I recommend you not crawl inside the long, narrow, tunnel unless you want to know what the stale stank of 20 countries mixed together is like. It’s awful. Now you know, skip the inside of the pyramids. (It was the first time in my life that I’ve had sweat dripping off my face and arms in a steady stream. Sick)

8. Keep in mind that Egyptian history is told with an extreme bias. For instance, the limestone off the face of the pyramids was stolen by the Arabs, NOT used for the historical government buildings in Cairo that happen to be made of the same substance. Also, after the statue of Nefertiti was discovered it was covered in mud and stolen in the night by the Germans, NOT discovered and fairly claimed by the archaeological team that has dumped money into excavating Egypt.

9. You can find something pretty cute on a papyrus in Egypt if you look really hard. And you’re not a bad person if while at the Papyrus Making Factory you decide you do not want the Book of Abraham facsimiles on papyrus framed on your wall. Instead, you want birds. What do you think of this one? (The colors are better in real life)

10. Without the wonderful pita ladies of Egypt, I would be a very hungry person.

11. Without this vendor, I would have died at the Zoser Pyramid (oldest step pyramid in Egypt. Look familiar?). The temperature was about 110 degrees, it was 4pm and we’d been out and about since 7am. It was a little windy and this determined vendor took photos with everyone and tried to cheer/perk us up. When giving him a few dollars as a tip the wind picked up and the bills flew over the edge of the wall we were on. This tiny old man scurried faster than anything I’ve ever seen, launched himself off the wall unfortunately flashing us all in the process, chasing after the dollar bills until he had hunted down each one. He was out of his mind frantic trying to gather the dollars, it was crazy!

12. Don’t ever drink the water in Egypt. Period. The famous Nile