Cairo

Cairo turned out to be an incredible place (and I am really glad I went there when I did).

They even have Martha Stewart in Arabic!

First, because there were hot showers, towels that were dried in a dryer, sparkling water, no mosquito nets necessary, a double bed, paved roads, sidewalks, shops, food options, salads, constant electricity, etc…

But second and more importantly Cairo is amazing due to the sheer amount of history, temples, relics, size and energy. 

The Egyptian Museum almost feels like something from a movie about getting locked in a museum it is ENORMOUS with relics of ancient Egypt tucked into every corner!  A New York curator would probably die to get their hands on the place, valuable ancient artifacts are in those old-school wooden display cases, nothing is temperature controlled, or air-tight (except for King Tut’s funeral mask and the ancient royal mummies, the mummies of non royals are just in regular cases). 

It was really incredible seeing so many ancient statues I had studied in Art History and just the sheer size of these artifacts.  The mummies are amazingly preserved, there are even mummies of animals and seeing King Tut’s funeral mask, which is something that has been reproduced many times, is breathtaking.  Unfortunately, you aren’t allowed to take pictures and unfortunately they don’t sell postcards.

The infamous Tahir Square which is the center of the Arab Spring when it is not a traffic circle.  The political parties offices were burned during the first revolution.

The burned out political party HQ behind

The Ritz-Carlton on Tahir Sq.

 

Other observations:

1. Stores – I asked at my hotel if it was safe to walk outside at 9pm (obviously have acclimated to Juba where it is not) and the man behind the counter looked at me like I was nuts.  I went outside and the city is so alive!  The streets are full of people and mostly they are shopping!  The majority of stores seem to be shoe stores that have their windows from floor to ceiling full of shoes, the streets are packed with people as well as vendors selling everything from sweaters and sunglasses to toys and house linens.

Night on the Nile

2. Culture - It was a little odd realizing that I was the only woman in a sea of people who didn’t have their head covered.  The amount women carries varies from western dress with head covered to everything covered in black including hands and the space between your eyes.

3. Traffic is insane - Definitely worse then Mexico City!  There are no street lights and even when they are there, no one cares, people honk constantly, just drive at a zillion miles an hour through the city.  On what looks like a freeway and people going over 120km an hour there will be donkeys, bicyclists, people walking, people catching the bus, and it is an absolute free-for-all.  While I stood at various corners waiting for a time to cross the street, I had 3 people quote to me ‘Hey Lady, Walk like an Egyptian’.