After running the gauntlet of the Cairo streets, we are sat in quite a nice little cafe away from the noise outside. We arrived in Egypt 4 days ago and for me we have stayed 3.5 days too long! It is not often I have such a strong negative reaction against somewhere but sadly, Cairo has been one of the worst places I have visited, certainly on this trip.
We flew into Cairo airport from Istanbul and were met by a driver from our hostel. After a hair raising, seatbelt-free 40 minute ride, we arrived at our hostel. We were staying in Downtown Cairo, a stone's throw from the Egyptian Museum and infamous Tahrir Square. Our hostel was in the Yacoubian building which I learnt was where the richest Armenians lived in Cairo in the 1920's and 30's. A lot has changed in the building and indeed the country since then. The room was ok (minus the cockroach I found in my bed last night) but the building is dilapidated at best. It must have been beautiful once upon a time but now the doors to the fancy flats are propped ajar, exposing their interiors full of rubble, waste and families of stray cats. The smell was almost unbearable in the hallway.
Anyway, on our first full day we booked the driver to take us to the pyramids. We arrived at the Giza plateau, home to the great pyramid and the Sphinx, in the morning. I had read and people had warned us, that we would be hassled but nothing could prepare me for this. The ticket desk and entry were amass with men trying to tell you to go this way, that way, buy the ticket here, there yah yah yah....Once we pushed our way through we got a brief glimpse of the incredible pyramids before we were immediately approached from every side by men trying to sell horse and camel rides. I completely understand that every one of those people is trying to make a living, trying to feed his respective family in a city which has seen tourism nose dive, but it was completely overwhelming. To further highlight the lack of tourism in the current climate, we were pretty much the only Western tourists on the complex. It was however full of mobs of Egyptian school kids who all wanted photos with us. Then rolled in a large group of Chinese, suited men surrounded by bodyguards wielding automatic weapons around their chests. The pyramids are very impressive structures and it was great to see the Sphinx, an image I have seen in books so many times. We had a couple of hours here before we walked, exhausted by the hassle, back to the car.
The driver took us to Saqqara, the very first step pyramid, and then to Dahshur pyramids where Yon descended down into the middle of the pyramid. There were pretty much no other tourists and no sellers here so it was a bit more of a relaxed affair. We went back to the hostel to get ready for our Nile dinner cruise....another eventful night.
We were picked up by our driver who immediately said he wanted me as his own and would therefore have to kill Jonny. The first time we laughed, but as he said it the 2nd, 3rd, 4th time on the way to the boat it started losing its charm. We got on the boat and went upstairs, led by our driver. At this point we expected him to say goodbye and tell us what time he would pick us up later. Instead he sat at the other end of the boat just watching us. He then came to take us downstairs to get to the buffet before everyone else- we didn't really want to eat at that point and would rather have waited for the rest of the guests but he was pretty forceful about it. He then proceeded to go up and select our desserts for us and then, the crowning moment, sat down next to me and started tucking into his own plate of buffet. Turned out he wasn't leaving the boat at all! It was very uncomfortable as he sat next to us and stared to the point that Yon and I couldn't even have a conversation.
Then the 'entertainment' began- first up two Egyptian singers who sounded like strangled cats. The whole time, the driver was either watching us from afar or stood behind my chair. Next up was the belly dancer- ok in itself but a strange custom I find in a place where the rest of the women in the room have their skin covered head to toe. I felt particularly sorry for her as she had to go round and take photos with all the pervy blokes and was routinely groped by a few. During the belly dancing I had started to speak to man next to us- he was French speaking Algerian and I was asking him how much he paid as I suspected we'd been ripped off. Our driver was over in a flash, sat at our table with a menacing look and basically told the man he was not allowed to speak to us. After this the man was too afraid to carry on the conversation and I was livid that we were being chaperoned and controlled by this man. For the rest of the evening the driver sat in front of us staring at us. Had it not been for this man, the evening could have been very enjoyable but it was sadly completely ruined :-(
The next day we visited the famous Egyptian Museum. This involved a walk along the streets down to Tahrir Square, next to the museum. Before every outing on the streets of Cairo I have had to take a deep breath and keep my head down. In many places we have travelled before I, like many female travelers, have been hassled by the local men- I understand that this is just because I look different and it is difficult to hide very light skin and blonde hair. However, the attention has felt very different here- I am sure that some of the Egyptian men are nice, respectable people but unfortunately many of them stare with such intensity and a bizarre mix of sickly perversion and disapproval all at the same time, that it has made it a horrible experience to walk around for me. Anyway, we made it to the museum without too much incident and were struck by the barbed wire blockades, armed men and massive burnt out buildings around the museum- all remnants of the 2011 revolution. The museum itself has been my favourite experience in Cairo- a calm sanctuary where we got to see the royal mummies, Tutankhamun's death mask and all the treasures from his tomb. It was incredible to see how advanced the ancient Egyptians were and the beautiful adornments they created, just amazing. Sadly many items had been stolen and damaged in a raid during the revolution.
We had negotiated hard for some money back from the horrible dinner cruise and agreed with the hostel that we would take the tour of Islamic and Coptic Cairo as compensation. The driver (from the pyramids tour not the cruise!) took us to the citadel first. It had a huge mosque and a terrace where you could look out across the city. We ran into the guarded Chinese tourists again who were allowed to enter the sacred space in the mosque where usually only the Imam can access. When I tried the same I was watched and blocked by the large armed guards! We also visited the first mosque in Africa where I was given a free, translated copy of the Qu'ran which I am going to read through. Our last stop in Islamic Cairo was the huge mosque which also houses the tomb of the exiled last Shah of Iran- a very understated spot. After that we entered Coptic Cairo- this Christian area is completely blocked off from cars with barricades and armed men so you have to enter through a metal detector to get in. We visited some nice churches and a synagogue, made more interesting by the fact they sit right in the middle of such an Islamic city. I imagine at some point the communities mixed and perhaps lived peacefully together, however since the revolution I think things have changed and the area is very much segregated.
After an interesting day, our driver dropped us off at a little restaurant famous for Kushari- a mix of lentils, pasta, noodles, chickpeas, fried onion and strong tomato sauce. It didn't look great but it was absolutely delicious!
Today we fly to Amman, Jordan where we happily continue our journey. We were told that despite regular protests in Tahrir Square by the Muslim Brotherhood, things are improving in Egypt, which is encouraging to hear. Perhaps judging Egypt by Cairo is unfair and other places in the country may be different. I am sorry to say that I will not be rushing back to test that theory.
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