Gail and I were looking for the perfect time to go to Cairo for months. as it turns out, the three day weekend we chose probably couldn't have been a worse choice. lessons learned I guess. After booking the trip we learned that it was the two year anniversary of the uprising that lead to the ousting of Mubarak. The other brilliant call was booking 4he intercontinental hotel right next to Tahrir Square. We arrived Thursday afternoon and enjoyed a marvelous sunset over the Nile River from our balcony. We had upgraded our room to a club room which included breakfast buffet, snacks and soft drinks all day, and happy hour with dinner buffet. We didn't buy a meal outside the airport the entire trip.
Day two started calm enough. People were starting to gather inthe square as we had our coffee in the club lounge. At 8am we met up with Mohamed, our driver and Tarek, our guide, and it was off to the pyramids at Giza. It was a pinch me moment as we started catching glimpses of the gigantic structures along the drive. As cool as it was for us, there is quite the reality check when you see how people are trying to survive. The Egyptian economy is really suffering right now, and everywhere we went we were hounded to either by something or some service (like riding a flea ridden camel). We told our guide up front that none of that interested us. He respected that and cleared vendors out if they didn't get the message the first time we said le shukran (no thank you).
Tarek was amazing and was throwing facts, dates and names at us faster than we could absorb them. You could sense his Egyptian pride. At the second pyramid we paid 30 pounds each (about 4 USD) to climb through the pyramid to the burial chamber, which is located at the very center of the structure.
After Giza we headed to Memphis, which was the first capital of Egypt. This is 4he point where we need to mention Egyptian driving. They go fast, and by their own admission the lane striping is purely decoration. After Memphis we stopped at this killer little outdoor restaurant. It was right out of a movie. Cats wondering around, old lady making bread in a clay over and dirt for a floor. The food was amazing and I'm sure this is a memory we will cherish for years to come.
After lunch we headed to Saqqara. From one pointh there we could see nine pyramids. After all the touristing we were ready for some cold beverages and soft chairs. From the club lounge we could see that the crowd had swelled to several thousand people. The folks in the square were fired up and making a lot of noise, but in a peaceful way. On the side street right below us that was not the case. A couple hundred people were stirring up trouble by tossing Molotov cocktails and anything else handy at riot police. The police then started lobbing teargas at them which drifted up and through the windows when we cracked them open to hear. Needless to say, it was a long night of worrying.
Morning came, and things were calm. We loaded up with Tarek and Mohamed again and took a short drive to the Egyptian museum. Three hours later, with my head crammed with two much info, we finished up and took lunch at a little place right on the Nile. Not the same experience, but still pretty cool. Next was a church tour, then off to the Citadel.
That night the trouble makers started early and chose the street directly in front of the entrance of our hotel. That night we met the head of security for the hotel chains middle east security, and he ensured us that we were safe. After another nearly sleepless night we got up to find that a large number of the crowd were still clashing with police. The lower level of the hotel took some abuse, but nothing major.
We had planned to go for a walk that morning, but as the police had pushed the crowd onto the bridge were they were still clashing, we thought it more prudent to sit in the lounge and read.
Clearly Cairo is a bucket list destination for most. Just go knowing that you will be hassled and hustled, you will be exposed to severe poverty, but you will almost certainly be greeted with a smile.
