Cairo

We arrived in Cairo after a long day of travelling. A bus from Jerusalem at 9 took us south through the Negev desert all the way to Eilat where we arrived at about 12:30. We crossed the border into Egypt on foot. Surprisingly, taking into account how arduous it had been to get into Israel, the crossing took less than half an hour. It seems the Israelis don’t particularly mind people leaving their country. From Taba, the town on the other side of the border, we found a bus to take us to Cairo. Before us stretched Sinai. The road was long and straight with nothing but rocks, sand and the odd military base on either side of it. Finally, having been travelling for a good 14 hours we arrived in Cairo and checked into a hotel. Not the one we booked, because it turned out it was full, but into the nicer one owned by the same people which they moved us to. This was maybe the best thing that happened to us throughout our time there as this place had air-conditioning, something which was far more appreciated than in any other place we had been. 

Cairo was hot. Very hot. And very humid. So much so that even sitting was an effort. Our days in Cairo were much less full than anywhere else we had been. Since it is Ramadan, all tourist sites were closing early, around 2 or 3. Even before then we started to flag though and by 3 were generally back in the hotel room napping.

On the second day we went out and walked through the newly cleared Tahrir square to the Egyptian museum, the burnt out remains of Mubarak’s party headquarters looming behind it. The museum was a treasure trove. If you can think of any type of artefact or relic from Pharonic times, they had a dozen of them. Some of the descriptions of the artefacts were a little lacking but the museum made up for that in sheer volume, both of famous and unknown artefacts. The mummy rooms, Tutankhamen’s burial mask and sarcophagus were a delight. Other parts held less renowned treasures, such as a stele with the sole mention of the Israelites on any Egyptian artefact (amusingly stating that they were destroyed, no more, and their seed had been wiped out). No photos however; as it seems with all museums or sites in Egypt that are contained and thus regulated, cameras had to be left at the door.

On our way out we were part greeted, part accosted by someone in the street. I’m not entirely sure how (like I say, it was very hot and this was around 3 o’clock) but after around half an hour we walked away having booked ourselves dinner on a boat on the Nile for that evening. Needless to say it was wonderful. The food was delicious and the accompanying band fantastic. 

There were also dancers.

The following morning we hired a taxi for the day and set off to see the pyramids. There are 3 sets of pyramids around Cairo: Dah shour, Saqqara and Giza (this being the order in which we saw them). Dah shour was only opened to the public some ten years ago and on the site is the world’s first true pyramid. Next to it, it’s malformed brother, known as the bent pyramid. This was the first non-step pyramid. About half way up they realised that the 56 degree angle they were taking was untenable and so levelled off to 43, thus the name. The inner chambers of the less bent of the two are also open to the public. Large ceilings and huge pieces of cut stone line the inside.

Saqqara was equally impressive.  The pyramids at this site are step pyramids. However, we didn’t spend so much time at this site, due to its smaller size and wanting more time at Giza.

When we arrived at Giza we rented a guide and horses for the time we would be there. In part this was due to the sweltering heat which was truly upon us by the time we arrived and also because of the size of the site. 

With the 3 great pyramids, several smaller ones, a small temple, ruins, the temple of the sphinx and the sphinx itself laid out across sand dunes and rocky outcrops, having something else do our walking for us seemed like a good idea. It was. As a way to tour the site this was wonderful and, although a tad pricey in comparison to any other expenditure, still a good price. We made sure to take our time throughout and this was one of the few places we have been to thus far in Egypt which allowed cameras inside. Afterwards, we returned to the hotel and slept.

The next day we went out and explored a different area of Cairo, the old town. Although we missed getting to look round the synagogue by just a few minutes (Ramadan opening hours again) we managed to see most of the sights in the area. The old town is home to many of Cairo’s Coptic Christians and thus their churches and a museum dedicated to Coptic artwork and culture. All very interesting.

This was essentially the end of our time being tourists in Cairo. After three days of walking around trying to be busy the heat and humidity finally got to us. We spent the next couple of days either in the hotel room or going out for short walks and ventures in the morning and evening, but even at those times it was unpleasant to be outside. After a couple of days the next move was clear: to Alexandria!