Egypt at Last: Cairo - Walkin’ Like an Egyptian

Walkin' like an Egyptian!

Arrival in Crazy Cairo Town

We landed at Cairo Airport and met our very first guide Walid, who helped us navigate the arrival procedures. Memphis Tours provides a Fast Track Visa service that whisked us through Passport Control and the Visa purchase process so quickly our heads were spinning. As we would see repeatedly over the coming weeks, Memphis Tours, the largest travel company in Egypt, carries a lot of clout that makes life A LOT easier for their clients.

BTW our friends Amy and Ted were on our same flight from Vienna, so we shared the arrival experience together. The four of us gathered up our gear at the airport and headed for the Fairmont Nile City Hotel.

Walid gives us the scoop on Cairo as we head for our hotel

On the way over to the hotel, soft-spoken 24-year old Walid talked to us about Egyptian life and customs, and even taught Frank some entry level Egyptian words which would come in handy later as we traversed the country. The first unusual thing we noticed at the entrance to our hotel was a barricade manned by armed guards. And a sniffer dog who circled our van before we were allowed to enter.

Egyptian Security -- automatic weapons
behind bullet-proof enclosures

Obviously, Egyptians take security very seriously. In fact, armed guards with automatic weapons would become a commonplace sight throughout the whole trip. Security checkpoints manned by automatic-weapon-packing police are everywhere.

The Fairmont is a five star hotel and while it wouldn’t meet the standards of a five star at home, it was perfectly fine for us. In fact, it was more luxurious than most places we stay. From our room on the sixteenth floor, we had a spectacular view of the Nile River which the Egyptians call “El Neel.”

Selling flowers in Cairo traffic jam is no bed of roses

The ride from the airport to the hotel was an eye-opener too. Traffic in Cairo is haphazard at best and pedestrians are about as low on the totem pole as it gets. It’s not safe to cross the busy streets in Cairo, but somehow people manage to do it, coming within just inches of being whacked by speeding unpredictable traffic. Walid said they have to close their eyes and cross!

The cars don’t drive within their traffic lanes but rather wander all over the road mostly straddling those lines that define those very lanes! If you want to pass someone who’s going too slow for you, you just bang on the horn and floor it as you pass them on either side, right or left. We noted that stop signs and traffic lights exist but obeying them is optional. Speed limits? No worries, go just as fast as you please.

A symbol of Egypt displayed on the highways

Another dangerous situation while ripping along a super highway (similar to our own Route 95), cars can suddenly stop in the far right, or far left lanes to drop off or pick up passengers. Since everyone tailgates, this is a perfect opportunity to smash into that stopped vehicle dispensing people, if you are not watching. Nobody ever signals when changing lanes, and the vicissitudes of driving are very daunting for newcomers like us. Walid claims there are rules for driving, but they do not resemble the rules in America even remotely. And besides, nobody does anything to enforce them. We haven’t seen this kind of excitement on the road since we got back from India!

Headed for our first Egyptian meal at a Koshary

On our first evening, Walid took us to the famous restaurant, Abu Tarak’s Koshary. Since koshary is the national food of Egypt, we figured this would be a great way to dive right into Egyptian culture. Owner Abu Tarak is supposed to make the best Koshary in all of Egypt. The multi-floor restaurant was simple but clean and filled with hungry locals. Ordering was easy because in a Koshary, they only serve one thing – koshary!

Anne and Walid get ready to chow down on koshary

Koshary is served as a bowl of pasta mixed with lentils, crispy onions, chickpeas, rice, and other spices and goodies we didn’t recognize. You also get a tureen of mildly spicy tomato sauce to pour over your koshary. And, if you want to walk on the wild side (like an Egyptian), you can add some super spicy sauce for a little extra kick. We all loved it -- a very simple but filling and delicious meal!

The three wonders at Giza!

The Pyramids of Giza are the Greatest

The following day we visited the three pyramids at Giza. Giza is located on the west bank of the Nile, southwest of Cairo, in a more sedate area. Adrenalin was running high in our van as we approached and got our first glimpse of these massive ancient structures. The thrill of the first sighting of the pyramids is a real visual mindblower, shored up by one’s own imagination and the boundless pictures of these magnificent 5000-year old wonders of the world that we’ve all seen in textbooks since grade school.

So excited to be here!

The pyramids are situated on the edge of the Sahara Desert, and their size and majesty is inexpressible. The Great Pyramid of Khufu (sometimes called The Pyramid of Cheops) is made from about 2.5 million large cut blocks of stone! Lots of man-hours there! The pyramids were originally covered with polished limestone, most of which is rubble at the base of the pyramids now. We saw some of that covering still partially intact on at least one of the pyramids. The limestone covering was a gleaming white such that the original pyramids must have dazzled in the sun!

Climbing The Great Pyramid of Cheops!

Unlike most ancient sights, you are allowed to walk right up to these ancient babies and finger them as much as you want. We even climbed (a portion of the way) up the side of The Great Pyramid (Cheops). Wow, to climb The Great Pyramid is one of the greatest thrills of our lifetime!

We drove around for various viewpoints. The other two pyramids, The Pyramid of Khafre, and The Pyramid of Menkaure are smaller but still impressive. And seeing all three together felt unreal. Like a scene from a Disney movie!

Model of the Solar Boat

A solar boat museum alongside the Pyramid of Cheops displays a 5000-year old cedar barge that was unearthed nearby and reconstructed. Funeral boats like this one were intended to carry the Pharaohs into the afterlife. We were in awe of the engineering and good condition of this ancient wooden boat. Sand can be a remarkable preservative!

The mighty protector of the pyramids

Next, we hiked around to the Sphinx, such a compelling site situated prominently right in front of the three wonders, as though protecting them from danger. Actually, the real reason for the Sphinx is unknown, lost to the ages. A funerary temple next to the Sphinx served as a center for mummification. The walls of perfectly aligned stones reminded us of the Inca stonework we saw in Peru.

Local Arab hams it up in the desert

Saqqara and Dahshur – the Other Pyramids

The pyramids at Saqqara and Dahshur are older than the ones at Giza and provide some understanding of how pyramids evolved. These sights are less visited by tourists, so the atmosphere was much calmer than Giza. And the location out in the countryside, offered an amazing expanse of desert, empty except for an occasional local riding a donkey or racing across the sands on horseback or camel. It looked like something from the movie set of Lawrence of Arabia!

Frank investigates his first tomb carvings

We began our explorations of Saqqara by visiting our very first tomb. It wasn’t that easy for us old farts -- we had to duck low and crouch down to enter the Tomb of Teti. Inside, our guide Ebrahim showed us the finely etched and polished hieroglyphics on all the inside walls. Ebrahim even showed us how to read some of them. What a thrill!

The Step Pyramid at Saqqara

We moved on to The Step Pyramid at Saqqara, ostensibly the first pyramid ever built. The earliest pyramids were not smooth 4-sided quadrangles, but a series of one rectangular box of cut rocks placed on top of another. Each “box” smaller than the last. For many years, the coronations of the Pharaohs took place in the courtyard of The Step Pyramid. These Pharaohs of the past needed to prove their strength before taking on the position of rulers over Egypt. Extreme Herculean feats of strength were required with fighting and killing a bull as the big finale. A man needed to show superhuman qualities in order to assume the seat of “pharaoh.”

Frank is dwarfed by one of the bull coffins
in the Serapeum

The strangest sight at Saqqara was the Serapeum, containing a network of strange underground tunnels lined with enclosures holding the humongous sarcophagi of the sacred bulls. Archaeologists have unearthed sixty of these bull coffins, and many believe there are over 300 of these behemoths. These “bull” sized sarcophagi required a monumental effort to carve them from giant blocks of granite, and no one even knows why it was done. It’s quite a mystery – our guide Ebrahim claims it might have been magic, demons, or aliens with lasers.

The Bent Pyramid
Nice design -- not!

Continuing on to Dahshur, we visited the Bent Pyramid which lacked the sleek lines of later pyramids. Instead, it looked more like a stone hay stack. The burial place was constructed for the Pharaoh Sneferu; however, when he saw the resulting shape of his interment house, he quickly snafued this future resting place for himself. And as a result, this pyramid has remained empty thru the ages.

Climbing The Red Pyramid

Sneferu was happier with the next attempt, a nearby structure called The Red Pyramid with remarkably sleek lines (at least from a distance). We climbed this one up to the entrance which is much higher than the Cheops pyramid we scaled yesterday. The insides of these pyramids are claustrophobic and often filled with bats, so we were content with a great view of the barren landscape from up above. Very exhilarating climb!

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