I've still got so much to write about my travels in Europe. I'm a bit scared that I'm going to forget everything before i finally put pen to paper. True to form, I'm going to put it off yet again and instead write a bit about what's going on at the moment. Adam and I are in Cairo! A city so big and chaotic that the best they can do is put the population at somewhere between 12 and 18 million. We flew from London via Amsterdam with KLM and got into Cairo at about 1 in the morning. I'd booked a hostel andn not knowing what to expect when we landed, got them to organise an airport transfer too. For the first time in my life there was a bloke in a suit waiting in the arrival hall with a board with my name on it. Never mind that he wasn't there at first and when he was he only had a crappy bit of paper and after that he disappeared for a while and even when he turned up we had to wait another half an hour for a car.
We had to purchase visas upon arrival, which consist of little more than two postage stamps. I got held up going through customs for some inexplicable reason. The only reason i can think of is because I was born in Malaysia. That was the only thing the guy asked me before telling me to take a seat while he walked around eating bird seed and spitting the husks everywhere. After about 15 minutes i finally asked him if there was a problem. He asks me why I'm in Egypt then takes me into a darkened room where there's another bloke behind a desk with his elbows on the table, inspecting my passport. Anyway, after a bunch of inane questions including 'how much money do you have', I was on my way.
By the time we got to the hostel it was about 3 so we didnt really get going til fairly late this morning. The hostel is in a great location and the price is quite reasonable. I feel like I'm throwing money around because Adamand I got a triple room because they have no twins and the other option was a dorm. I dont have a problem with dorms but, you know how it is... relative dodginess. Besides, we're paying AU$9 each per night which is better than most European campsites.
The plan was to check out the Egyptian Museum which is one of Cairo's big drawcards. It is just down the road from the hostel which is a bonus. Before we had gone 20 metres this nicely dressed guy comes up and starts talking to us about how he's from Frankfurt and has come back to Cairo for a holiday etc. I was thoroughly expecting to be approached by loads of these guys over the course of the day but after a few minutes talking to this particular guy I actually thought that he was legitimate. He was going on about his French wife and how he was excited because she just converted to Islam and how we're a bit tubby because we're Australian and love to drink beer. It went out the door when he took us to his uncle's perfume shop. After a few pleasantries and before the 'cup-of-tea-as-a-sign-of-hospitality-when-you-come-to-my-house' could arrive we got out of there and headed for the museum. As it turned out the museum was cosed for prayer time and would only be open for a couple more hours after prayers anyway. We decided to head for one of the other big sights in Cairo, namely the citadel and Mohammed Ali mosque (not the boxer you idiot).
It was quite a distance and we had planned on getting a cab but in the end we managed to walk there despite a getting a bit lost and disorientated along the way. I've really honed my navigation skills on this trip but Cairo is an entirely different kettle of fish. Most of the streets arend marked by signs nor are they named on maps. It is more practical to navigate by landmarks and vague compass points. All along the way we were greeted by every male between the age of 5 and 50 with something to sell, a trade to ply or a scam to attempt. I kept getting asked if I was Egyptian, which got old very fast. It was amazing to hear the kind of things people came up with when we told them where we were from. One guy even said 'tie me kangaroo down, sport'. Where do they get this stuff? We fond ourselves in some retty dumpy areas of Cairo today. Some of it was downright depressing. There weren't many beggars but looking at some of the shops and stalls and the things on offer, it was evident that they were as good as begging. Mechanics seemed to be the only peole doing a roaring trade. The cars in Cairo are about 5% as roadworthy as our van was. (hey, it passed the test) We've been in two proper cabs (ie not fancy 'limos' which are mostly new Mercedes) so far and the only thing that would definitely pass an inspection is the horn. It is also the most used part of a car in Egypt. I have to say, most of the cars have pretty powerful horns. We were walking past a truck doing a three point turn in a parking lot when the driver hit the horn just to amuse himself. I got the fright of my life and turnd to see him looking at me with a toothy grin on his face. Bastard. I couldn't help smiling myself.
We walked around the walls of the citadel for a bit but couldnt figure out a way in. The place was surrounded by little shops and entire neighbourhoods which appeared makeshift at best. We did get a good view of the Sultan Hassan mosque though. By this time we were both tired, hungry and fed up with the (here comes a made up phroase) non tourist friendliness of Cairo. The Tombs of the Mamelukes were nearby and we decided to check them out as it was a word that i recognised and there was a nice little sketch of the complex on the map too. There were a couple of what looked like mini tour buses near the site so I thought, 'ooh, this should be decent.' (It was a strange feeling to be actually looking for other tourists rather than trying to avoid them which was the case all over Europe). It turned out that there were no tourists and one of the buses had just broken down so we were enlisted to give it a push start. With our good deed for the day done, we proceed to the tombs to find that they were open to all, derelict and frequented by no one but squatters. It was quite sad really. I took a few snaps... with my new camera!!! (not so sad)
We caught a cab back to Talaat Harb Square (where the hostel is. Bit of Cairo geography for you there) for the low, low price of LE10 (LE=Egyptian Pounds. LE1= about AU$0.20) and chowed down on some KFC. It's shocking I know but if you had seen the state of some of the street side restaurants you would have done the same. I'm not at all averse to street vendors and I love nothing better in Malaysia but most of the stuff here (meat especially) just didnt look right. I did buy a nice fig bun tonight though. I cant wait to try some authentic stuff but I think I'll wait til I get a tip from one of the hostel staff tomorrow. To make up for the less than Egyptian lunch I bought a selection of Egyptian sweets :)
We went back to the hostel, had a snooze then caught a cab for the even lower price of LE5 to the bazaar in the Khan el Khalili area. It was fairly crap on the whole and not just because everyone thought they could make a quick buck out of us and therefore assailed us with a combination of 'hello', 'welcome', 'what are you looking for', please take my business card', 'tshirt' and 'where are you from'. The stuff on sale was also pretty poor. More factory made in China than hand made in Egypt. The only thing that I was tempted to buy (until the guy asked fo the equivalent of AU$200 and not a penny less) was a no longer working 'antique' watch featuring a little picture of Saddam Hussein. It wasnt that old but it did have a nice feel about it. I'm on a mini mission to find one cheap from now on.
On the way back the cab we were in got stopped by a cop and the driver was forced to pay bribe (I suppose). Poor guy... I think it was about twice the fare that we owed him too. I thought about tipping him but between Adam and I we had either exact change or loads more so yea... he got his LE5 (AU$1.03).
So now I'm here in this internet cafe next to the hostel. I've written a fair bit about one day... I cant believe that there are about 70 days I havent written about yet. All in good time I suppose. Tommorow we'll get to the Egyptian Museum and meet up with our tour group in the evening. On Sunday the tour starts with the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza. It's still a little surreal but I'm quite excited. So long as no one steals anything from me I'll be quite happy. I swear it's such a hassle.