Christmas in Egypt

Cairo

December 19

I took a bus from Mumias to Nairobi where I spent the night at Milimani Backpackers. A ten hour bus ride is seldom any fun, but I knew the final destination would be worth it.

December 20

I met my two other traveling companions in Nairobi for our 17:30 flight to Cairo with a stop over in Adis Ababa, Ethiopia. Jon, Amanda, and myself dined for a sub sandwhich at Serit Center. We then took a city hoppa bus from downtown to the airport. Taking the city hoppa was only 50 kshs/ea compared to 1000 kshs for a taxi.

It was a strange feeling being back at JKIA (Joma Kenyatta International Airport) roughly one year ago I got off a plane where I left everything behind to undergo a journey of a lifetime. The journey is till continuing.

Our flight consisted of 3 meals. The flight to Adis Ababa, Ethiopia was 1 ½ hours but they game us a meal. Then the flight from their to Cairo we had two more meals. I was stuffed after the first one. I did not let the food go to waste.

December 21

We all arrived in Cairo around 03:30 and were taken to our hostel via a cab provided by the hostel. Going to bed once we got there was not a hard thing to do. Several hours later we got up for a late breakfast. Our first day to walk around the city a bit was nice to stretch the legs and see some new things.

Our first destination was Islamic Cairo. Walking through back alley ways and gazing at the various shops was interesting. The walk path was just big enough for a small car to slowly drive. How would I know that; a few cars made their way down the alley ways. I was amazed they were able to maneuver it without knocking over anything. There were a lot of shops selling carpet/rugs and fabric. 

December 22

Egyptian museum.

One thing that was interesting was the lights on the road that gave an additional reminder of a traffic light. This really did catch my attention. In Kenya there are roundabouts where you force yourself into the flow of traffic with no traffic lights, except for Nairobi.

This day was specifically set aside for visiting the Egyptian Museum. When we arrived there was already an extremely long line. We all agreed to talk a walk across the Nile River and come back after having lunch. On the way we saw the opera house. 

I am yet to understand the number of Tourist Police around all of the major attractions. When we visited the Pyramids our tour guide told us that there were about 50 tourist officers per monument/site. Some sites it felt like there were more police than tourist. I did see regular cops; they were usually were directing traffic. Also a vast majority of them had a bullet proof shield with them to protect from who knows what.

Lunch before heading to the Museum we backtracked a bit to look for some authenic Egyptian food at Abu Tarek.  Once arriving I remember watching an episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel eating at this establishment. It looked the same from tv. Since I am a fan of the show it was nice to go there and try their food. Their main dish and seemingly only dish was Kosery. This consisted of noodles, lentils, fried onions with chili sauce. It was really good and a very simple dish. As you will see from the picture the men working the stations are going nonstop. There is high demand for good Koshery cooks. Also you will notice the customers are holding reciepts from orders waiting for it to be taken. It is as chaotic as it looks, but there was some structure to the chaos.

We were not allowed to take in cameras into the Museum so images are regulated to my memory for now. There are a few things that stick out to me. First, on the ground floor is two huge statues. These were several meters high; therefore the museum was built around it. Secondly was the the gold mask of King Tut (Tutankhamun) which weighed 23 lbs of solid gold. We wondered what the difference visually from a king and a pharaoh. We heard that is was whether they had a straight beard or one that curled up at the end. I recently was doing some research on the web and there seems to be a wide range of distinguishes from one to another based on the time/dynasty and the sculpture.

After finishing the museum we headed in a general direction of our hostel but of course we had taken the back streets. I really liked this method of seeing the city. We were able to see beyond the normal touristy trinkets and crowds and better
got a better idea of normal city life. On our way we saw this and just had to take a picture.

I am a big fan of street food and this was yet another example of taking a commodity and tweaking it abit and make it into an income generating activity. Roasted Sweet Potatoes.

During our walk we went down a street that was selling everything from clothes to food to motorcycles. I am used to looking through a big heap of clothes to find my size then bargaining for a good prize. This was different. The clothes were in shops on hangers with marked prices. It was a culture shock.

At dusk and with the hostel meters away it was time for the Muslims call to prayer. I was used to the call and people praying in the mosque. This picture is of men on the sidewalk  bowing to prayer in the middle of town. There are speakers throughout the city so missing the call to prayer seemingly could only granted if you are deaf and blind.

December 23

We took a visit to Coptic Cairo. I remember reading that there were coptic christians in Cairo, though just few compared to Muslims. The history of the area was interesting. It is traditionally held that the holy family hid in this area taking refuge from King Herod. 

Though the travel guide and Wikipedia hyped this area we all were disappointed. It was a tourist trap. We could not see the residental quarters. It was all around a let down. There was one bright spot though the Convent of Saint George. Depictions of St. George slaying a dragon are engraved in the outside of the church and the inside, paintings and more paintings. Reading the story of this is interesting. 

December 24

Pyramids

I think there are somethings in life where words don’t adequately paint a perfect picture, the pyramids are one of those times. Enjoy the pics.

December 25

Christmas in Alexandria

We took the train from Cairo at 8:30 and after a 2 hour ride we arrived in Alexandria. I was looking forward to looking at the scenery along the way but the smog, I mean fog was thick and consistent for most of the trip. The station in Cairo was under construction, the smell and feel also showed the same thing.

Kenya on the other hand has few bakeries, but their variety is very limited. The Arabs do it right. Of the many selections included date filled, hard and soft breads, rolls bread sticks and many others.

At the station in Alexandria we meet two people who joined us on our walk around for a brief period. The lady was a lawyer  from China but doing a one year stint in London and the gentlemen was a teacher in Japan apart of the DoDDs (Department of Defense) teaching at a military base to children of soldiers.

We walked for a good hour then went in and saw Ramsess II pillar at Amud El-Sawari. The site was in the middle of town with buildings surrounding it. After that we walked up a hill for a bit to some catacombs. I remember the catacombs in Rome and these also did not disappoint. Majority of the burial slots were a few feet by 6 or so feet. So though were quite deep.

After our visit 3 floors below the earth’s surface that was discovered because a donkey fell in hall in the early 1900s we walked back to the train. We had plans to visit the Mediterranean Sea and have fish for lunch. In brief we walked for 2 hours and ended up were we started. At this point we were tired and wanted to go to the train. Though we did not see the sea we did get to see some residential life.

Upon arriving back in Cairo we stopped several times for some food: gelato ice cream --WOW, fruit juice mix with slices of bananas, pomegranates and oranges, shwarma (hoaggie roll with onions and slices of meat, falafal (smashed green gramms with flour fried as a patty and served in a pita bread with veggies. I ate so much, but so worth every bite.

December 26

My last day in Cairo and Jon and I visited A sultan mosque a good 6 km away from the hostel. Along the way I saw this lady displaying her pita bread to be sold. You are correct that is the on the step. A few feet later another person had put theirs on atop of a roof of a car.

The Sultan Mosque was huge and is still in use today by Muslims. These men are washing themselves before going to pray.

Our last destination was the Citadel that overlooked the city. It was a spectacular view.