Travel Diary - The city of a thousand minarets: Cairo
When we decided on travelling to Jordan we immediately knew we wanted to combine this country with another place. After not being able to extend our layover in Oman on our way to Thailand last year, because we already booked the tickets without even thinking about this possibility, we wanted to do it different this time. When we found tickets to Jordan with a layover in Cairo, we made our decision. We would combine our travels to Jordan with Egypt. After a lot of thinking and planning, the trip to Egypt changed into a trip to Cairo, and the tickets we booked were direct flights to Jordan. But with a little bit of a detour, flying to Egypt an hour after arriving in Jordan, we made it to the city of a thousand minarets: Cairo.
I have to
admit that I was a bit nervous before travelling to Cairo. During our
preparations we heard and read many negative stories about safety, terrorist
attacks, beggars and scammers. Unfortunately I will not be able to tell you
none of these stories are true. But, with the help of the fact that we knew
what we were getting into, we enjoyed the beauty of the city to the fullest. Though,
directly after arriving our expectations became true. The airport was one big
chaotic mess and there was a 400 meter line to get through the ‘nothing to
declare’ door. When we finally left the building we had to look for our
transfer among more than hundred men holding name plates. And that all at 1
p.m., while it was still over 30 degrees Celsius, amidst screaming men and
honking cars.
The 40
minute drive to our hotel was anything but relaxing as well. The Cairene traffic
is very busy and chaotic, and on the highway we even encountered a car driving
backwards. When we finally made it to our hotel around 2.30 p.m., we were told
we would not be able to sleep in the room we booked, as the previous guest
ended up in hospital and had not been able to return the key. That is how we ended
up spending our first night in Cairo in a random apartment owned by a friend of
the receptionist, without towels, Wi-Fi or toilet paper. We definitely regretted
our decision to add Cairo to our travel itinerary at this time…
Luckily,
everything turned out well the next morning. At 9 o’clock sharp the receptionist
knocked on our apartment door to bring us and our bags to the hotel. And after
breakfast we could finally plump down in our hotel room. All's well that ends
well. Now we could finally start our adventure.
Exploring the city
We spent our first morning in Egypt in downtown Cairo, around Khan el Khalili market. This is the biggest open air market in the world. This place usually gets really crowded at the end of the day, but as we got there in the morning it was surprisingly quite. Shopkeepers were busy setting out their merchandise. From lamps to jewellery, and from souvenirs to street food. We especially enjoyed a delicious ‘Egyptian Pancake’ filled with Rumi cheese and olives. Though, the biggest attraction at the market were we. We still don’t know whether this was because we were the only western tourists, because they thought we were crazy for travelling to Cairo in mid-summer, or because we just passed by the same shops for the fourth time because we immediately got lost. But at least it was funny!
When in
downtown Cairo, we also wanted to visit the Al-Azhar Mosque, as theoretically
seen it was located only twenty meters from the restaurant where we ate the
pancakes. But, this was easier said than done. All in all, it took us at least ten minutes to
get to the other side of the extremely busy road, still risking our lives. The mosque
was worth it though. Its big white marble courtyard reflected the sun so
strongly, that sunglasses were a must. We were, again, the only tourists there.
And for a while we sat and watched the people walking in and out to pray, and subsequently
continue their daily lives again.
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In the
afternoon we got picked up by a guide and a driver in a nicely airconditioned
car. They brought us to the Nile shore in order to sail the longest river in
the world on a traditional Egyptian Felucca. On the water, the chaos of the
city disappeared. The oppressive heat of city centre made room for a fresh
breeze. A very nice, and calming, manner to explore Cairo from another
perspective.
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The Pyramids of Giza
At the end of the day the moment was finally there. The reason why we came to Cairo in the first place. The Pyramids of Giza. After our little trip over the Nile river, our guide brought us to a place from where we would take a camel to a desert viewpoint from where we could see the sun set behind the pyramids. It was beautiful, but this sunset was not as magical as we expected. This will firstly probably be because we travelled to Cairo during the warmest period of the year. But it will also have to do with the fact that we were shocked by the animal cruelty (half-digested horses and camels in random places) and the chaotic traffic situations (people hit in car accidents still laying next to the road) we encountered on our way to the only remaining ancient wonder of the world.
The next morning
our experience was much better. We drove off to Giza again. This time to see
the pyramids in daylight and from close by. We expected to run into screaming
guides and mass tourism (the picture the media and several blogs gave us), but
it was surprisingly quite and peaceful. We admired the three massive pyramids
from up close, and even got to climb one. Only now we realized how enormous the
stones used for the pyramids are. The famous sphinx was very
impressive as well. A childhood dream come true! It was very hot though. That
is why, in the end, we
only spent around 4 hours at the pyramids. This also means we did not go inside
on of the pyramids.
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We spent
the afternoon in the other must see of Cairo, the Egyptian Museum. The museum
is quite outdated but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. It is full of
beautiful statues, sarcophagi, treasures and hieroglyphs on pieces of stone and
papyrus. There are also two ‘mummy rooms’ where 27 royal mummies are laid out. A
bit scary, but also very interesting. It is good to known that the government
is currently building a new, much bigger, Egyptian Museum. This new museum is,
in contrast to the current museum, not in the city centre but right next to the
pyramids in Giza.
We had
dinner in a restaurant called Abou el Sid, on the island of Zamalek in the
river Nile. Here we ate, amidst locals, one of the best meals of our whole
trip. I would definitely recommend this place!
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Breaking News
On our last morning in the Egyptian capital we were woken up with the breaking news we were afraid of. An explosion killing 19 people only 10 minutes from our hotel. Quickly, news outlets stated it was a big car crash which caused an oxygen cylinder to explode, and not a terrorist attack. This did not make it any less tragic, but it did ensure that we could continue exploring Cairo, and in this case the beautiful Mohammed Ali Mosque, carefree on our last morning. When it eventually did turn out to be a terrorist attack, we had already safely landed at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan. Still enjoying everything we had experienced, but secretly also a bit relieved that we had escaped the chaos. |  |
In short: what
a city! The fascinating chaos of Cairo has its advantages and disadvantages. But,
even though I did not feel safe at all times, I did feel welcome. The people of
Cairo are, other then we were told before, extremely nice and hospitable. Would
I recommend exploring Cairo on your own? No, absolutely not. It is very much
doable for people who are used to travelling through Arabic countries. If not,
I would definitely recommend getting a guide or going on a group trip. Cairo
can get quite overwhelming from time to time.
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