Cairo

11th March 2004.

After months of anticipation & excitement the day had finally arrived. It was time for my first international holiday. We departed from Brisbane International at 3:00pm with a quick stop in transit at Singapore & then Dubai before touching down in the land of the Pharaohs.

We arrived into Cairo Egypt at 6:00am on Friday 12th March. After the long flight it was time to visit the men's room. The first door I opened was a squat toilet which I had never seen before and wasn't sure I wanted to try. After a quick side step to the next available western toilet we made our way through customs.

We had booked an 11 day "Pharaohs Tracks" tour through Imaginative Traveller & organised our transfer to make our jet lagged arrival much easier. We had 4 days in Cairo pre tour, before heading from Cairo to Aswan, then onto Luxor.

We stepped out of the airport & were suddenly hit in the face with an unfamiliar smell. It wasn't horrible, just a little unusual. We hopped into a 6 seater minivan where we sat face to face with other travellers visiting Egypt for the first time. As we began our journey into town, we were all shocked by the road rules, or lack there of. The cars flew along at any speed they saw fit vying for the best position on the road. Cars would try to beat buses & buses would try to beat trucks even if it meant someone would have to slam on the breaks at the last minute to avoid an accident. All the buildings were defunct of colour and most of them were unfinished, which I later found out helps them avoid paying tax as the house is not complete.

As we flew along I tried to take in everything I could see through the badly fitted purple curtains. At one stage I caught a glimpse of something that has stayed with me since the trip. Amongst the colourless buildings to the left there was a 3 meter drop off on the side of the road that gave way to what looked like a very overgrown park with exceptionally green grass. In the middle of the field stood an ancient statue of Ramses, which looked like it had been neglected for many years. The statue stood about 5 meters high and I couldn't help but think to myself, if this is what they don't care about or look after then what we're going to see must be absolutely breathtaking.

As our van darted down the shaded back alleyways we pulled up at a hotel to drop off a few people. This doesn't look that safe, I thought to myself. It was all dusty, dirty, dark & unfamiliar. I wasn't sure of what to expect from our hotel now that I had seen theirs. All of a sudden one of the other people in the van spoke up "God this makes me nervous, I hope ours is in a better area". Thank god it wasn't just me thinking this. I thought I must of been the only one with these thoughts as it was my first trip after all.

We arrived at our hotel called "The Salma Hotel". It was located in the middle of downtown Cairo, not far from the Egyptian Museum. We were all so tired but decided it would be best to go for a walk & do some sight seeing, instead of listening to our bodies & hitting the hay. We took to the road with our trusty guide book and tingly feet. I gave a big "hello" to the first man I saw, which just happened to be someone who didn't want to make friends. He was one of the many tourist police stationed on every corner. He sat behind an old wooden two seater school desk with his automatic weapon resting on top. We continued on down the road with some advice from my sister "shut up!" But I didn't pay to much attention to her as she was as unfamiliar with it all as I was.

After circling the block for about 20 minutes not knowing the right way, we decided it would be best if we caught a taxi from our hotel. "Right.... which way is the hotel?" We had no idea where we had walked and trying to walk back the same way didn't work. After another 20 minutes we managed to find it, before badly bartering a price for a taxi ride to the museum. We lined up at the entrance of the museum and within seconds we were hurried through by the friendly guards. The girls (sister Deb and girlfriend at the time Angela) walked straight through as they obviously presented no danger, but I on the other hand was frisked by an Egyptian man with bad teeth & an even worse breath.

As we entered the gates of the museum we were confronted by ancient statues and green gardens. Once inside it was just staggering the amount of artifacts that this building could hold. We were also told that there's more in the basement than they can fit on display. After a few hours of walking around taking photos we arrived at the much talked about Tutankhamen Room. He wasn't by any means a big Pharaoh nor did he rule for long, but the gold that was on display was still amazing. His tomb was the first in Egypt to be uncovered in the Vally of the Kings & shared with the world. It's very hard to explain how captivating it is to be staring at the 3300 year old Death Mask while thinking about Egypt's wonderful history. The only thing that I didn't like about the Egyptian museum is the lack of labels and descriptions on all the displays.

While we were in Cairo we visited the Museum twice, including the Mummy Room, where you can view the amazing preservation skills of the ancient Egyptians. Ramses II is on display here & he is so well preserved that you find yourself waiting for him to open his eyes. We also visited Cairo Tower which is a tall tower with a viewing deck and revolving restaurant at the top. The Egyptians built the Cairo Tower with money given to them by America. This is the place to be if your after the best view of Cairo, but it can get a little chilly at night time. It's also "the cool place" lovers go on dates to get a little romantic and cuddle while enjoying the view.

Another stop was the Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, one of the oldest markets in the world. We made our way here with a few other people from our tour. Bob, Leslie, Surge, Angela, Deb & myself all managed to squeeze into a very small Reno taxi. There were five of us in the back seat, which was only big enough for three, and Bob jumped in the passenger front. The ride was quick but very crammed, except for Bob who had more room than he would of liked, as he had to try and hold his door closed as it wouldn't latch.

There are two sides to the market. The tourist side and the locals side. As we waited to cross the road we were greeted by an Egyptian man who wanted to practice his English. He insisted that we go with him to see & experience the local side of the market & for some reason we all agreed. We followed him through the dusty winding streets & ended up in the back of a store that made hand made jewelery boxes with small intricate designs on them. We then followed him through what seemed like someones home & out into the market again. We were all feeling a little uneasy with our new found friend so we thanked him but decided it was time to make our way over to the other side. We weaved our way through the endless alleys on the tourist side looking at the impressive perfume jars and shisha pipes, not to mention the endless rows of gold and antique stores.

On a few afternoons we would make our way to the roof top of the Salma Hotel, where we would enjoy the view of the city and just talk to the rest of our group. It was on our second visit to the roof top that Deb said "Is that......... oh my god it's the pyramids". Between all the buildings and satellites we could see the Pyramids of Giza on the horizon. We were unable to see them the day before because of the time of day. On this day though we could see them quite easily as it was sunset and there was a shadow cast across half the Pyramid. Our first glimpse of these wonders of the world was from a roof top 20 minutes drive away. I thought to myself, wow if we can see them from here can you imagine how big they are.

The next day we all decided to catch a taxi out to see the oldest man made tourist attraction in the world. As we drove through the city it eventually gave way to the sight of the Pyramids. We were still 5 minutes away but from the sheer size it seemed as though we were right next to them. We got out of our taxi and paid our entrance fee. As we slowly made our way through the sellers, we just had to appreciate where we were and what we were seeing.

Everyone said it to me & it's true, nothing can prepare you for the size of these things. After walking around to capture every angle, we made our way into a few of the near by temples & then down the road to the Sphinx. What a shame that the Turkish soldiers used it for target practice during the war, blowing off the nose. We were told that every Pyramid has it's own sphinx which means there are more buried around here as they are believed to protect the Pyramids. It's astounding how close the city is to the Pyramids & Sphinx. Not more than 100 meters away, you can relax with some KFC while you take your photos.

On one of our last days in Cairo we took a trip out to visit some less touristy pyramids. The Step Pyramid, The Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid. We all jumped at the chance to venture down & we got our chance to do so at the Red Pyramid. Unfortunately there is no labyrinth of alleys, trap doors or secret rooms. When you get to the bottom it's just a 3 by 9 meter room with an empty sarcophagus in the middle, but still worth the effort.

One of the last places we visited was the "Open Air Museum" at Memphis. As we entered the museum we were amazed by some of the stunning statues and the Sphinx that has been found in the area. The big draw card of Memphis is the colossal fallen statue of Ramses. Located in a single room by itself, it's one of the biggest statues ever found in Egypt.