Like this:

This past Thursday was the end of my internship period, and we were essentially given 10 days to finish papers or do some traveling.  So, I decided to take a few nights this past weekend and visit Cairo and Giza by bus. 

After our farewell dinner with Amany, Mor, Danny, Daphna, and Hillel I took the midnight bus to Eilat and arrived at the Egypt/Israel border crossing around 4:30 am.  I knew that crossing into the Sinai would be easy; anyone with a valid passport can visit the Sinai for 14 days without a visa.  To go further into the actual continent of Africa, visitors need to buy a visa in advance from either the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv or from the Egyptian consulate in Eilat.  I had neither (being unprepared as I was).  At the final checkpoint, the passport official stamped me through in a hurry and almost let me through.  He talked to someone briefly and took one more look… it wasn’t long before he was crossing off the stamp and asking me where my visa was.  With a little persistence, instead of sending me back to Eilat in defeat, he suggested I wait for an Egyptian travel agent who could fix me up.  I sat down and, two hours later (long after my 6:30 bus left from Taba to Cairo) the agent arrived, shook my hand, gave me a visa (for $50), and guided me through the border to the bus station.  As I walked out of the building into the Egyptian sun, I sighed with relief, ready to start my short journey to Cairo. 

All in all I spent 12 hrs (there and back) on the East Delta Bus Company and I had to produce my passport (to one official or another) about 15 times.  By 5:00 pm on Friday, I got off the bus in Cairo, only to be greeted by a mob of taxi drivers willing to take me seemingly anywhere for a “cheap price.”  After reaching the Meramees Hostel near Talat Harb Square I settled in and went exploring.  I must have looked like a foreign tourist, because every where I walked people would ask me to come into their shops and try to make friends with me. 

“Where from? Where from?” was a popular question.

“America,” I would reply.

“Oh! Yankee Doodle… Hi Ho Silver! We love America! Obama!” 

I didn’t get far the first night before I realized I was hungry and exhausted.  I saw the Nile river, took some pictures, got some Kushari from Tom and Basel’s restaurant, and then promptly went to bed. 

The next morning I got up early and headed to Giza with one goal on my mind… see the Pyramids:

Sphinx w/ Khafre

eating the last surviving ancient wonder of the world

The Great Pyramid of Giza (Khufu)

Khafre thru temple door

Sphinx with Khafre

lucky guy

Menkaure with Khafre in foreground

Menkaure with Khafre in foreground

Khufu in the background

hard taking pictures by your self

Khafre Pyramid

the sphinx

What a mind trip!

I spent 4 hrs with the pyramids; rationing my water and fending off hundreds of camel riders and vendors.  After lunch I decided to put some faces and culture to the architecture, and I went to the Egyptian Museum.  I’m ashamed to say that I thought the Toledo Museum had a complete exhibit on Ancient Egyptian artifacts; and for some reason I didn’t realize how many tombs, sarcophagi, and mummys had actually been discovered throughout the greater Nile Delta region.  The separate room for King Tutankhamun was alone impressive, but the million+ artifacts throughout the building soon overwhelmed me. 

My final memories of Cairo came just before sundown, as the streets cleared and men began gathering for communal dinners throughout the streets and alleys.  It was the first day of Ramadan.  As I walked through the streets the call to prayer rang out frequently… echoing off the buildings. 

The next morning I was up by 5:00 am and back on a bus by 6:30.  Egypt was short but sweet!

Advertisement