Blogs we like

Cairo is an interesting mix of new and old. The remnants of British colonialism are still present in the ancient architecture. It seems like every building in downtown Cairo was a beautiful, expansive European-inspired building, with majestic staircases and wonderful courtyards...in the 1920's. Since then, no work has been done to maintain these buildings, and they are all, literally, falling apart or already halfway demolished.

As a result of the crumbling infrastructure, hotels in Cairo leave much to be desired. In fact, we switched hotels three times in the week we were there. From the airport, attempting to take public transport in a country that doesn't even use the same numeric symbols, we boarded a bus. Don't ask me how we ended up getting on the right bus; it was a mix of trying to understand broken English and Dan's remembering basic knowledge of Arabic from college (he failed the course). Anyway, we ended up at the main bus station downtown and walked a few blocks to Lialy Hostel, which is listed in Lonely Planet, and looks out over Midan Talaat Harb.


The room was okay (again, all the buildings are crumbling), and looking back, at least there were no mosquitoes, but the pushy owner guy quickly left us with a bad impression by trying to rip us off on all kinds of tours. When we didn't book with him, he turned very cold.

Now, I don't like to stay in places where the reception is chilly, certainly not for an entire week, so we quickly did some internet research and found African Hostel on hostelworld (also in LP, btw). It had such fabulous reviews, we even booked ahead, despite the lack of air conditioning.

Wow, what a mistake. The room was huge, with a (crumbling) balcony, and certainly the staff was friendly and not pushing any tours, but man. The place was infested with mosquitoes. I killed ten in a two-hour span. There was very little we could do but cover up, since my precious bottle of Deet had been confiscated at an airport a couple of months back. We weren't expecting mosquitoes in the desert! But apparently they're a real problem in areas near the Nile and the canals (but no malaria, thank goodness). The next morning, Dan had bites from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, literally. We fled the scene and later surmised that the glowing reviews must had been planted.

We ended up at a place a block away from Lialy, called Dahab Hostel (not in LP but should be). Very chill atmosphere on a rooftop with a garden and about a hundred cats. Some were cute; others were pesky One innocent-looking kitten wanted Dan's meal so badly he jumped on the table, pulled down the tablecloth, causing Dan's entire meal to go flying. A few minutes later, a dozen cats had licked the floor clean, bones and all! Dan survived despite his cat allergy, because we at last had air conditioning (really helps with the mosquito problem). For less than the other hotels, no less (100 Egyptian pounds per night).

Despite all the hotel problems, we managed to see quite a bit of Cairo. Most importantly, the Pyramids, which (most people don't realize this until they visit) arise out of the desert only a few meters from the city. You look one way past the Pyramids and see the vast Sahara Desert. Look the other way, you see KFC.


Unfortunately, the tickets to go inside were all sold out for the day. (They have to carefully regulate the traffic because moisture from breathing destroys the tombs). Apparently, there's not much to see inside anyway, but we were still pretty disappointed. But we had a really great guide on this tour, who taught us some Arabic, showed around the Great Pyramids and Sphinx, and also showed us the inside of one of the Step Pyramids, where the reliefs made from natural dyes are still quite colorful.

I ended up wearing a scarf over my head when we went to the Pyramids, more to protect myself from the intense sun than for modesty's sake, but I noticed I didn't get hassled the way other western women did. Dan looks a bit Egyptian due to his Maltese heritage, so together we sometimes passed for locals (until they realized we didn't speak Arabic!). But we were able to negotiate lower prices and I experienced far less ogling than I did in Indonesia, for instance. We were definitely on to something! After a while, the western women in short shorts and tank tops just seemed silly in this context: why wouldn't you respect local traditions, especially if it means more respect and cheaper prices?

The Egyptian museum was another highlight. Packed to the brim with ancient Egyptian articles, King Tut's treasure, including the famous death mask. I was also quite fascinated with Queen Hapshetsut, who may have been Egypt's only female Pharaoh. She is sometimes depicted with as a male Pharaoh, sometimes with female characteristics. She died a mysterious death before her stepson assumed power and destroyed most references to her.

Of course the main attraction are the royal mummies (no pictures allowed, unfortunately). Several of the mummies were in excellent condition, preserved in temperature-regulated glass boxes in small rooms with AC blasting. Unfortunately, the rest of the museum was only slightly air-conditioned and we were sweating profusely. Actually, this was quite a theme through Egypt! Daily temperatures were above 95 degrees Fahrenheit in Cairo, and in the desert in Luxor, were a sweltering 110 degrees!

We spent most of another day exploring Coptic Cairo, which is a small area with a lot to see. We went on a Sunday, so were able to sit in on an actual service that still goes on in one of the churches.


Very cool. We really felt the presence of ancient Christian traditions. In the museum, we saw the first page of the actual Gospel of Thomas, as well as manuscripts, robes, pots, etc. from as early as the 4th century AD.

We walked around the famous market, Khan al-Khalili and negotiated for Egyptian cotton and big pack of Egyptian dates, which sustained me for a long time after, and peeked into some famous mosques, stopping for fresh mango juice along the way. The food was tasty, but not a lot of options for me. I ended up eating lots of falafel, tahini, lentil soup, fuul (kind of like baked beans), boiled eggs, and rice-based dishes (when I could find them) in our time in Egypt.

Unfortunately, I realized within a few days in that the falafel was always served with some kind of yogurt sauce on it. Due to the language barrier, it was impossible to convey that I am allergic to milk and did not want the sauce. After suffering with bloating, stomach pains, etc. for about a week, I just had to give up the falafel, which was like the one vegetarian option. So eating turned out to be a constant struggle for me, and I ended up drinking lots of juice to supplement my meager meals.


Another night, we took a felucca, the ancient Egyptian boat, down the Nile at sunset, which was absolutely beautiful. You just don't realize how massive the Nile is until you're on it.

Our last night was perfect. We spent it watching Sufi Dancing, which was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The Sufis dance and spin for hours to beats from drums and other instruments and captivate their audience with their personality and skill.

Overall, Cairo is a magical place (if you can get past the dilapidation), but be sure to get air conditioning!