Hello Cairo ... oh my ... Pyramids!
Second post for today ... although for everyone back home it will be tomorrow! Can’t believe that Ian and I are still going strong after a mega journey (31 hrs ... 3 flights ... and several hours spent in airports waiting for connections). So far we haven’t crashed!
We arrived in Cairo at about 10.30 am and was met by Karem , the agent from Wings Travel Egypt who is allowed airside at the airport. He provided us with our visas which he had pre-purchased on our behalf and then escorted us through the usual international travel maze of Immigration, luggage collection and quarantine and security.
Karem then handed us to Mustafa who is to be our tour manager for our time in Egypt. Mustafa, along with our driver Mohammed, then took us to our hotel which is right near the pyramids in Giza. And when I say right near ... I mean if I look out my window they are there. All beautiful and majestic! I am glad that we had Mohammed driving us because there appears to be no real rules about driving in Cairo. Mohammed negotiated the weaving of cars in and out of lanes, the constant beeping of horns and the odd oncoming tuk tuk (yes ... there are tuk tuks in Egypt) who randomly decide to travel against the flow of traffic.
Along the way from the airport to the hotel both Mustafa and Mohammed realised that we were keen to hear all about what we were seeing, that we had a thing for architecture and history and that I like to take photos! Mohammed would suddenly pull the car over, whack his hazard lights on ... just to allow me to snap a couple of photos.
We were at our hotel and checked in ... ably assisted by Mustafa by about noon (which for our bodies who are still on Melbourne time was 9 pm). We were whisked up to our room where we stood gobsmacked at the view from our window. I mean who ever imagines that they would stand at their window and just stare out at the pyramids! Mustafa had urged us to get some rest in preparation for our day out tomorrow but Ian and I ignored that bit of advice and changed clothes before hitting the back streets of Giza.
Now this is a fairly affluent part of Cairo according to Mustafa but wow the streets were amazing ... so much raw humanity on display. The streets are dirty and crowded, there are cars and tuk tuks everywhere, the street markets sell all manner of food and goods. People live in tiny lanes with buildings that are 3-4 storeys high. Washing hangs out of their windows. Cats and dogs wander the streets. Donkeys pull carts laden with vegetables. Meat hangs in the open air and is cut to request by the butcher (some of whom look like they are about 14). Kids play in the streets ... amongst the cars, animals and bedlam. We love getting off the tourist track and this afternoon was certainly worth it.
Back at the hotel we went for a swim in the pool before a shower and a chance to kick back. We will head off to dinner soon and then will definitely crash. In the meantime we sit in our room and watch the Cairo traffic wizz by in front of the pyramids as the sun slowly sets. What an amazing first day in Egypt.
We arrived in Cairo at about 10.30 am and was met by Karem , the agent from Wings Travel Egypt who is allowed airside at the airport. He provided us with our visas which he had pre-purchased on our behalf and then escorted us through the usual international travel maze of Immigration, luggage collection and quarantine and security.
Karem then handed us to Mustafa who is to be our tour manager for our time in Egypt. Mustafa, along with our driver Mohammed, then took us to our hotel which is right near the pyramids in Giza. And when I say right near ... I mean if I look out my window they are there. All beautiful and majestic! I am glad that we had Mohammed driving us because there appears to be no real rules about driving in Cairo. Mohammed negotiated the weaving of cars in and out of lanes, the constant beeping of horns and the odd oncoming tuk tuk (yes ... there are tuk tuks in Egypt) who randomly decide to travel against the flow of traffic.
Along the way from the airport to the hotel both Mustafa and Mohammed realised that we were keen to hear all about what we were seeing, that we had a thing for architecture and history and that I like to take photos! Mohammed would suddenly pull the car over, whack his hazard lights on ... just to allow me to snap a couple of photos.
We were at our hotel and checked in ... ably assisted by Mustafa by about noon (which for our bodies who are still on Melbourne time was 9 pm). We were whisked up to our room where we stood gobsmacked at the view from our window. I mean who ever imagines that they would stand at their window and just stare out at the pyramids! Mustafa had urged us to get some rest in preparation for our day out tomorrow but Ian and I ignored that bit of advice and changed clothes before hitting the back streets of Giza.
Now this is a fairly affluent part of Cairo according to Mustafa but wow the streets were amazing ... so much raw humanity on display. The streets are dirty and crowded, there are cars and tuk tuks everywhere, the street markets sell all manner of food and goods. People live in tiny lanes with buildings that are 3-4 storeys high. Washing hangs out of their windows. Cats and dogs wander the streets. Donkeys pull carts laden with vegetables. Meat hangs in the open air and is cut to request by the butcher (some of whom look like they are about 14). Kids play in the streets ... amongst the cars, animals and bedlam. We love getting off the tourist track and this afternoon was certainly worth it.
Back at the hotel we went for a swim in the pool before a shower and a chance to kick back. We will head off to dinner soon and then will definitely crash. In the meantime we sit in our room and watch the Cairo traffic wizz by in front of the pyramids as the sun slowly sets. What an amazing first day in Egypt.
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