Ok, so now I’m In Cairo. I’m thinking before the flight…three days, what will I ever do in that amount of time. I have always thought of Cairo as a dense, dirty, sprawling metropolis. It turns out that it is sprawling no doubt, but with relatively clean air, and streets that are well maintained and debris free. For once, everything seems so darn clean and organized after having been in India. Funny how that works.
My flight touched down after only and hour in the sky. I was bummed out because I had just dropped my camera case on the ground, screwing up the focusing element. Upon entering the Customs line, my heart p0unded when I saw the officials run their fingers between everypage looking at stamps.
-What if he realized that I just came from Israel and have no stamps in the passport. He will want to see my Israeli Passport and my trip will be screwed. And like that it was over. He glanced at me a few times and then motioned for me to move on. I was on the mainland- finally. If you dont know the story, then no sweat, but really I wanted to take the bus to Cairo. The problem was the 10% chance that they would not issue me a visa like had happened in Tel Aviv.
Ok, so I called the hotel I had circled in my lonely planet guide: The Windsor Hotel. Some Mighty Python actor stayed there, and it once was the British Officers Club. I like history and orginal furniture sounded very old world. Mohammed gave me the price of $37 dollars over the phone and I excepted with the understanding that everything was negotiable upon seeing the room. I told him to make it $30 because I was staying three nights, and we ended up at $32. A good price for a hotel with charm, and original furniture in the rooms.
Mohammed told me about a trip that was heading out the next day. Usually, I stay away from group outings, but he was right, there were only three days and much ground to cover. So I handed over the $12 dollars for a day with Samir, the honest tour guide. I accompanied five Americans: a girl with her grandmother, and a family from Alaska. I got lucky, as everyone was nice and incredibly interesting. The older man was one of the signers of the Alaskan constitution! Anyway, we got to see some old masqs in the Islamic quarter, how they make papurus ( which I did not buy) and the pyramids of Giza. Everyone in the group took Camels except me. I spotted a horse that looked more comfortable and would provide more comfort. Lets just say that after one camel experiance, you tend to look elsewhere for transport.
My god, there is nothing like galloping through the sands of Giza with the three grand Pyramids at your side. My yoga positions are a little off, but the adrenaline kick was sure worth it. That evening, I took it upon myself to shower up and sit down with some men at the shisha bar. I played backgammon and sipped mint tea until at least 1 am. Egyptians really like to hang out in the cafes, like I have never seen anywhere else.
The next day group of egyptian kids picked me up on the street and invited me to an outing on the Nile. By the end, I had an invitation to one of the girls home to meet the father and sister *the one I was going to marry. One thing led to the next, and I never made it over. Instead I had two hours to view the burial chamber of Tutenkamon at the National Musuem. If there is one thing that you should do, its come to this place. The sheer size of the pieces contained in the museum are impressive. The ancient Egyptian were some people with a grand vision. On the way back to the hotel, I found a camera repair place with an owner who had trained in Japan thirty years ago. He got my Mamiya back in shape in no time.
In the evening, I took a car and driver to a hip music space called Makan- literally means Place in Arabic. Its something you would find in the Lower East Side. A group of mostly woman and two men were preforming Zar, a traditional form of music sung by woman leaders, and which has an aura of exorcism or trance. Think of Hatian spirit raising plus a three beat rythem. The crowd was made up of intellectuals and a few french woman. I was dancing for a good two hours. Very cool indeed. Even better was the fact that I met this cool guy by the name of…. Mohammed who is egyptian, but lives in New York. Get this, he is the drinks designer for the entire Smith & Wollensky chain of restaurants. We continued the nights activities with a drop in at the Cairo Jazz bar. They played incredible versions of the Gypsy Kings but with Arabic words. Some American Univeristy Cairo students were near buy so asking them about life in Cairo was cool as well. The night ended somewhere around 4 am. Tough day
Last but not least, the next afternoon, I went to visit the Citidal, the Geyer-Anderson Museum, and the Ibn …. Masq. All three of these should be on your list. The Masq is the only Iraqi type design outside of Sammara. And if that was all not enough for one day, I then went to the Khan Al- Khalili Souq where I picked up two antique lighting fixtures. The man who took me around, was such a gentleman, that I offered to take him out. We sat and ate quail and Kufta in one of the most famous restaurants in the market. A real treat. As a thank you from him, we sat at the Al Foushrey Cafe (another ultra famous hangout) and smoked the Shisha on his tab. A wonderful way to end my three days in Cairo. A trip back is garunteed.
For all of you who want to see some pics, I have posted them online with Kodak.
Take a look.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=2cii14lt.52j7qly1&x=1&y=unzby4
Next stop: Kenya
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