I think Egypt, or more specifically ancient Egypt, is the first "other" culture I learned about while growing up. At least it is the one that stands out most vividly in my mind, and therefore ever since I learned about the pyramids and mummies I wanted to visit this magical place. It was perhaps fate then that my friend Katie found an amazing deal through Alitalia and we booked the trip of a lifetime. Additionally, with the favorable exchange rate (1€ = roughly 8 Egyptian Pounds), the opportunity was too good to pass up.
Our flight was at 10pm, and we arrived at 2am the next morning. It was an exhausting hour, but our hostel picked us up from the airport, and our beds were waiting, so it was hard to complain. We spent the next day, our first full day, exploring the city of Cairo. We made our way through Khan el-Khalili, the main bazaar, and then spent a few hours at the Egyptian museum. Although a lovely and intriguing city, Cairo is extremely polluted (making it actually a bit hard to breathe at times), and difficult to navigate with its insane traffic.
Our flight was at 10pm, and we arrived at 2am the next morning. It was an exhausting hour, but our hostel picked us up from the airport, and our beds were waiting, so it was hard to complain. We spent the next day, our first full day, exploring the city of Cairo. We made our way through Khan el-Khalili, the main bazaar, and then spent a few hours at the Egyptian museum. Although a lovely and intriguing city, Cairo is extremely polluted (making it actually a bit hard to breathe at times), and difficult to navigate with its insane traffic.
Downtown Cairo at a calm moment
Arabic! As you can see, some signs were also written in the Latin alphabet, and many of the people we encountered also spoke English, so we were able to communicate fine *most* of the time.
The bazaar. Our experiences in Istanbul helped prepare us for what we encountered here, which was haggling more intense and vendors more aggressive than in Turkey.
Pita bread delivery
Jewelry shop where I bought a gold necklace in the shape of a cartouche with my name in hieroglyphs
They "weigh" the gold to get the price, but I don't think this scale has ever worked. Instead, I'm pretty sure they give you an outrageously inflated price that you then have to bargain down.
They were asking 1700 pounds and I got them down to 800 (about 100€). I still probably paid too much, but I was happy with the price. You'll notice I'm wearing a headscarf and sweater, despite the heat, which was in the upper 90s in Cairo, and mid 100s in Luxor. Unlike Istanbul, Egypt is much more religiously conservative, and so except for young children, all the women we saw had their hair, arms, and legs completely covered. While we were out at the tourist sites we felt comfortable in tank tops and whatnot, but while in the cities it was much more comfortable, and also respectful, to cover up, even though we still showed more skin than the locals. We never had cause to fear for our safety, but there was still a lot of unwanted attention.
There are two types of taxis in Cairo: older ones like this, and more modern, metered cabs. These older ones were a better deal because you could haggle a price before the drive, and therefore usually save money over a metered rate.
With Kristen and Katie outside the Egyptian Museum
From King Tut's tomb, this large golden chamber once held the canopic jars of his mummified organs
After the museum we headed back to the bazaar to pick up my necklace (which took a few hours to engrave)
Beautiful evening sun
Rush hour in Cairo is a mix of cars and pedestrians
Look at all the people! The city was insane.
We were extremely wary about the food situation, since everything we read while planning basically said to avoid most things. We had read about a dish called Koshary, however, which is a mix of a few different types of noodles, rice, chick peas, capers, and a spicy tomato sauce. We figured it would be a safe enough meal.
The restaurant we chose, like many Koshary outlets, serves only that one dish
It was delicious! And at 3 pounds (about 0.40€) we ended up eating it every night for dinner.
Arabic! As you can see, some signs were also written in the Latin alphabet, and many of the people we encountered also spoke English, so we were able to communicate fine *most* of the time.
The bazaar. Our experiences in Istanbul helped prepare us for what we encountered here, which was haggling more intense and vendors more aggressive than in Turkey.
Pita bread delivery
Jewelry shop where I bought a gold necklace in the shape of a cartouche with my name in hieroglyphs
They "weigh" the gold to get the price, but I don't think this scale has ever worked. Instead, I'm pretty sure they give you an outrageously inflated price that you then have to bargain down.
They were asking 1700 pounds and I got them down to 800 (about 100€). I still probably paid too much, but I was happy with the price. You'll notice I'm wearing a headscarf and sweater, despite the heat, which was in the upper 90s in Cairo, and mid 100s in Luxor. Unlike Istanbul, Egypt is much more religiously conservative, and so except for young children, all the women we saw had their hair, arms, and legs completely covered. While we were out at the tourist sites we felt comfortable in tank tops and whatnot, but while in the cities it was much more comfortable, and also respectful, to cover up, even though we still showed more skin than the locals. We never had cause to fear for our safety, but there was still a lot of unwanted attention.
There are two types of taxis in Cairo: older ones like this, and more modern, metered cabs. These older ones were a better deal because you could haggle a price before the drive, and therefore usually save money over a metered rate.
With Kristen and Katie outside the Egyptian Museum
From King Tut's tomb, this large golden chamber once held the canopic jars of his mummified organs
After the museum we headed back to the bazaar to pick up my necklace (which took a few hours to engrave)
Beautiful evening sun
Rush hour in Cairo is a mix of cars and pedestrians
Look at all the people! The city was insane.
We were extremely wary about the food situation, since everything we read while planning basically said to avoid most things. We had read about a dish called Koshary, however, which is a mix of a few different types of noodles, rice, chick peas, capers, and a spicy tomato sauce. We figured it would be a safe enough meal.
The restaurant we chose, like many Koshary outlets, serves only that one dish
It was delicious! And at 3 pounds (about 0.40€) we ended up eating it every night for dinner.
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