Spent another day walking around Cairo by myself. Which means most of the day I spent chatting with local shop owners and vendors. I was actually trying to head to the Islamic Art Museum and a mosque, but they told me saved me a trip since the mosque would have been closed at that time for prayer and apparently, there was a bombing not too long ago so the museum was still closed. Drank some tea with them and talked about the hardships many are having since business has been so low due to lack of tourism. He invited me to his daughter's wedding the next day. He said there would be camels and horses and free food and drinks, but sadly I had already had plans. They thanked me for just sitting and talking with them and I bought a very small amount of lotus oil perfume because I liked the smell of it and it is my middle name. I headed over to the Egyptian Antiquities Museum (with the tip from the shop owners that my student ID that I always carry gets me in for half price, saving me $5).
The museum was spectacular. It houses over 100,000 pieces from tiny, intricately carved scarabs to massive floor to ceiling statues. It even houses the body of Ramesses II in the mummy room. I thought I would just wander for an hour or two, but stayed until they closed and kicked me out. Super amazing stuff and got me excited for my Giza trip in the morning and our trip down the Nile.
Wandered the streets again past the Revolution graffiti near Tahir Square around the American University of Cairo. Stopped in for a cup of coffee and ran into a man for the day before who owned a shop right above the coffee store. We chatted for a bit. He was a medic in the army and use to be an ICU nurse before studying history and opening the shop. He had also done quite a bit of traveling. We ended up walking around to check out all the street vendors setting up stands for the night dinner rush (Thursday night is the start of weekend here as Friday is a big prayer day). Lots of people out and about. Stopped in for a drink at a place called Horriya that was full of locals, ex-pats, and embassy workers. Met Elisabeth's friend who works downtown for a Human Rights group and he drove me back to Nassr City to grab Elisabeth for a late supper. We wanted to go to a Syrian restaurant, but it was closed so we ended up at the second largest shopping mall in Egypt at 11pm where I had a dinner of Indian tandoori at an Italian restaurant. Ha! Not generally my style (we all know how much I hate shopping and malls), but do like the Egyptians do, I suppose. Found it interesting that the malls have really tight security (check cars at the parking garage with dogs, scan bags, and enter through a metal detector).
I have found that when I say America when people ask me where I am from, I often get "but where is your face from?" Uh... Vietnam? So now I am just answering Vietnam which brings far less discussion (there is just a look of confusion, as I don't think they know any Vietnamese).
I was too excited to sleep before my visit to the pyramids and maybe got 3 hours of sleep. Elisabeth's friend woke up early to drive my out to Giza. The aggressive people banging on the car and windows at the gate had me a little worried to be spending the day by myself. But one minute stepping into the gate to see the size and closeness of the pyramids made it more than okay. I got hassled quite a bit, but only threatened a few times to lose my temper and managed to escape most of them. They are apparently the only people that speak English. I walked around a bit on my own. And then a man with a camel approached me and he was not pushy and we had a good conversation, so I hired him and his camel, Oscar, to give me a quick tour. He was knowledge and fun and it helped get my bearings as it is pretty spread out. I realized that I don't think I have ever seen a camel, not even in the zoo. But Oscar seemed nice and it gives you a nice high vantage point. But camels are not the most comfortable ride, so I doubt I will be doing again any time soon.
My camel driver finished my tour and he went and got me tea. We chatted some more about Egypt and how the lack of tourism has hurt him. he used to have three camels, but sadly had to part with two. While chatting, he found out I liked koshary. He asked if I liked it spicy and skittered off for a moment and came back with a container full! Turns out a place in Cairo brings it up to sell and he just happened to be there today. It was a nice treat. We then parted ways and I headed off to explore on foot alone. Seeing the pyramids and Sphinx in person was almost too much. It is shocking to see them standing there, so close to the modern civilization. An there shear size is breathtaking! It still amazes me that they are still uncovering new things to this day.
Friday is a weekend day so the pyramids were mainly full of Egyptians. I found it very strange, but a bunch of them (men and women) wanted to take pictures with me. Why you would be at one the most picturesque spots in the world and want a picture with a tourist is beyond me. My camel driver also thought it was funny and thought I should start charging, just like they do to get your picture with a camel.
Trying to navigate a bus/taxi/subway back to Cairo to get a taxi back to Nassr City, I met two guys who were heading in that direction. One was a very sweet 19 year old student from University of Cairo studying computers who spoke Arabic and some English. The other was a guy who spoke Turkish and Arabic. They were great company (even with the triangular translation issue) so we all went for coffee and then decided to head back to the market in the beautiful Islamic quarter for coffee and shisha. It was hopping! So many people out and about on the weekend. I noticed what I assume was a bomb sniffing dog walk past us once, but people were all friendly and felt very safe. Then, my post-excitement no sleep/exhaustion set in and I headed back to Elisabeth's.
Sadly, I have slept through dinner after my busy day, but was awoken by a mini-demonstration that went past her balcony. All is quite now and I am packing a small day bag for another little adventure. There was a change of plans, as someone I met the other day had a 2 or 3 day tour going to Bahariyya to see the White and Black Desert with some Canadians and French folks, so I am going to head out with them. The other options would have been to pricy, so it will be an early morning since I have to make it to downtown by 7am to meet up with them.
No Internet for a day or two, as I will be sleeping in a tent under the stars in the desert.
Hope everyone is well and miss you all!
Love,
Betsy
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