Cairo, My How You Have Changed

July 12th-15th
When planning a trip to the Middle East: political turmoil, revolution, war and the middle of summer are rarely the elements people look for. We, on the other hand were in the midst of all of them.

Our arrival was welcomed by the familiar cacophony of car horns, endless traffic and utter chaos which I've come to associate with Cairo. All of this compounded by terrible pollution amplifying the already sweltering heat to unfathomable levels.

We arrived at our hostel, The Australian Hostel, and settled in for our first of many Arabian nights.

The air conditioner in our room and the absence of a call to prayer allowed me to sleep quite well, all the while I'm sure the Imam could be screaming into a megaphone directly into Josh's ear and he could still sleep through it, so I was not too worried about him!

After breakfast, we made our way to the Egyptian Museum. In order to get there, we had to go through Tahrir Square, the infamous epicenter of the Egyptian Revolution. There was a man screaming into a microphone in front of a handful of supporters waving over-sized Egyptian flags, and many vendors selling Guy Faulkes masks, but nothing more revolutionary than that.

Once at the museum, rather than the throngs of white people in front of the entrance, we walked in virtually alone. The museum itself had kept its unorganized, hastily-put-together charm, but there was no one there! In the three hours we were there, we saw maybe a handful of Westerners. Cairo as a whole was barren of white, Tilly-hat-wearing Caucasians. Great for us, bad for the Egyptian economy.

Because of this lack of tourists, we were the primary target, nearly always hassled or approached to buy something or take a tour, and even occasionally told about the hardships in post revolutionary Egypt.

The following day we tagged along with a friend we had met, Onur, from Australia, for a tour of Egypt's antiquities: the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid in Dashur; and the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saquarra. (For historical info read my previous post http://www.trvlscars.blogspot.ca/2011/08/magdis-cairo-and-egypts-icons.html).

 We also visited Memphis, the former Pharaonic capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Little is left from it's former glory, but there is a gigantic statue of Ramses II making the visit worth the price of admission.

On our way back, we stopped off at the Citadel of Saladin, which comprises 3 mosques and a military museum.

 

We briefly toured the mosque of Muhammad Ali (not the boxer) and snapped some pics of some of the weaponry used on, or captured from, Egypt's former enemies.

The citadel also provided some pretty impressive views of this sprawling metropolis.

On our third day, Josh and I visited the Pyramids of Giza. Still as impressive as the first time I saw them, only ten times as hot! To reach the panoramic viewpoint, it took plenty of breaks in the slivers of shade from the pyramids, and sips of hot water from our formerly cool water bottles.

 Even at arguably the most recognizable monument on earth, the majority of the tourists present were locals.


Hardly the Egypt I remember.

Throughout our time in Cairo, we heard a few stories and lamentations about the education system under Mubarak and the hope for a better future under Mursi.

For the 15000-16000 tour guides and the other millions indirectly funded by Egypt's tourism industry, the future currently looks bleak. It will take time for westerners to reaffirm Egypt as a safe destination for their holidays, and even longer for Egypt to reach political stability and democracy.

For the sake of Egypt's people and economy, I just hope it happens sooner than later.