Day 2 and 3 in Cairo

The past few days have been filled with “wow, we're really here” moments. And lots of heat. It is VERY hot here, but we've been managing with sunscreen and big bottles of water. We're staying downtown, on one of the busiest streets in Cairo. And it is VERY busy. There are cars and people everywhere, especially as you get further into the evening. Cars are honking every 3 seconds, since honking is seen more as a polite “hello, I'm passing you” than a “hey, bucko, watch where you're going!” honk that we're used to in the U.S. People cross the street as they're able, without bothering with crosswalks since a) there aren't many and b) cars don't always observe the signs anyway. It's not always apparent that there are even lanes, but somehow they seem to make it work and we have yet to see an accident. There are SO many people out and about, walking the sidewalks with ice cream cones and shopping bags in their hands, window shopping, stopping to say hello to each other. Occasionally, a teenager will yell out “welcome to Cairo!” as we pass, to which we smile and say “shukrun (thank you)”.

Yesterday was spent touring the step pyramids at Sakara (the first pyramids ever) and the Pyramids of Giza (you know, THE pyramids). We hired a guide and private car through the hostel to take us around, which ended up being the best thing we could've done since neither of us knew too much about Egyptian history; we learned a lot from Wudi, our guide. The pyramids are gigantic, way bigger than Michael or I imagined they would be. One of the highlights of the pyramids was getting followed around by a man trying to get us to ride his camel, Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown was very cute, but according to Wudi, the strategy was to get us on the camel, ride us out into the desert and demand we give him a ton of money to get him to take us back to our car. Very sneaky, Charlie Brown. We'll pass on the ride.

Wudi also took us “off the agenda” to see a mustaba, a pre-pyramid tomb with multiple rooms all one level. We were driven into the middle of the desert, about two miles from the step pyramids, to the tomb. Although it was open to the public and technically a tourist spot, there was no one there except an old egyptian man who oversaw the area; Wudi says most people don't know about it. He led us into the first rooms of the tomb, sort of like a “tomb foyer”, which were filled with heiroglyphics and depictions of various scenes on all the walls. It was absolutely breathtaking and felt almost as if we shouldn't be there—this stuff belonged in a museum and we could just go up and touch it! Wudi explained to us the various scenes and depictions as we oooed and ahhhed over everything. There was something very magical about those rooms—they felt alive and real, as opposed to the heiroglyphics and statues and carvings you see behind glass in a museum. It really helped me fee connected to human history in a way I hadn't felt before.

Later that day, we went to a papyrus paper “factory”, which, if anything, was a factory for getting people to hand over their money. Apparently it worked, because after they showed us how papyrus paper is made, we bought two drawings from them. Very sneaky, papyrus man.

Today, we slept in (oh, so nice) and then headed to the Eygptian Museum to see the treasures of Tutankhamen. Unbelievable. I haven't seen so much gold in my life—and the most intricate beadwork and inlays of semi-precious stones imaginable. King Tut's body had been mummified, covered with the famous headpiece we all know as well as layers upon layers of gold and beaded jewelry, put inside a gold coffin which went inside another coffin which was inside of a wooden coffin. The coffin was then put in a big box covered in gold, which was placed inside another gold box which was place in yet another gold box. Talk about being treated like royalty.

Tomorrow we'll try to get to old Cairo, or Copptic Cairo as it's also called. Then we'll meet up with our Intrepid group and head to Mt. Sinai. More to come!!!