Pieces of Cairo: Pyramids and Juice Sellers

Our flight from Casablanca arrived into Cairo late on the 16th. After a hiatus in Morocco, uber is back... and cheap. Like $2.50 for a 30 minute ride cheap. We took a ride to our Airbnb in downtown Cairo right next to Tahrir Square and Zamalek Island. Here's a view from our window. 

After using a random number generator to see who got the big bed (it was Logan), we went downstairs for some shawarma at Gad, this restaurant on the street below the building. We ended up eating at Gad three times, thanks to the grilled meat selection, the shortage of other good looking restaurants, and the friendly server Omar, who never failed to flag us down every time we walked into the apartment and ask when we were eating next. 

The next day we got a bright and early start (10:30am) and ubered to Giza to tackle the pyramids. We had to buy tickets to get access to the general area and the Khufu pyramid. Fortunately, our Dartmouth ID's got us half off the price. Unfortunately, I (Jake) didn't bring mine. Luckily, with the use of CJ's ID, snapchat photoshop, and chatgpt, I was able to recreate an almost identical copy. Almost.

This 15 minute process to save $9 ended in them not even looking at the ID and just giving me the discount. Once we entered, we made our way to the Sphinx. 

And then the big pyramid (Khufu).

And then the technically smaller pyramid (Khafre) even though it looks bigger. 

And then all of them at once.

And then inside the big pyramid, where we crawled through hundreds of feet of tunnels - constantly crouching and squeezing by crowds of other sweaty tourists. 

These tunnels ended at a room that looked like the gates of hell. For all we know it could have been. It felt like 200 degrees in there. Hence the dehumidifiers in the corner.

There was not a single security guard or official worker in sight other than the guy checking tickets at the entrance. This seemed to be a common theme. Later on we walked to a view point said to only be open to camel riders. After escaping the initial bombardment of camel ride offers, we walked all the way there unscathed. Then the camel police showed up. They didn't seem to mind us though.

After the pyramids, we checked out the The Grand Egyptian Museum, the newest (not fully finished) museum in the city. The building itself looked like a brand new football stadium. It was filled with statues, sarcophagus, hieroglyphics, and other various Ancient Egyptian artifacts. 

When we left, the road to the pyramid and museum were shut down to make way for a caravan of armored cars. As they passed by, our taxi driver told us it was the President of Egypt and the King of Spain on their way to the pyramids and then the museum. Stop copying us bro. 

The next day we explored Historic Cairo. Originally we thought we were going to Old Cairo to check out the famous cathedral and some mosques. Turns out Old Cairo and Historic Cairo are not the same thing.  Nonetheless, we explored the tight streets full of shops and stands selling anything from floral fragrances to washing machines. 

We bought ice cream cones from this super smiley boy, turned around for 10 seconds, and when we turned back, he and his entire cart had vanished. Gone with the wind. 

On our way to find a taxi out of the market, we were surrounded by three juice cellars offering some lemonade concoctions for 1 dollar, then 80 cents, and then 60 cents before we even said anything. After we turned down the juice offers, they started repeating "taxi" over and over while opening the doors of random cars in the nearby traffic. Meanwhile these two younger kids started tapping my leg and trying to get me to take a photo of them. I think at least - I'm not really sure. We didn't have to speak Arabic to know the juice cellars and the kids were all clowning us. Everyone, including them, shared a good laugh before we hopped into one of the cars and drove off.  

That night, per the recommendation of my Middle Eastern Studies Professor, we wandered into the Marriot on Zamalek Island. The courtyard and ballroom were elegant - full of statues and designs on the walls and ceilings. We even treated ourselves to a chocolate mousse for $9, the same price we paid for 4 pounds of grilled meats at Gad the night before. 

The next day we made our way back to the airport to take a short flight to Sharm El-Sheikh and then taxi to Dahab, a small town on the red sea for snorkeling and scuba diving. Till next time