Cairo

(Lesley) Cairo! Cairo is a change from the rest of Egypt. It is busy and fast and crowded but people here are working and going about their daily lives; so we can wander about more or less undisturbed. Some travellers might complain about the traffic, the noise, the dirt and the crowds but we spent long enough in India to develop a certain tolerance for these things. We do still notice the cigarette smoke which is worse here than in India, but not as thick as in Jordan.

We have lucked into the Dahab Hostel. It is a hostel on the roof of a grand old building that has seen better days. It is right downtown, not far from Tahrir Square and the Egyptian Museum. It is clean and the staff are friendly and helpful. The price is right too; just 75 LE a night for us all. (That's $15.00 CAD).  Getting up the stairs to the 7^th floor is great for our legs and our hearts.

We always enjoy staying in hostels with die hard travellers. The kids have fun chatting and mingling with them. And our kids can now swap stories with the best of them, as their stories are often quite good.

Here, at the Dahab, there are lots of cats! Mhari is in seventh heaven. She is often missing; gone to the cats! There are 20 cats around, three of whom are very young kittens. When you order breakfast, the cook brings a water squirter with your food. This is to use against the cats who try to pilfer your food.

The traffic in Cairo is just as fun to deal with as it was in India; but there are a few tricks:

Walk with a local (or two) on the car side to use as a human shield if necessary.

Put out the mighty hand; it will stop most vehicles (or at least slow them until you pass)

Don't hesitate, and walk quickly! Confidence is everything when dealing with traffic; no one wants to be responsible for running you over. See, despite the fact that cars don't follow traffic rules or use their lights or even stop at most traffic lights in many of the countries we have been to, drivers don't drive nearly as quickly, and they are not reluctant to slow to accommodate pedestrians, stray animals, or the other numerous obstacles that are ever present on the roads. I wouldn't be so brazen and confident crossing the street in Winnipeg the way I do here in Cairo.

We did the Egyptian Museum yesterday. I was surprised at how well we do museums now. We are getting the hang of it after 7 and a ½ months on the road. No one got lost. We saw all the big important things, and did a great walk through of the rest. We didn't argue or fight, everyone used the toilet before leaving, and we did a price comparison in the gift shop to calculate our savings on any souvenirs we had bargained for and bought elsewhere.

Today, we did the Pyramids and the Sphinx. There were many touts there trying to get us onto a horse or a camel. We wandered around, took photos, went into a Pyramid and enjoyed the sights. The initial view of the Great Pyramid was a delight. We took the local bus and 45 minutes into our journey there it was just up the road. On the way home, we took a mini bus to Giza metro and took the metro from there to Sadat Station at Tahrir Square.

Speaking of the metro... It was there yesterday that I discovered the old 25 piastre coin. It has a hole in it. When I bought our metro tickets yesterday I spotted one and then I had a mission. Much to my family's embarrassment I set about getting one. Well, I succeeded. I have 8 now. There are called something that sounds like “ropa guinay”. I have got them from the metro ticket sellers, the juice man and a shop owner. And in my quest for these lovely coins, I got chatting with a couple from Tunisia and they gave me a Tunisian dinar, as a souvenir. I suppose my bag will eventually get very heavy, saving coins from every country, but what the heck, it will strengthen my back.

We have met some great people in Cairo:

A young commerce grad who works in human resources in the oil industry. He taught us about the ropa guinay and helped us find our way out of the metro.

The friendly police traffic man at the Fez Guy Circle (Midan Talaat Harb), who greets us daily.

The till men at Felfela restaurant; who have been ever so patient with our orders and questions.

The old man who complimented John tonight: “You are a good man for bringing your family!”

All the shop keepers, fruit sellers and bus drivers have been awesome here in Cairo. We have no complaints.

Leaving Cairo soon, Bye Bye