Cairo, Egypt (2007)

Cairo- it’s all about the pyramids in this town.  You can see them from space in the above image (just left of the middle).  The city has built up right next to the pyramids.  Other than that, Cairo is busy and polluted, full of traffic and crazy drivers, and full of men who like to hit on Carmel’s mom.


Crossing Sinai from Israel to Cairo.

 


Desert leading in to Cairo near the Suez Canal split between Asia and Africa.

 


The air was foul and our guide bragged that Cairo is the 2nd most polluted city in the world.  I argued that he would have to fight with Beijing and Mexico City.

 


The buildings all had these foundation spikes sticking out the top.  We were told different stories by 3 different guides as to what these are all about.  The first guy said that they are leaving open the possibility of building higher.  The second guy said that there was a city rule that limited the heights of all the buildings so buildings over that limit had to remove their excess levels.  The third guy said that when you finish construction on your building you have to pay a lot of taxes—leaving those spikes showing was a way of saying that your building is not yet finished.  We believe the third guy’s story.

 


First we went to the Egyptian Museum, which had 5,000 years of history rolled up into a crowded and poorly-labeled building.

 


Unable to get to they nearby pyramids on the first day, we were instead forced to sit through hard sells on perfumes and papyrus art.  The woman here shows us how you take the papyrus plant and make paper.

 


A beautiful, beautiful picture according to the waiter who later hit on Carmel’s mom.

 


A table with a decent view.

 


Here is the waiter that hit on Carmel’s mom.  She left him a good tip.

 


Finally we get out to the pyramids.  We stand at the spot where Sadat used to smoke pot and stare at the pyramids.

 


Sun peeking from behind.

 


One of many pyramid shots.

 


Pyramid and Carmel.

 


Pyramid and camel.

 


Hieroglyphics.

 


Heh.

 


This is what’s left of the shell that made the pyramids smooth.

 


The pyramids are not so smooth now.

 


Another sun-from-behind shot.

 


Okay I actually like this shot.  Makes me feel all artistic and stuff.

 


Don’t forget the Sphinx, protector of the pyramids.  The Sphinx is considered a failure since all the pyramids got looted.

 


Carmel poses as the Sphinx and I pose as the pyramid.

 


Cute.  Kind of.

 


Oh yeahh, now we’re feelin’ it.

 


This passing tourist clearly knows what the interesting thing to look at is.

 


I took a photo of the Sphinx’s huge booty for Cordy.

 


We actually did a bunch more around Cairo, like the Citadel.

 


Friendly, colorful kids outside the Citadel.

 


Inside the Citadel mosque.

 


Citadel mosque ceiling.

 


The story goes that the Pharaoh invited all the leaders of the enemy tribes to a peaceful dinner.  After dinner was over, the Pharaoh had his army execute all the leaders.  Only 2 men survived.  One who fell ill the day before and couldn’t attend.  The other who grabbed a horse in the chaos and jumped from the Citadel wall as shown in the photo above. 

 


We visited the Church where Jesus and Mary lived for 8 months.  That was really cool.

 


Interior of the Church.

 


We also visited a Jewish temple, much to Carmel’s mom’s delight.

 


Another mosque.

 


Beautiful mosque lights.

 


Carmel’s mom was forced to cover up with this sheet (though Carmel was fine as she was).

 


One of the many call to prayer towers that rang out consistently throughout the day.

 


Bizarre bazaar shopping.

 


Memorial to Sadat.

 


A random castle island outside of Cairo.

 


The sun shines brightly on a richly historic nation.