Adventures of NaDave: Euro-Trip: 10-12 (Cairo Egypt)

(lots to tell...this one is a little long!)

Our travel from Athens to Cairo was heavily delayed, but this gave us plenty of time to prepare (e.g., fill our water bottles in the airport b/c its not healthy to drink Cairo city water) as well as time for the nerves to ebb and flow. We knew we had to be on 100% alert.

We landed safely in the continent of Africa on January 1st, then navigated through an airport with Arabic signage, and met our arranged taxi driver (through the hostel). You could immediately feel the difference in the way of life. Especially driving into Cairo, it became very apparent we were in a 3rd world country. Traffic did what it wanted, trash and dirt lined the streets, and people roamed everywhere. We went straight to the hostel in the middle of the city (which was really awesome!) and straight to bed, as we had an all-day Pyramids tour!

Day 1...we awoke to a beautiful sunny day, and started our guided tour of the Pyramids area by driving over the Nile River. We had a personal driver & tour guide (Henry), who spoke fluent English and had spent time at a University in New Jersey. We started at Memphis (the old Capital), then onto Saqqara (home of the Step Pyramids), and ended in Giza to see the Great Pyramids & Sphinx. Along the way, we also stopped at a museum to see how papyrus was made (the world's 1st paper!). We felt very safe the entire time, and Henry answered all of our 1000 questions. There was NO WAY we could done that tour by ourselves...so many stories to tell, but we'll share those in person!

As we drove home, we each starred out the window and took in the many neighborhoods of the city. People in cars, people on bikes, people on donkeys, people walking barefoot, just people doing what they needed to survive. When we got home, we cautiously ventured out to get some dinner and stressfully dealt with businesses trying to short us money. But we stuffed our bellies, re-hydrated with some Egyptian Beer & Wine, and watched the city hustle below.

Day 2 (our final day) was spent mostly in the Cairo Egyptian Museum. After walking past several guards with automatic weapons, we spent the whole morning wandering the halls. We had gone from Rome, to Athens, and now back to the beginning of History (the Egyptians had the first written language). We ended by seeing the Royal Mummies Room...very surreal.

We then walked ~1 hour across town to the Al Azhar Park. This walk was probably the most life-changing part of the trip (e.g. 'feeling' the call to prayer while walking in poor neighborhoods...very raw experience). We ended the day watching the sunset in the Park, then stressfully flagged down a Taxi to the airport.

We arrived safely and on-time, and were relieved when we took-off for Istanbul. We managed to survive Cairo with the water we had packed, but the stress got to Dave as he began to come down with a bad sinus cold.