Cairo

Our plane from Rome arrived 1 hour late so I was worried that our hotel transfer would not be there.  Coming through customs was a breeze.  No questions, no lineups, no problems, Canadians are very welcome in Egypt and there are a lot of us.  Not so many Americans. 
The transfer from the airport was crazy!  The cars have no sense of following the lines, everyone is just all over the road cutting each other off and honking at each other.  It was dark when we arrived so I couldn't take pictures of the guys riding motorbikes with no helmets, no lights while talking on the cell phone.  A pickup truck full to the point of tipping over with garbage, (sort of like Max from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas with the gifts on the sleigh) only Max wasn't on top of the the garbage there was an 8 year old on top!!!  OMG!  The streets are lined with people.  There are all sitting out in the street smoking their hooka pipes (which were told was 80% tobacco 20% hashish).

Our hotel was comfortable enough and we were exhausted and Joe's foot was very tired of walking so we went straight to bed.  Our wake up call was at 7:30 so we had a long day ahead of us.
The plan for Cairo was to leave the hotel by 8:30 and take the bus to the Egyptian museum.  Our guide who is a native Egyptian, has a masters degree in ancient history so the guy is like a walking encyclopedia.

 Saeed told us that for 4 years he went to the Egyptian museum everyday to study.  He literally could tell us about each and every thing (all 100,000 of them) in the museum. 
So when we arrived at the museum we were not even allowed to bring our camera into the building so again I cannot show you the 3 hours worth of amazing things we saw.  But to say that I was a foot away from King Tut's mask, is no joke.  Again it isn't like in Canada where you have to be miles away, the mask, the tomb, the boxes all were just behind glass that you could touch.  When we came out of the museum we sat in the garden waiting for our departure time.  It is Friday so all of a sudden, loud speakers start to blare.  It is prayer time so they recite the prayers through a loud speaker through the whole city of Cairo.  We could hear it all the way in Giza.  Our heads were swimming with information, just in time for us to climb back on the bus and head to Giza.  On the way we saw hundred of people praying in the streets.  It took about 30 minutes to arrive then all of a sudden we start to see little peaks.

Do you see this!!!  I took this picture!!! Me, and Joe, here in Cairo!
Let me tell you about this tour thing.  I have never felt so safe, so well taken care of, and so pampered.  Cairo seemed scary to me but our guide has just been so full of tips and advice it has been great.  He even showed us the body language that means "NO- Go away, I don't want any"  without saying a word.  It works great too!
So when arrive at the pyramids he gives a 30 minute history lesson on why they were built, how they were built, where the stones came from, how they extracted the stones, etc etc.  The we were set free to take pictures...

Can you see our smiles???

            

I am just letting the pictures do the talking.

I keep asking myself if this is real.  Yup, it's real and it is fabulous!

Next we are off to the Sphinx.  First a 10 min education then we are set free for an hour.

isn't he cute!!!!

After seeing the Sphinx we got back on the bus and headed for a restaurant that Saeed had suggested. The Alezba Village didn't look like much from the outside so we had no idea what to expect when we got inside.

          

Inside was something outrageous.  There was a woman making pita bread at the door\

A camel that you could ride as well as wandering bands, and just an incredible atmosphere.  But the most amazing thing was they had a lion cub that you could snuggle.

Something I must add here is nothing in Egypt is free.  All of these lovely things were available for a price.  Not much money but you are literally nickel and dimed to death.  If you took a picture of the camel or lion they expect money.  If you touched the goat, it cost money.  If you used the toilet it cost money and if you wanted soap to wash your hands after the toilet that cost more money too.  We are talking not much money but enough that you felt like everyone is after your wallet, and they are in some shape or fashion.  It is after all a third world country.  They see ever tourist here as rich and they are poor.  The hardest times for me are when the little kids come up and ask for money for food.  Saeed told us the small kids are the ones that will pick your pocket.  In the market, you are more likely to be robbed by a kid than an adult.
Dinner itself was amazing.  We didn't order, food just started showing up.  First, tahini, pita bread, baba ganoosh, and tomato salad.

Next was rice, and vegetables and a bbq full of chicken and lamb still with the hot coals burning under neither the meat.  It was quite the introduction to our first meal in Egypt!   

Behind the main restaurant they were getting ready to host a wedding.  We were allowed to go see what it looked like because in Egypt weddings don't start until 8:00 at night. 

That is when the ceremony starts then the reception is around 9 p.m.  Here is the funny part of the story.  In every country we have ever visited at some point in time we have heard Celine Dion's song "My Heart Will Go On".  We have a few Canucks on our tour so I was telling them that I can't wait til we hear Celine sing on the radio.  They laughed and said it wasn't likely because so far we have heard nothing but Egyptian music.  The minute I went back to see the wedding setup the DJ is doing a sound check and guess what he plays.  I roared with laughter. 

Anyway that is not the end to our incredible day.  At 8:00 p.m. we were catching the overnight sleeper train to Aswan, which is south of Cairo.  The train station was fasinating.  Everywhere we went, we had people take our bags off the bus, new ones to carry it on to the platform and so forth. Saeed, greased a lot of palms today and we have had nothing but the most incredible service.  After all, tourism is their number one industry here and unemployment runs at about 30%.

So tomorrow I will post again.  We are fitting into one day that which most people would do in 3.  It is unbelievably exciting and I keep asking people to pinch me to see if this is really happening. 
It is, and tomorrow is another day.   Camels, I think tomorrow we ride camels...hmmm,  sounds like fun!