Archives for 2010

The soukiest souk.

After our little cruise around the River Nile, we headed to Khan Al Khalili. Khan Al Khalili is a giant souk (or market or bazaar, your choice!). Vendors of all kinds line the edges of the streets where it is a pedestrian only zone.

All types of products are on display ranging from tacky pyramid souvenirs to items your typical Egyptian would be out to purchase. Plenty of men abound so single (and married) ladies beware… unless you like that sort of thing. (That sort of thing being marriage proposals…Molly loves it!)

I later read that this souk is known as one of the best in the Middle East. I’m not flat out disagreeing… but wondering if maybe we explored a less-amazing corner of the market?

We shopped until I dropped (not too hard) and had dinner in one of the restaurants. Highlights of the meal include Hannah breaking a plate with an untouched serving of food still on it, the cute stray cats visiting us, and the selection of “Pizza Taune” on the menu. For the record, I would have ordered you, Taune… but I wasn’t sure if you were vegetarian. Hee…

xo, jill

Ha. Totally.

After our visit to the Giza pyramids, our taxi driver took us on another ridiculous errand. This stop was at a perfume shop. Being fairly obvious that we had no interest in buying essential oils, the salesman decided to not waste our time (or his). We were released and off to see the pyramid at Saqqara.

We opted to just take a few photos from the road and head back to our hostel. Of course, we had to fend off our driver’s offers to take us to a nice place for lunch. “This restaurant… it is very nice!”

By this time… we were ready for a nap.

Waking up, we were ready again for a bit of adventure. We walked down to the water and chartered a felucca for a ride down the River Nile. Whoa…

Hello, longest river in the world.

Our captain was a man of few words (of the English variety) so our ride was relaxing despite passing several party boats.

Our captain also quickly passed off his steering duties to Molly… who in my opinion was the one who deserved the tip!

xo, jill

The longest cat nap ever.

Just a quick trot over from the pyramids lies the Sphinx. Our guide was gracious enough to let us dismount our camels and approach the half cat half woman with the rest of the tourists.

I was surprised to see that the Sphinx isn’t as big as I imagined. I mean, next to the pyramids she’s actually… small.

To the grand disappointment of the all Egyptian men, this was the only kissing we did in Egypt.

Again, Molly’s post has a bit more historical information!

xo, jill

Or the point of the trip.

The next morning we woke up to meet our taxi for the day. Our hostel helped us book a driver to take us to the pyramids for a full day of sights. Perhaps I’ve been abroad too long but in the first five minutes I was over him. Or maybe it was because he proposed buying me for merely 1,000 camels. Thankfully Molly stepped in and negotiated my freedom. Tiresome jokes.

Before we made it too far, our driver changed it up and brought us to a “government museum” to learn about papyrus. I’ll admit, it was interesting to watch the demonstration of how the ancient paper is made… but did I really want to browse the expensive pieces of art for purchase? Not so much.

After the paper store, we were taken to the stables near the pyramids where we could choose between riding a camel or riding a horse to view the ancient wonders. Having never ridden a camel before, the humped creatures were the obvious choice. After much negotiating (Way to go Hannah!)… we felt we earned a decent price. Of course, we overpaid… but we overpaid by less than originally proposed.

Up we went on our camels. The camel sits for you to mount, then stands full height to walk. Um… you sit pretty high up there. It took me some time to feel comfortable up top. Oh and wearing a wrap skirt on a camel? Not my best fashion decision.

The camel route takes you up behind the pyramids through the sandy dunes. It’s an impressive sight… although it doesn’t take you too close up. We were able to see all three of the largest pyramids at once from a distance (but not in these photos!). Read Molly’s post to learn more about the background of the pyramids.

It’s pretty amazing to think about how long these monuments have been standing… not to mention the labor required to build such massive structures.

xo, jill

A surprisingly doable suggestion.

A few weeks ago, back in May, my friend Hannah decided to spend the weekend in Cairo. After a few days of debate, I decided to join her. A few days later, we had Molly convinced and ready to go. Our principals each readily agreed to let us sneak out of work a few hours early… and off to the airport we hustled.

Having been warned that Cairo is a dirty dirty city… we didn’t have high expectations. Surprisingly, our first impressions were quite positive. Yes, it was dirty… but look at the character and history! When you live in a city that barely existed 50 years ago… historical views, no matter how dirty and decayed, are enticing.

Furthermore, I never thought I would hear the notoriously polluted air of Cairo described as “refreshing”… but we were pretty pumped about our ability to breathe! The heat of Cairo was much less intense than Abu Dhabi and absent of humidity. Bless.

Our hostel was near enough to attractions and suited our needs well. The building itself was old and had seen better days. Just the kind of place I like.

Our room was on the sixth floor and it was always a bit of an adventure taking the elevator up.

The view of the mosque next door was especially pleasing, even if it did mean we’d have front row seats for the 4:30am call to prayer.

I giggled at how my first experience in Africa came complete with a jungle themed bedspread. How fitting.

After settling in a bit we ventured out to find dinner and took a taxi to Cairo Tower.

Cairo Tower is 187 meters tall which is 43 meters taller than the Giza pyramids. It was built between 1956 and 1961. (It’s also overpriced!)

Unfortunately, the air in Cairo is smog smog smoggy and visibility was low. We were able to just make out the outlines of a pyramid in the distance! A preview of the next day’s adventure!

What’s up, River Nile?

A leisurely walk back to our hostel ended the evening. It was a promising start…

xo, jill