The night bus up to Cairo took 7 hours and was rather sleepless. But hey ho, we got there for E£100 with free food and air-con.
Getting to our hostel, Wake UP! Cairo, was hilarious.
First, we couldn't find it (we booked it on t'interweb, so naturally, the map was wrong). Then when we found it, it looked AWFUL. Then, the lift didn't work, so we took the stairs. And THEN, there was rubbish and POO on the stairs.....
When we finally got there, it was great! Clean, friendly and AMAZING showers!!! We just had to take the leap of faith.
So Cairo was pretty crazy. Lots and lots and LOTS of cars. Especially OLD cars. Great old bangers. Por example, one of the taxis we took (a Darcia) stalled maybe ?8 times in the 10 minutes we were in the car. It quite simply *couldn't* drive in 1st gear. Absolutely HILARIOUS.
Some Fiats and a green LADA!
Old fare meter in the Darcia.
Safest seatbelt in the WORLD!
We popped to the Egyptian Museum (no cameras allowed inside), so no piccys. The museum was amazing. But. The entire time I was walking around, all I could think was, "Why aren't these things where they belong? Why are the cooped up in a stuffy (essentially) warehouse?" I mean, I know why. If they'd been left where they were found, they might be stolen, damaged or maybe even destroyed.. But I dunno, it just seemed like such a shame.
Coptic Cairo was a complete maze of religion and beautiful churches.
Entrance to the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo
Inside the Hanging Church
Alice's mucky post-Coptic Cairo feet
And the Pyramids were breath-taking. Our camels (Moses and Mickey Mouse) were AWESOME, as were our guides.
The Pyramids of Giza.
Pretty self-explanatory..!
Alice shaking hands with the Bedouin "guard" at Sakkara
Pyramid at Dahshur where one can enter and see the burial chambers.
Ugh, we were also informed by a fellow hostel-stayer that the Sound & Light show of the Giza Pyramids was a MUST-SEE when in Cairo.
First, we got the times wrong. The ?manager dude (very very kindly) signed our tickets and allowed us to return the next day (our last day) at the CORRECT time.
THEN. We were late. (Oops.) And.. It was RUBBISH, although the Americans seemed to love it, "Aw man, it was incredible!" OR NOT.
So it was a pretty rubbish way to end the trip, but hey ho, I went camel-riding, saw and TOUCHED the Pyramids of Giza!!!!!
Again, more piccys can be found here!
The Bedouins were surely amazed by the jumping camel. Well, no, jumping you.
ReplyDeleteThe Sphinx is still my favourite.
The Egyptians and the Greeks are asking for their stuff in the British Museum to be returned, particularly the Greeks. It will take a lot of money to keep them well-maintained. I think this is probably the reason why the excavations are still in a warehouse.