Arriving in Cairo

Giza and Cairo

During our two and a half years living in Italy, we always said we need to tour around Europe while we are so close to everything. But alas, we just kept enjoying our Italy. I guess first we needed to see everything near us, enjoy the abundant history of Florence, Rome and Naples and savor the natural beauty of Sperlonga and the Amalfi Coast. 

After we moved to Itri we concentrated on settling into our villa and did some traveling to the north and south of Italy. So aside from a trip in the winter last year to Budapest we have not traveled to the countries around Italy.

A few months ago Jeff said he wanted to see the pyramids of Egypt. I was less than excited about the idea but I encouraged him to research it. As he got further and further into his research I decided I better get on board! Next thing we knew our quick little trip to Giza to see the pyramids became a two week journey including all of the main historical sites and a quick stop at the Red Sea for diving along with a few days “stop” in Istanbul on our way home.

Yes, one thing always leads to another. “Oh, we can’t go to Egypt and not go to Aswan….we can’t go to Aswan and not see Luxor…look how close we are to the Red Sea, how about a few nights relaxing and snorkeling?” “What? This flight requires a layover in Istanbul, let’s just lengthen the stay and see Istanbul while we are there!” And so it goes.

So our trip will follow this itinerary: 

Sunday November 24: fly to Cairo, stay in Giza for two nights with views of the pyramids

Monday, November 25 see the great pyramids of Egypt and visit the Egypt Museum in Cairo and Cairo’s old bazaar Khan El Khalili

Tuesday, November 26 fly to Aswan and stay two nights along the Nile River. Tour around Aswan and see the Philea Temple, ride a felucca (traditional sail boat) down the Nile River

Wednesday, November 27 go see Abu Simbel (temple built by Ramses II)

Thursday, November 28 go to Luxor and stay two nights in an Airbnb along the Nile

On route we will see the Ptolemaic Temple at Edfu and Kom Ombo

Friday, November 29 we will explore the temples of Karnak, Luxor, the Valley of the kings

Saturday November 30 we drive to Hurghada on the Red Sea and stay two nights 

Sunday, December 1 at the Red Sea diving and snorkling

Monday, December 2 fly to Istanbul and stay three nights

Tuesday- Wednesday explore Istanbul

Thursday, December 5 fly home to Italy

Oh man, did I really plan all of that? To tell you the truth I am a little nervous about it, I feel like it’s been a while since we did something this crazy, we have been living in our little “Italy” world with only flights back home to America in between to break things up. Usually our travel is in one place for a month at a time, so moving around and taking flights in such a foreign country is a little out of my comfort zone.

I felt reassured when I reached out to some friends of friends and landed some contacts in Istanbul, Luxor and Hurghada at the Red Sea. Now that I have been in contact with some people in these places I feel a lot better about going. 

It is only a three and a half hour flight to Cairo from Rome, so travel went smoothly. As our plane approached Cairo I was really surprised to see how big and developed Cairo looked from the night sky. It looked like a huge metropolitan area! I could see an endless expanse of lights against a black velvet backdrop. There were gold and silver lights indicating very populated areas with winding streets of yellow lights and straight thoroughfares cutting a dramatic line of red tail lights across the expanse of the city. It is Sunday and that is the first day of the work week for this part of the world. Their weekend is Friday and Saturday and everyone returns to work on Sunday so we were stuck in “Monday traffic”.

I could see the Mediterranean Sea on the edge of the city with a cruise ship hovering in the bay, lit up golden like a party boat. The Nile River wound its way through the city with bright twinkle lights along its banks and lit-up bridges crossing it. Here where the Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea is the land of Goshen, the scene from the Bible of Joseph. He was the favored son of Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. It was these tribes that would later became the Israelites. They settled here in Egypt after Joseph’s troubled teenager years when he was sold by his brothers into slavery and was thrown into prison. After those difficult years he rose in rank to become the greatest man in Egypt, only second to Pharaoh. Later his family joined him and they remained here until the times of Moses. During this time they grew into a mighty nation much to the chagrin of the Egyptians.

Our plane touched down and we arrived in Cairo, I had read so much information saying not to trust anyone that wants to help you, don’t show anyone your passport except the people issuing you your Visa. A tourist visa must be obtained once you arrive in Egypt unless you arranged it online before coming. I had tried to get the Visa online but I found it difficult uploading the information. So we decided to do it at the airport.

As soon as we arrived and as we were getting in line for entry we were approached by a man with who said “you need to get in line for your Visa first” he took us out of line and placed us in line for money exchange. He then asked Jeff for his passport and started asking us questions about how long we were going to stay and where we were from. Then he walked away. So we grew fearful the it was a scam to make us exchange money. So we got out of that line and into the Entry line. Then the officer at the Entry desk told us we need to get our Visa first. “Where?” We asked. He said “ there, in the money exchange line”. “Oh”, I guess that guy was legit after all. Hmmm, he did have a pretty official looking  “Nileair” badge on!  Ok, I guess we were a little over vigilant. 

But after that it all went smoothly. They gave us our tourist visa (for a fee of $25 each) and then pasted it inside our passport with a nice stamp. I guess thats worth my $25. Then it was off to collect our baggage, thankfully none had gotten lost. While I was waiting for our bags to arrive, Jeff got a new SIM card put into his phone. It’s so interesting how travel has changed. Now we need our cell phone working at all times! But it’s so much more convenient this way! 

Then it was time to walk out of the airport and find the driver that our hotel had arranged for us. We were so thankful this was prearranged and free! We read that it could be crazy when you arrive because you get attacked by a million taxi and Uber drivers that want to take you to your hotel. Fortunately after just walking the “gauntlet” of taxi drivers once or twice we spotted our driver holding a sign with our hotel name on it. We were told by the hotel to also ask to see our names on his list. Check and check, yep, we were all good. 

So we walked with our driver to his car through the long line of hawkers that were gnashing their teeth that we were not their victims. It reminded me of getting off the train in Naples and walking the “gauntlet” of street vendors lined up to lure you in to buy a fake Gucci bag or plastic trinket. Keep your eyes straight ahead and don’t acknowledge them. Those of you that know me, know that it is pretty impossible for me, I really like to smile at everyone! But I have learned there is a time and place for everything and this is not the time to smile all “Polyanna” at people.

As we drive through the streets of Modern Cairo, it seemed to sprawl into other suburbs like Giza, where we would be spending the next two nights. We passed though some very ritzy looking areas with huge billboards advertising expensive brands in English. There were fancy apartment complexes, shiny car dealerships like Toyota and Chrysler and even an IKEA. It really seems like Cairo is trying to boost its image in the world scene as the “Gateway” to investments in Africa. Egypt has had some major issues to overcome in its recent history like the revolution of 2011 in the streets of Cairo that called for the resignation of the president.

Our driver was very nice and spoke great English. We asked him what we should do when we were constantly offered services like a camel ride or a guide or to buy something from them. He said you should just wave your hand “no” and say “shokran” which means “thank you”. I felt like that was a firm but polite way of handling it and speaking Arabic might add some street cred to the refusal. Later I tried it out and it worked!

It took about 40 minutes to arrive at our hotel because we opted not to stay in Cairo  but instead to stay in Giza with the pyramids right outside our hotel. In fact we went up to our hotel rooftop restaurant and watched a “light show” of the pyramids being lit up one by one and the Sphinx. It was really surreal to see the pyramids at night lit up like that and so close to us! The Sphinx was looking right at us! 

Jeff wanted to go walking around the streets by our hotel, but honestly, I don’t know that I was ready for that. The hotels are nice on this strip and the location is literally across the street from the Pyramids but the neighborhood was a little scary, or should I say authentic? Yep, this is no Las Vegas strip, this is the real thing, the real Egypt. Down the streets there were women walking in full Muslim attire with heads covered and black dress to their feet. The kids were trailing behind parents looking at the goodies from the bakeries. The men were sitting outside on the streets talking, and smoking shisha (also known as hookah, the ornate steam pipes) Every store front has someone outside encouraging you to step inside to buy something. Am I making this sound quaint? Let’s change the image in your mind…add donkeys and horses tied up in the streets feeding on bagged garbage that has broken open and spilled into the street. Add mangy cats and horse poop beneath your feet. Ok, now you are getting it. I have determined that I’m going to pass on the camel rides after seeing this motley crew of animals tied up and feeding on trash.

My time spent in Nicaragua has prepared me for this moment and keeps me from being too mortified. The families look happy and the streets are busy with activity and it’s after 9 pm. The evening is warm and this alone is a welcome change from the cold rainy weather we have experienced for the last month in Italy.

After this little stroll through reality I am happy to go back to the refuge of our hotel, tomorrow we will see the pyramids in the daylight and explore the Egyptian Museum. At least we have arrived in Egypt without an International incident. Stay tuned for more!