"Walk Like an Egyptian"

Pyramids of Giza

 This post is dedicated to my travels in Cairo, Egypt! If you’ve viewed my pictures on Facebook, you’re probably expecting to read about Camels and Pyramids, and although there will be quite a lot about those adventures, there is more to Egypt than Camels and Pyramids. The fact of the matter is there are some experiences that you cannot capture in a photograph, and I suppose that is precisely what this blog is for! It’s a little long because I have a lot to say, but I hope you enjoy reading about my trip to Egypt! And obviously my post title is from "Walk Like An Egyptian" by the Bangles. (Watch the music video if you're bored because Michael Jackson is in it. haha)

Egypt

Cairo

Egypt's Flag

Allow me to start by telling you about my decision process to go to Egypt because that’s all part of the experience after all. When I came to Cyprus, I knew that I was close enough to Egypt to travel there feasibly, but with all the news of the revolution occurring in Egypt, I decided it was out of the question.

Some of my GLS friends planned a trip though, and once they were there and I heard about their experiences and saw their pictures, I couldn’t resist the temptation.  When I heard they were safe, I decided to jump in on another group’s plans. With the luck of finding a 5 person private room in a hostel, I was able to join Kyle, Katie, Jessica, and Kristi on their adventure to Egypt. All I had to do was buy my plane ticket! So I did. My round trip flight to Egypt cost me less than $200!

On Friday, November 9^th, after checking in and going through security, I was excited and nervous to board the plane to Egypt. To make the anticipation even longer, our flight was delayed an hour. We finally left at 7:30pm, arriving in Cairo around 8:40pm. It only took an hour and 10 minutes to get to Egypt from Cyprus!

Welcome to Egypt!

To get into the country, I had to pay $15 for a visa, and when I got money out of the ATM in Egyptian Pounds (LE), I felt rich due to the exchange rate! $1 = 6.10 LE. Our bus driver welcomed us and he was amusing as he mimed in order to communicate since he didn’t speak much English, and he drove us to our Hostel.

Driving in Cairo is nuts! We drove between lanes to pass other cars, sometimes there were no lanes at all, and there are no stoplights!

The Elevator

Finally we arrived at Meramees Hostel, and the building had an elevator that I never expected to find in Egypt. It was a 40’s style elevator with manual-doors and open windows with an iron gate on each floor to block the shaft. As we were going up to the 5^th floor, I watched a bunch of deserted looking floors pass by. I wondered what the heck kind of place we were staying in.

5 Person Private Suite

We checked in and met Ahmed, who works there. He was nice and spoke English very well. After asking what we wanted to do in Egypt, he began drawing a visual map of the trip the hostel would plan for us the next day. He threw some prices our way, and it all seemed easy! (Remember this later….) Our 5 person private room, which only cost $22 per person for 3 nights, was a decent size and charming with bright red comforters and hard wood floors. The only thing I didn’t like about the place was the initial smell when you walked through the door. Once we turned on the fan and opened the windows, it didn’t smell that bad, so I got over it.

Best seat in the car?

By this time it was 10pm, and I was going to rest up for the big adventure the next day; especially since we were advised not to go out at night. Our host Ahmed, however, offered to take us out for shisha (hookah) and some of my friends wanted to go, so we all went together, myself a little reluctant. I informed Ahmed that I wasn’t going to smoke, and he learned that I’m a stubborn girl and I never gave in to his insistent efforts to convince me to try it.

We walked through a crowded square full of men smoking hookah in order to get to Ahmed’s place, and as we passed people called out: “Welcome to Egypt,” “Have a seat,” and “Care to smoke?” Clearly we were attracting a lot of attention. It was certainly strange to get so much attention, but I never felt threatened by their calls.

Sitting on the floor for Breakfast

The next day, Saturday, November 10^th, was my favorite day! Showering at the hostel wasn’t bad, contrary to what I’ve heard about some hostels. And breakfast was 3 rolls, a hard-boiled egg, butter, jam, and cheese. Apparently this is a typical Egyptian hostel breakfast; nothing impressive, but we paid less than $8 a night after all.

As part of the tour our hostel arranged, we got into our car for the day, which cost 50 LE each (about $8.50). Our driver was kind and offered us a cigarette out of Egyptian hospitality; of course we all said no.

Our first stop of the day?- a camel ride around the Pyramids of Giza! At first the owner said 480 LE per person for the extended ride, but our driver talked him down to 380 LE, which is about $63. A little pricey compared to what I’ve heard, and the ‘negotiation’ felt like an act to me, so I’m sure we still over paid. I suspect there was some commission involved for our driver, but what can you do?

Charlie and Me!

Our camels were all lined up and ready to go, and mine was the one at the back of the line. I named him Charlie! Haha. Riding Charlie was so rickety and we weren’t strapped on at all! Eventually I got the hang of it though as we rode through the dessert with a young boy guiding our camels.  The older guide on horseback was the leader, and he knew exactly what pictures to take, so I got some great ones! The whole journey was a great experience and I loved riding through the desert! Dismounting a camel is ridiculous! Whenever we stopped for pictures or exploring I had to prepare myself for Charlie’s sharp lurk forward and hold on tight!

Climbing the Pyramids!

We were able to climb one of the pyramids, and they are massive! I have no idea how the ancient Egyptians built them. My rock hiking skills came in handy though! Haha. I saw the Sphinx and even kissed it. (sort of). It was smaller then I imagined. The Egyptians around the Pyramids gawked at us, took pictures, and kept asking, “What’s your name?” We were such a sight to them, and my blonde hair attracted a lot of attention. People tried to sell us stuff or ask for money, and Katie was called Mona Lisa and I was called Shakira by some of them. I couldn’t stop smiling while riding around the Pyramids on a freakin’ Camel!

Kissin' the Sphinx

Next we visited Golden Crystal Perfume shop where we learned about Egyptian oils. He was very hospitable and gave us hibiscus juice, mango ice cream, and Egyptian oil massages for free. These were all gestures to get you in the mood to buy stuff of course, and it’s a good business strategy really because I bought something. (I did a little Business negotiating of my own though too!)

Our next stop was a Papyrus place where we learned how Papyrus is made. Just like the Perfume guy, he also gave us a free Egyptian hospitality drink. I rolled my eyes, but I must confess I bought something there too: my name written in hieroglyphics on Papyrus paper! I thought it was a cool souvenir.

Nile at Night

 That night we went on a dinner Nile cruise, which wasn’t that great, but the boat was pretty docked along the Nile at least. Kristi and I decided we could dance better than the awkward Belly Dancer, but the two male Turkish dancers with skirts were pretty good. Honestly though, the singer accompanying them in Arabic song was the best part. We learned later that the Hostel overcharged us for the cruise, so we vowed not to book anything through them again.

Zao and Me

Before going to bed I sat on the steps to pick up the Internet and I ended up having a great conversation with my new friend Zao from DC! He was traveling to Cairo and other places alone, so we exchanged travel stories.

Egyptian Museum

On Sunday, November 11^th we went to the Egyptian Museum. To get there we had to cross one of the busiest streets in Cairo with cars zooming past in all directions. Obviously we made it, but it took a lot of effort. We couldn’t take pictures inside the museum, and they enforced this strictly by making us leave our cameras outside in a checked area. The museum was poorly arranged and hardly labeled; it appeared to be one giant Egyptian warehouse rather than a museum, but still I enjoyed looking at hieroglyphics, statues, and sarcophagi that still contained their mummies! My favorite part was King Tut’s room where I saw some of the artifacts buried in his tomb and even his golden facemask!

Old Cairo

We took the metro to Old Cairo, and an interesting thing about the metro is that the last two cars are women only. We got in a mixed car though since we were traveling with 4 girls and one guy. The metro was so crowded, and the old city was dirty, run down, and smelly with lots of flies and garbage everywhere. We were harassed more frequently as we walked through the streets but it was never threatening, just annoying. We were also followed by a young teen, but we made sure to loose him quickly. Eventually we ended up at Khan el-Khalili, which is one of the largest markets in Cairo. My strategy to tackle this market: cut their offer price down by 80%, refuse to pay anything higher, and if they don’t accept your offer, walk away and say you’ll get it somewhere else- of course they scream for you to come back and they take your offer; worked like a charm and I got some great stuff!

McDonalds

For dinner we went to McDonalds because we didn’t want to seek out a place in the dark, and besides we knew it was safe and inexpensive.

Felucca ride on the Nile!

During my last day in Egypt, we walked along the Nile hoping to take a Felucca ride. We bargained with one guy for 50 LE for the hour, and it was a really fun experience cruising down the Nile with Arabic music in the background! We had a good half hour of cruising, then 15 minutes of awkward floating in a circle, and then he docked. If you add those up, that only comes to 45 minutes so we refused to pay the full 50 LE we agreed upon and gave him 40 LE instead. This means we got 45 minutes on the Nile for 8 LE a person ($1.33 each!). We felt bad paying so little, but we agreed upon a price and time that he didn’t stick to, so we taught him an important Business lesson by cheating him as he cheated us.

Tahrir Square

Next we walked through Tahrir Square and viewed Egyptian revolution artwork. There was no sign of any demonstrations while I was in Cairo except a small gathering of people that looked peaceful as we passed them in the car. Overall I enjoyed my trip to Egypt, but it would’ve been nice if they didn’t harass tourists so much. I never felt unsafe or threatened in Cairo, but all the attention got overwhelming at times. We departed from the hostel at 1pm in order to catch our flight back to Cyprus, but first they had to change the flat tire on our car….they did so while we were still sitting in the car. It was so bizarre.

I’m glad I decided to change my mind and travel to Egypt with Katie, Jessica, Kristi, and Kyle because otherwise I would’ve missed out on an experience of a life time!

Good times in Egypt!

Thanks for reading my blog! I have reached over 1,000 page views since I began this blog in September, which I never expected, so thanks for following my travels and check back for more posts!

Till next time!

-Courtney <3