We woke up at 4:30 this morning to sub-zero temperatures. However, steaming cups of mint tea and biscuits were waiting for us before we drove through the desert to the airport, during which time we alternated between sleep and admiring the sunrise. When we arrived at the Sharm El-Sheik airport, we were surprised how many Russians were there - even the signage is Russian (along with English and Arabic). We got on a plane for Cairo and our bags went directly to Kuwait. We hope we will reunite with them later tonight.
We were on the ground in Cairo by 11 am and met by Walid who was our driver for the day. Thankfully he navigated the mangled mess of traffic through Cairo to Giza, our first stop for the day. Cairo did not have much charm and attraction to offer. It was perhaps the most polluted city I have ever visited from the heavy smog to the trash-cluttered streets. The aggressive hawkers at the Pyramids did not add anything positive to the experience. And yet, having a good personal guide saved us from having to deal with any of this personally. He steered us where we needed to go and gave helpful advice, so by the end of the day, it was quite a pleasant outing in one of Africa's largest cities and a fitting conclusion to our epic vacation.
To be honest, I had my doubts on how spectacular the pyramids could be. In person, yes they were, and built an incredible thousand years before anything else we saw in Upper Egypt. We went to a few vantage points and stopped off to see the Sphinx. Built in the Old Kingdom, the craftsmanship was amazing - truly remarkable engineering.
We spent a good two hours in traffic trying to get from point a to b. We decided against the full tour of Cairo and skipped the Coptic neighborhood and old Islamic part in favor of Tahrir Square and the Egyptian Museum. But not before going to El Empetor on Rhodes Island first to eat the best kosheri I've ever had. Kosheri is a delightful dish entailing macaroni, lentils, spicy tomato sauce, chickpeas, garlic sauce, and fried onions. It was delicious and I was starving so it was a highlight of the afternoon.
The Museum was just off the infamous square, which hosted a few peaceful protesters camped out (think Occupy Wall Street). Life had returned to normal, although the problems have not yet been solved. Housed in a large colonial-style orange building, the Egyptian Museum was both a pleasant surprise and disappointment. Having been to a number of temples and tombs already, seeing some of the relics up close put things in perspective and it was a great way to finish our tour of ancient Egyptian history. Of course, King Tut's treasures were a highlight but there were many other discoveries - intricate jewelry, papyrus, mummified animals, sarcophagi, and Old and Middle Kingdom examples of statuary and art (most everything we saw up to this point was from the New Kingdom era). The letdown came with the poor lighting, inadequate descriptions, and how everything just seemed to be in storage. Walid, as an Egyptologist, was helpful in pointing things out but we also spent some time on our own.
We are in the Diner Club lounge, as we often are when travelling through airports. This particular one is ok but does not have showers or bar service. It is still much preferred than waiting outside at the gate for a couple of hours. Hard to believe we will be back in Kuwait tomorrow and school starts on Sunday!
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