Day 5 – The Entrée of Egypt
Continuing the theme set out by calling Saqqara the
appetizer, today was the day for the Main Course in Giza. However, I made
myself wait a bit, choosing to do the great pyramids in the afternoon – when crowds
are less, and also when the normal early morning haze disappears leaving a
clearer view of the pyramids. Both are large positives in my mind, which made
it a rather natural decision.
In the morning, I decided to check out two museums that highlighted
Cairo’s current religious view – instead of its ancient civilization and religion
that led to the building of the pyramids in the first place. The first stop was
the Museum of Islamic Art, deep within the heart of the muslim area that housed
the Khan El-Khalili market that I visited yesterday. The museum is medium sized
– about 25 rooms well laid out with all form of Muslim art, from sculpture to
painted tiles, to paintings, to columns, to windows, to ceramics, to all the
rest. It was presented really well, even if I couldn’t understand a discernable
theme for each room.
The building itself was well kept, the layout being far more
traditional museum than was the Egyptian Museum – and while I exalted in the
high-volume approach the Egyptian Museum took on, the more traditional approach
was more welcome. Some of my favorites parts of the museum were the frescoes
(re-put-together indoors) and the Arabic Rugs, always a nice treat. The museum
presented countless photo opportunities, but like most places in Egypt, taking
photos inside requires paying an additional 50 Egyptian Pounds (~$3), not a
hard choice.
The next stop on this religions experience was heading back
to the Coptic area – much more lively at 11am than it was at 5pm on Sunday,
with the Coptic Museum being the target. I entered right after a big group of
school-kids, which was nice to see a familiar sight (school field trip) but
proved annoying when the wait became about 10 minutes at the ticket counter.
The Coptic Museum is built inside what seemed to be a
monastery, and told the story of the Coptic Christians, a long-standing ethnic
& religious minority in Egypt. Some of the artwork and pieces felt familiar
as a Catholic, but there were slight differences, like lighter colors, more
ceramic and wood-work, generally an interesting mix between Chrstian &
Islamic art. I had a strict scheduled to make it to the Pyramids by around 2pm,
so I was a bit more hurried than I normally would have been, but I got the
sense of the heritage throughout the museum.
The track down to the pyramids was carefully laid out
directionally, moving in one continuous direction towards Giza, on the
Southwest corner of Cairo. The final stop before the main event was for lunch,
where I went to Zooba’s other location in the Maadi neighborhood. Zooba was the
same style but a nbit more upmarket than its Zamalek sister – this time with
many tables adjoining the community table in the middle. Theee more interesting
aspect was the Maadi neighborhood itself, a very upmarket, green, neighborhood
that reminded me of some of the nicer neighborhoods in Santiago that I visited
in January. While it felt a bit uninspired to go back to Zooba for a second
straight day, getting a view of Maadi was worth it.
Finally around 1pm, I got into my Uber to head to the
pyramids. Cairo traffic isn’t too bad, even when considering there is only one
real roadway that leads to the pyramids. About ¾ of the way there, the imposing
triangles become visible, looming between and behind apartment buildings. The
last ten minutes or so of the drive the pyramids are now fully visible,
seemingly an easy straight shot to them, but at this point the confusion only
begins.
I was told by someone looking fairly official that my uber
couldn’t get past the car entrance and drive up to the base of pyramids –
seemed fairly true. I was then sold to take a horse-drawn carriage up, wih the
overall cost being so that it included the cost of the entrance fees to the
various pyramids, both inside and out. After doing the math, it seemed like
basically a 40% mark-up on just paying for the individual tickets and walking
to and from each one – seemingly a good deal. After it ended, I have no idea if
it was a good deal or not. All I know is that I should have done more
preparation for the day, and probably gotten a pre-set guide (people who
seemingly have the ability to drive to the pyramids). Instead, I got a very
eager to please horse & carriage driver who kept reassuring me that he
works for the government, not the mafia, and that there was no need to be
alarmed. In the end, again I saw all the main requisite places – probably missed
on some of the actual history of each place. That’s what some future family
trip years from now is for.
The ride from the town up to the base of the first pyramid (Khofu)
where the sheer size and regality of these buildings start to hit. You forget
about the horse that’s being whipped that is driving you up there. You forget
about the people that will be hawking some ware at you when you get off (though
I found this a bit overstated). Instead, you just look up, look at the only
surviving Great Wonder of the Ancient World.
The first two pyramids (Khofu and Khafre) are close to each
other, the second having a lighter limestone cap. The third (Meunakre) a little
further away. The first pyramid has the shaft open to the middle, having to go
up to it instead of down like the Red Pyramid yesterday. It was similarly
claustrophobic, and you have to use your imagination on what would have been
inside, but it is still quite a feeling to be climbing to the heart of one of
the Great Pyramids.
The views from up near the pyramids are all quite stunning,
with sand-swept beach in most directions with a little bit of the town in the
background as well. The Sphinx was the final stop on the tour, with its best
feature being lined up nicely in front of the two larger of the three pyramids,
creating just endless picture opportunities. The entire experience is
incredible really. Sure, if it was in a first world country, it would have been
slightly cleaner in the town, they may not have the horse & carriage scheme
(or it would be seen as a luxury instead of a shady fallback), but having this
historical marvel in Egypt is truly incredible.
I headed back for my normal R&R at 5pm, but then went
back out at 6:30pm to Opia Lounge & Bar, on the 36th floor of
the Ramses Hilton Hotel, with a perfect view of the Nile below it. The river
from that height looked stunning through sunset and then at night when tons of
boats and shore-side restaurants and buildings light up.
Dinner was Abou El Said, a truly authentic Egyptian
restaurant in Zamalek. The interior was perfectly manicured to look like an old
Colonial Egyptian home, fit with furniture and wall pieces in that style. It
was slightly smokey as there were multiple tables enjoying hookah (fairly
unavoidable), but luckily my table was not near any of those.
The food was very good, with a lamb & pecan meatball
starter (interesting combo, but it absolutely worked) and a grilled lamb with
saffron sauch and rice as a main. The portions were healthy, the sauces were
good, the whole experience was really nice. Even their custard-based dessert
hit the spot.
Following dinner I walked across the street to Deals Bar,
which had a really nice atmosphere and décor, but was a little more empty
(about 50% full) than I was expecting. The bartender explained to me that it is
not yet peak tourist season, so after 10pm or so it quiets down a bit. Either
way, it afforded me the wifi needed to write this piece and browse the web. The
draft beer was cold (Stella is the beer – not the same as Stella Artois, though
sadly not much more creative either).
Cairo is not a place I would recommend for a great nightlife
scene – helps anyway when a lot of the tourist activity starts early. They have
their lounges & clubs, but most have strict reservation or ‘must come in
groups/couples’ policies. The bars are all fairly good, but not too creative
with their drinks. I’m sure you can still have a great time, but it is purely
as an additive to whatever fun is experienced during the waking hours – which to
Cairo’s credit is a lot.
My Cairo part of the trip ends with this, aside from dinner
tomorrow prior to my flight to Luxor, and overall I found Cairo to be more or
less what I expected. The historical sights are fascinating, and well maintained
(especially when compared to India). The museums I went to were all high
quality. The traffic far better than I was led to believe (it’s really only bad
during post-work rush hour – 5-7pm). The food was good and affordable. I can
forgive a city for not having te best late-night scene – particularly a muslim
country. There were some warts, but when you have the underlay of such significant
history, the wondrous Nile, it makes up for it.
