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Cairo 1st in the evening of new years day ...
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Cairo 1st
In the evening of New Years day (once we'd all recovered from hangovers, belly aches etc) we caught the bus out to the Pyramids to see the Sound and Light Spectacular. Since we are such cheapos we got
the local bus (5pence for a 30 minute ride) and then stood outside the Pyramids, watching from the street....
When we got off the bus, it was a 5 minute walk thru some pretty run down streets, with the usual papyrus factories etc, and carriages and mounds full of horse manure everywhere, and then you turn a corner and the Sphinx is just kind of sitting there straight in front of you. Then something behind looks a bit out of place, and it's the Pyramid of Cephren, then something starts glowing off to the right, and it lights up to show the Pyramid of Cheops. And there obscured by houses and run-down garages. It was mad. They just sit there on the edge of town. What a bewildering set-up.
Anyway, we got our position in the middle of the road to watch the laser show on the walls of the Pyramids and pretty much saw everything for free, but we couldn't really here the dialogue... it sounded like Richard Burton after too many brandies... þ"And Cleopatra rode the great chariot up the slope.... and poingg! The arrow HITS THE TARGET" and all sorts of pomp and stuff which I couldn't quite hear. Might go back in and pay as it really was pretty good by Egyptian standards (famously slack). The police were a bit hacked off by us watching from the street and would stand in front of you blowing their whistles trying to distract you. I asked one if he got his for his Christmas, but he wasn't full of much festive spirit and cocked his Kalashnikov intimidatingly. We moved along there
After about 45 mins the show was over, and we wandered thru the backstreets to a pizza place Santiago had found a few days before, and we had spicy pizza on a crispy base, with all the usual stuff. The place was set up like a butchers, with sawdust on the floor, but the food was gooood and we ignored the cockroaches as best we could. Wandered back to get the bus, past a donkey living in a rubbish heap surrounded by dead dogs and cats eating out of buckets.
2nd Went to Khan Al Khalili to meet Nik and Jimmy as they'd gone in the morning and I'd slept in. I got lost so missed them, but wandered about the market streets for a couple of hours. Didn't buy much, but a mosque alarm clock which plays the Muezzin to wake you up caught my eye. May return for purchase before I leave. It's got a wee compass on it so you can align it with Mecca and everything. Or does that just sound crap?
Met Nik for dinner later, and since he was leaving the next morning I bought him his tea. We both got a full meal for about 2.50 which is a bargain. I'm going back there tonight (on my own sob). We got a couple of cans of beer from the Offy and had them before Nik went off to pack and stuff and that was goodbye. We had a great month of travel together, which was cool. Santiago and Sandra left for London on the night of the 2nd, and Nik was meeting up with them for a beer somewhere which was a bit mad. He flew to london early on the 3rd so I'm on my own again.
And it isn't that bad really. I have lots to do in Cairo after being sick for a few days, and will just take it easy.
3rd
Had to visit the dentist as the temporary filling i'd put in was gettingg a bit too shakey and i didn't want to lose one of my molars. I got a list of dentists from the Embassay (which was open on the second - surprise!) and they were pretty helpful. It took me a while to find the entrance to the block with one of the approved dentists on it as none of the shops have numbers, and i think only the apartment or office suites are numbered. 40 minutes walking up and down the same street eventually got me to the right spot. The place was mobbed but I hammed it up with 'ooohh my tooth, i'm foreign can you help please big brown eyes' with the receptionist so i got taken after about 20 minutes which was cool. My fears of third world dentistry were but at ease when i went into the surgery and it was kitted out better than the dentist i go to in Glasgow, he had a wee video camera to show me my teeth, and printed me out a colour picture of my offending molar. About 40 minutes later, and some hi-tech infra-red hardening filling stuff and me drooling all over my shirt and i'm all better. Only 30UK so that's going on the insurance too. What an interesting story that was.
After that I headed back up to the market to get a Walkman. I'm sick of all the music and videos they show on buses here, so I thought I'd get some of my own music. Got a Sony one for pretty cheap which is great, and found a decent music shop which amongst the Michael Jackson and shelves full of Backstreet Boys they had some Led Zeppelin Greatest Hits which will do, also got some Classical stuff because I'm high-brow an that. Nik had advised getting a Walkman for the visit to the Cairo museumas he said it was pretty noisy with all the crowds. Suitably equipped for the 4th.
In the evening went looking for a cinema not showing Arabic films as all the films I'd seen previously on buses had filled me with abject terror - too much screaming and ham-fisted acting. All 4 cinemas i tried were showing the same film (don't know what it was called, but appeared to be a comedy of the sexes with one man, one good looking woman, and 2 drag queens for comic (?) effect. Gave it a miss. Wandered around some malls and bumped into a guy who works at the hotel. Helped him pick a jacket then went for tea where i was quizzed on why I didn't like Mariah Carey, who was Bob Dylan anyway and did the Queen kill Princess Diana. Strange evening, though pretty entertaining in the end.
4th Cairo Museum!
Early start to try and beat the tour groups. Was positioned outside the gates at 7:30 for 9am opening like some saddo Harrods bargain hunter. Just sat and planned the quickest route thru the museum and up to Tutankhamun's Treasure room. Froze my bum on authentic 5th Dynasty kerb stone. Yeah, so anyway, got my tickets first (after minor heckling from tour organisers), bolted past the tour groups waiting at the door, thru the metal detectors and sprinted pretty much the length of the museum to get upstairs.... mission accomplished. I was the only person in the Treasure room save for the gun-toting policeman. I just stood and gawped at the Funeral Mask for about 5 minutes on my own in silence. At first it didn't look as shiney and impressive as I thought it did in the photographs, then I remembered it was solid gold and I started to get excited about the whole thing. Took some pictures. Stared at it a bit longer. Another Japanese guy came in and we both just watched it as if it were going to perform tricks or something. I got him to take my photo in classic tourist manner and then the hordes descended. A lot of the other items in the treasure room were also as impressive - the solid gold inner sarcophagus was stunningly decorated, and it fitted inside a larger gilded sarco, and inside another.... the jewellery, bracelets, golden slippers, gold finger protectors, just so much impressive and intricate jewellery. Did I mention the jewellery? Outside the main treasure room where gold chariots which were found in the tomb, and gilded coffins, each fitting inside the other. They were pretty massive, all with detailed decorations on the outside and inside. Just too much. You have to go and see it for yourself. I can't tell you everything that was in there.
After looking at everything which was in Tut's tomb, I started to view the other impressive items... the contents of the Royal Tomb of Tanis which was pipped only by Tut in terms of lavish excess and impressive decoration. Payed some extra money to get into the Royal Mummy Room (bodies of such famous pharoahs as Amenhotep and Ramses II - he was a skinny guy with big teeth, but he build Abu Simbel so that's cool. Also some of the queens who still looked pretty healthy (sort of) with wigs and expressive faces). Animal Mummies too, with monkeys, dogs and a couple of 5M long crocodiles just lying up on a shelf...
As the number of tour groups increased, so did the din in the museum. I put on my walkman and wandered thru the Graeco-Roman Mummy room to the sound of Greig and Handel which was pretty surreal, the Blue Danube in the Hathor Shrine (big cow!) then switched to Led Zep and walked thru the massive statues in the main atrium to the sound of 'Achilles Last Stand'. It was fantastic fun. Too much to write here, but definitely worth a visit if you can be bothered with being bumped out the way by umbrella brandishing tourguides and lots of screaming weans. It is worth it.
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Anyway, that was pretty much my day today. 5 hours in the museum was enough for anyone, and I don't think I'll take the supposed 9months to see every item. Have spent too long in this internet cafe so will head off for some dinner.
See you.
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| 27. | Cairo 1st in the evening of new years day ... - Cairo, Egypt Jan 04, 2001 |
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