The Heart of the Arab World

Trip Start Apr 09, 2006

148

Trip End Jun 09, 2007

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Flag of Egypt Cairo, Al Qāhirah, Egypt
Saturday, June 24, 2006

I know NYC is the city that never sleeps, but Cairo must only get a wink each night. The city is bustling all night long. For obvious reasons, the city is slowest each afternoon while everyone retreats to a cooler, shaded place. Cooler is a relative term as you still sweat buckets.

My first few days in Cairo were filled with administrative muck. The Russian Consulate is a complete joke and I spent 4-5 hours there each of three days trying to apply for my visa. The Consulate is only open for business about 10 hours each week, in typical fashion. I never even got through the front gate. I've now pulled a few strings and I think the General Manager of Aeroflot Egypt has made an appointment for me at the Consulate on Tuesday (Aeroflot is Russia's main airline through whom my tickets were booked to Moscow). We'll see. My passport is currently at the Chinese Consulate and my visa should be ready for pick up there on Tuesday morning, in sha' Allah. In sha' Allah in Arabic translates to "God willing" and it's a term you hear every day in common business transactions.

Me: Here is my visa application and $50USD. When may I pick up the visa?
Consulate: Everything appears to be complete. Your visa will be ready on Tuesday, in 'sha Allah.

Me: The schedule says that a bus picks up at this location every 10 minutes but I've been waiting for 2 hours. Is the bus that frequent?
Egyptian: In 'sha Allah.

Basically, nothing runs on time or by any type of schedule. In sha' Allah really means "I have no fuckin' idea."

I headed out with two others via taxi to see the Pyramids of Giza yesterday and it was great. Despite being "temple'd out" from everything I've seen, the Great Pyramids did not disappoint. The two guys I was with are elementary school buddies from Oregon, one of whom I met and spent time with in Wadi Mousa. Rather than pay the hefty 180 Egyptian Pounds each for the standard hostel tour, we jumped in a taxi and ended up only spending 35 pounds total for transportation out to Giza. The Pyramids are basically a suburb of Cairo and it was quite easy and fast to get there on our own. We paid the extra money for a ticket inside the Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) - that's the biggest and oldest one. We were inside a National Geographic special climbing through the inside of the ancient structure, through the Great Hall and into the Sacrophogus Chamber. Well worth the 50 Pound student price.

I spent another afternoon in the Egyptian Museum, which is world-renowned for its collection. I found much of it rather uninspiring after being in Egypt for a few weeks already. The exception were the Tutankhamun Galleries, which were SPECTACULAR. Over 1700 items of loot found in the child king's tomb are something to see. The collection is crowned with the death mask and three golden coffins that we've all seen. Still, it alone was worth the entry fee.

The next week or so should be fairly slow as I wait/fight for visas. If all goes as planned I'll land in Moscow early morning on Jul-1, spend a week in Moscow and St. Petersburg and arrange to head East on a loooong train ride to Asia.