Cairo

From Carl’s perspective…

Monday, June 27

Neither of us slept well the night before our flight to Cairo. It was likely due to anxiety about entry into Egypt, but maybe it was an omen of the day to come. We were expecting a rough 24 hours of travel with layovers in Hanoi and Mumbai before reaching our final destination of Cairo at 5am local time.

We got to the airport 3 hours early in preparation. Disaster then struck. VietJet denied us boarding passes, saying that we needed an Indian visa to transit through, despite the Indian immigration website clearly stating this was not the case. No amount of arguing with every airline employee in sight and discussing with our travel insurance agency made a difference. Anni had murder in her eyes, so I pulled her aside so that we could regroup.

Throughout our trip we have booked the cheapest flights possible and gambled with nonrefundable tickets. We’ve experienced a few cancellations and delays but this was by far our biggest failure. Exhausted and frustrated, we weighed our options. Our next week was already planned, so we decided with the sunk costs to go ahead and book a different flight to Cairo leaving that evening on Turkish Airlines. It was 4 times the cost of our initial flight, but we were just thankful this option existed.

We spent the rest of the day in the Seoul airport having a last Bulgogi dish, planning the rest of our travels, and reading. Some members of the Korean tourism board asked us to do a survey about Korea, saying it would take 2 minutes. It actually took 20 minutes, but we got some Starbucks gift cards out of it.

The airline had a limit of 8kg for carry-on bags (ours were 13kg). Not wanting to check in bags with a too-close-for-comfort layover in Istanbul, they allowed us to shift things around so that our backpacks weighed 8kg and our “personal item” smaller backpacks carried the rest. We quickly repacked again once out of sight of airline staff.

Flying with Turkish Airlines was quite the change from the budget airlines we had become accustomed to. The flight had movies and meals, and we were happy despite the rough day. We watched House of Gucci, which per Turkish standards had all sex scenes removed, but was fine with some mild violence against women.

Tuesday, June 28

We sprinted through the Istanbul airport and made it to the next gate just as boarding was scheduled to begin. One fellow passenger laughed with us because he had seen us rushing through and he was also on our next flight (he was like a genie and boarded before us too).

As we caught our breath we realized nobody around us was wearing masks, really the first time we’ve seen this since March 2020. No respect for lines among passengers, but we were able to board and had another pleasant Turkish Airlines experience with a meal and movies.

We were a bit scared by the ominous warning on the US state department website that Egyptian authorities have been known to deny entry to US citizens without reason, but all it took was paying $50 USD in cash to an Egyptian bank counter for a sticker and we were in. No proof of vaccination or COVID testing, and no masks in sight, all in contrast to what the US embassy in Egypt website had stated.

Our Marriott credit card was ready to provide us another 2 free nights, so we booked at Mena House, a historic hotel in Giza with views of the pyramids. We planned to take an Uber there but this first involved shaking off the hordes of people trying to sell us rides, and then quickly learning the Arabic numerical system in order to identify the right license plate.

The ride from the airport took an hour, and we marveled at the desert countryside, uniform architecture, crazy drivers, families running across the highway, and heaps and heaps of trash. After spending the last month in the developed world it was all a bit of a shock.

We arrived around 10am and were luckily able to check in early. An emotional roller coaster ensued as we were upgraded to an upper floor pyramid view room, but then downgraded to a ground floor pyramid view room, which was still better than we paid for but now a bit disappointing after learning of the better room. We were also sold on a package that included breakfast and access to the snack room, which we promptly raided and then went to nap.

We were shocked awake by a phone call a bit before noon, with the concierge asking us how everything was. This was the first of 50 times we would be asked about how our stay was going at Mena House during these 3 short days. We weren’t terribly upset though because we had set alarms to go off at noon anyways. We gathered ourselves and called another Uber to go to the Egyptian Museum to learn about ancient Egypt and get into the mood for the planned pyramids tour tomorrow.

Our Uber ride was eventful in that we got into a mild car accident with a bus. There was some yelling and fist shaking but no insurance information was exchanged as far as I could tell. Considering that every car we saw had multiple scratches and dents I assume this to be a regular occurrence.

We first stopped at an Egyptian restaurant nearby the museum, and ordered grape leaves (dolmas: Anni’s favorite), baba ghanoush, and kofta. I also had a delicious mango juice that was essentially ripe mango purée, legit the best since our time in Colombia. Everything was great and the waiter appeared to be having a good time, showing us how to eat boiled fava beans and practicing his little bit of English.

The short walk to the museum involved lots of people grabbing my arm to offer some good or service, followed by having to run across an 8 lane highway. Overall, we were glad we were not staying in downtown.

We had read that the Egyptian Museum was lacking in explanations, so we agreed to hire the nicest of the locals waving their “certified guide” badges at us. Karim was great, and he excitedly gave us an overview of the Egyptian dynasties, taught us about the meaning behind different statue positions, and walked us through how the Pharaohs were entombed all while dabbing the sweat from his face.

The pure volume of artifacts was astounding. Mummies were spilling out of stacked drawers, and cabinets full of statuettes could be found shoved into corners seemingly ignored and gathering dust. It was incredible how well preserved the papyrus scrolls and tablets full of hieroglyphics were.

The famous mummies that used to be here were recently moved to another museum which hasn’t opened yet but there was still so much to see. We worked our way through to the most famous artifacts, including the golden burial mask of King Tut. Karim explained that Tutankhamun was really a nobody in the history of Ancient Egypt, not even mentioned in the ancient texts, however he is now the most famous Pharaoh because his tomb was unearthed in the modern age, luckily saved from the last few millennia of grave robbing.

We finished our tour as the museum was closing, and Karim ran around pointing at the piles of artifacts we didn’t have time to see. The whole experience was a bit spoiled when the price we had agreed upon was suddenly doubled due to slight of hand with the pricing cards he had, but we were still happy with our experience and left him with 1.5x the initial agreed upon price.

We caught an Uber back to our hotel, and were pleased to find the evening snack room supply could be used as dinner, with lots of small plates of fruit, grape leaves, shrimp, curry chicken, and cakes. We spent our last functional moments to tour the hotel grounds and take in some views of the pyramids at night, then collapsed into bed early for our first full night of sleep in a few days.

Wednesday, June 29

We woke up early to get breakfast before our tour started. The Marriott Mena House breakfast blew us away. There were buffet tables full of fruits, pastries, mezze, cheeses, and even lox. We ate as much as our jet lagged bodies could handle, all while staring at the pyramids we would soon be exploring.

We met our guide for the day, Ahmed, shortly after. He ushered us through the Giza entrance process, slipping the guard some cash so that we could avoid the scanner. This seemed entirely unnecessary as the lines were very short, but I think he wanted to show off a bit.

We stood in the security shed building while he then explained for nearly an hour about how the pyramids were built and the best current understanding of why. He was very knowledgable and we learned a lot, but would have preferred to not be having this lecture in a hot closed room, especially when just out of reach the pyramids appeared to be providing adequate shade.

We paid extra to enter into the first great pyramid, the Pyramid of Khufu. At first there was a cooling breeze, but very quickly it became a stuffy nightmare as we ascended up and into the pyramid through a narrow entrance while other tourists attempted to escape via the same small tunnel. There wasn’t much to see in the King’s chamber, but seeing how the tunnels were carved out was neat.

After some pictures in front of Khufu’s pyramid we got in our air conditioned car to a lookout where we could see all 3 of the great pyramids. From here we hopped on some camels to take a quick journey into the desert for further photos ops.

Ahmed introduced us to our camel guide saying, “you’ll like him, he comes from a rich family.” The camel guide (didn’t catch his name) had great English but was actually pretty awful at taking photos. He had a cigarette in one hand and the reins of Anni’s camel in the other as he led us across the desert. He was in an intense conversation with another camel guide so we ended up being in a kind of group of four with an English couple

I was not prepared for how big camels are. When it stood up I thought with certainty that I was falling off. But the ride was smooth and the camels seemed friendly. At one point a bunch of fighter jets in formation came flying over us and above the pyramids. Nobody really seemed to know why, and the camels were unconcerned.

We then drove to a point in front of the Great Sphinx, which appeared to be the closest we could get due to ongoing reconstruction. An eager young man took our pictures in various goofy photos before being paid off by Ahmed. In Egypt every small action done for another person necessitates some Backsheesh (tip). It was nice to have Ahmed around to let us know who needed to be payed off and how much.

Our next stop was Saqqara, an hour away from Giza necropolis, so Ahmed grabbed us some falafel and we enjoyed some time in the air conditioned car. We flew down the side streets, admiring some beautiful old houses, but also catching sad glimpses of people emptying their trash bags into the river. We stopped on the way at a papyrus factory, which was a bit of a tourist trap but we really enjoyed seeing how the papyrus was made. The woman showing us everything was a great salesperson and we liked the art so we bought some.

The biggest highlight of Saqqara was the Pyramid of Djoser, also known as the Step Pyramid. Ahmed explained how this was the prototype pyramid, and the lessons learned during its construction could be seen in all the others. Almost nobody else was around.

We walked through the funerary complex and up to the pyramid, where we then descended into the cool burial chamber below. This had been recently renovated making the journey easy, and we were rewarded with a view of the giant granite slab tomb in the center.

We journeyed around the complex, checking out the well preserved carvings and entering a few other tombs. The guards here really seemed to enjoy trying to get you to “break the rules” to get backsheesh, and we did our best to balance the respect for history and the respect to current culture. Egypt is complicated.

Ahmed grabbed us some black tea with mint and sugar to sip in the shade of the guard stand with the company of three stray dogs. Then we got back in the car and headed to Memphis. Once the capital of ancient Egypt, the area now functions as an outdoor museum. The most impressive was a giant statue of Ramses II that the museum building was built around. It was now late afternoon however and temperature was up to 95, so we were thankful to jump back in the car with AC and head back to the hotel.

We said farewell to Ahmed, peeled off our sweaty clothes, and jumped in the pool. We again enjoyed dinner in the snack lounge. I started the process of returning back to normal life by having a call with a hospital recruiter while Anni unsuccessfully attempted to crash the wedding going on at the hotel. We again fell into bed early, exhausted from a full day.

Thursday, June 30

We got up early and decided to do one last tour of the Giza necropolis on our own. We walked past the various scammers steering us away from the entrance, and politely declined all the offers for guiding, camel riding, and photographs. It was nice to go at our own pace and explore parts we hadn’t been to on the day prior. The same guy who took the goofy photos in front of the Sphinx was still there, he must pay off a lot of people to hold that juicy spot.

We made it back to our hotel in time for our last breakfast buffet. We stuffed ourselves while admiring the pyramids in the hazy morning heat. Then we packed up and checked out. The Uber ride to the airport was our most uneventful yet, and we had no problems checking in with EgyptAir. We had arrived 3 hours before takeoff per recommendations for international travel, but security and passport control was so quick that we had lots of time to kill.

The Cairo airport did not appear to sell any Egyptian food. There were a few cafes selling packaged sandwiches, but they seemed more enclosed areas where people were allowed to smoke. Forced to choose between a bar and grill, Italian, or Burger King, we chose the bar and grill.

We ordered some local beers and a cheeseburger, which per the menu came with a salad but were told no, only fries. When we got the burger it most definitely had come from the Burger King next door. We then watched as a man tried to steal a bottle of wine saying that he was waiting too long to get his change back and he had to catch his flight. Finally the waitress came back with his change and he gave the bottle back. Turns out he was on our flight.

Our flight to Jordan was only 1 hour, but immediately upon takeoff the stewards started frantically passing out inflight meals of…packaged sandwiches.