Farewell Cairo

 It’s time to leave, Rob and Maria have left early this morning and now Dave and I are saying our goodbyes over lunch in the food court of Al Rehab. The last few days have been filled with amazing sights and experiences.

Without Tom’s local knowledge we certainly couldn’t have fitted so much in or seen so much of this fascinating city, thanks for a great Cairo experience Tom.

Garbage City

Our final day together and Tom has arranged probably our most challenging day today, a visit to Garbage City with Ahmed and Zaki as our drivers. Garbage City is an area of Cairo at the foot of the Old Citadel. Here the families each have an area of Cairo where they collect all the rubbish from and bring it back to their city to be sorted and recycled. As we approach the city, the roads between the buildings get narrower and dirtier the deeper we go into the heart of the city. The people are going about their daily business, happy to help with directions and smiling as they sit on battered old chairs sorting through piles of rubbish.  I find myself breathing in to try and make the car smaller as the streets narrow and holding my breath every time Ahmed opens the window for directions because the smell is truly awful.

Summer Cave church

Rock carvings at The Cave church

View over Garbage City

The Auditorium

"Farming" in Garbage City

Eventually we reach the gates of the Coptic Cave churches we have come to see and here we have the most thorough search of the car that we have experienced all the time we’ve been in Cairo. This is probably in response to the bombing of Coptic Christian churches in Alexandria and norther Cairo 3 days ago. The road then opens out into a vast area and we can breathe again, there are huge rock carvings on the walls and verses of scripture all apparently the work of one man – Mario – or super Mario a polish artist. We are guided around the 20,000 seater summer church, 20,000 seater winter church, auditorium and small church by a very enthusiastic resident of Garbage City. His delivery of information is enthusiastic to say the least and is not helped by his butterfly selection of anecdotes and bible stories to tell the history of the place.

Finally he takes us up to a derelict area through a beautiful garden to show us yet more surprising art in this city, painting on the sides of building which when viewed from this spot make one whole picture. A truly amazing vision and viewpoint to see the roofline of Garbage City. There are pigs in one area, goats and chickens in another and tall tower like structures where the young boys of the city go to race pigeons. 

"El Seed's" street art 

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Horse & cart in Garbage City

Sorting the garbage

Maharaja's, City Square

The drive out is equally dirty and smelly but what an experience. The drivers drop us at gate 6 of Al Rehab so we can walk back to the apartment and see Al Rehab in the daylight. As there is yet more football on the TV tonight we decide to eat at the Indian restaurant, Maharaja, in City Square. It is a great way to end our time in Cairo, Rob is in heaven, good food and football on a giant screen overlooking a beautiful square with fountains

Citadel to tower

Tom has been looking forward to this morning all week as we will be having sausage and bacon butties to start the day, a real treat in a country that doesn’t really sell pork. Then we’re off to the old Citadel, the mosque is very impressive but the rest of the exhibits are disappointing and poorly organised. We once again have our celebrity moment of random people wanting pictures with the “white people”, they are though all very welcoming and pleased to see us, “welcome to Egypt” is the constant refrain always said with a smile.

Jan 

Inside Muhammad Ali Mosque

Cairo Old Citadel

Cairo from Cairo Tower

The next stop is Cairo Tower but before we go up to the top liquid refreshment is required in the café at the bottom, Cilantro, a perfect haven of peace and quiet. The top of Cairo tower has great 360⁰ views but it only emphasises the dreadful pollution that hangs over Cairo. A dusky coloured haze hangs over the city and the nose to tail traffic below us seem to add to it minute by minute.Our taxi ride back is relatively uneventful, or maybe it’s just that we have become accustomed to Egyptian driving, sights and loud music, even a car containing 5 people in the front and 6 in the back fails to shock us now. Our evening meal tonight is going to be in another area of Cairo called Heliopolis or more specifically, Bagdad Street. 

Cairo from Cairo Tower

After a bit of wandering up and down we settle on “Paul’s” a bistro café with a lovely outside open courtyard, beautiful steaks for some and fresh salmon for others. To round the evening off we walk down a back street and alleyway to a blank black door which opens into a small bar playing western music. The variety and sights in Cairo will   never fail to astound me.                                                                                                                            

Pyramids and camels

At the pyramid of King Djosser

Refreshed after a good night’s rest, today we’re going to see the other half of the Egyptian Pharionic story at the pyramids of Djosser and Giza. Hasim, our driver for today and Wael our guide pick us up and drive us in one large mini-bus – so much easier than 2 taxi’s – to Saqqara the site of the oldest pyramids. We follow the Nile tributaries on the way all threatening to be clogged with all the detritus and rubbish of Cairo. The first stop is at the museum where we meet King Djosser himself and to be honest it’s quite an eerie experience as although he’s been dead and mummified for thousands of years he looks like he could sit up any minute! The pyramids of Djosser, they aren’t as aesthetically impressive outside as their more well-known counterparts in Giza but they are still huge, stepped pyramids. Inside the pyramids the walls are covered in intricate stone carvings, hieroglyphics and colour, I am amazed that all this has survived so many centuries.

Tuk tuk

Pyramid of king Cheops

It’s a short drive to the pyramids at Giza but as it’s lunch time we are persuaded to stop for a meal half way to Giza, it’s a nice clean restaurant though I suspect Wael has some family or monetary connection going on! Suitably refreshed the drive continues past under passes strewn with rubbish, overloaded bikes, donkeys, carts and vans, past street vendors and people trying to make a living.
The pyramids of Giza come into sight and Wael warns/advises us how to deal with the street vendors, suitably nervous we exit the jeep hands firmly in pockets to prevent anyone selling me anything. The pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus are awe-inspiring and justifiably one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the stones are as tall as a man and to see the top you have to lean backwards. Having seen the first and biggest pyramid of Cheops, we move on to the viewpoint to take fun pictures of all three of the pyramids of course trying to dodge the many other tourist parties there, it’s not easy. And finally that iconic adventure we all think of a camel ride!

Camel ride

Now last time I rode a camel and there has only been one other time it involved a nice “basket” type chair and Dave on the other side. This time I’m going to need to sit astride it, on my own! I’m really not sure about this and as soon as the camel rises and sets off I’m even less confident. Staying in the saddle with it walking was enough of a challenge but with it trotting downhill and me bouncing around like an over filled sack of spuds on its back no wonder my camel is unhappy. The only way it can let someone know its unhappy is by trying to nibble Dave’s ankles and I’m probably not helping by squealing! The camel driver, not sure what he should be called does get some great pictures of us all but none with my hands removed from the pommel!

Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren & Mycerinus

The sphinx

Maria & Rob

The rest of the daytime is occupied with trips to a papyrus factory and an Egyptian cotton shop which randomly is guarded by policeman with ancient looking guns in an area that resembles Beirut. The penultimate event of the day is the sound and light show at the pyramids of Giza, is sparsely attended and stray cats and dogs roam around the seats. The lights and visual representations of Tutankhamun on the sphinx are particularly eerie and lifelike. At the end it’s a mad dash in the jeep to The British Club in Maardi to watch another Arsenal game, unfortunately not a good result. The ensuing taxi ride home in a car that smelt alarmingly of petrol driven by a driver who steered with his knee while operating his phone with both hands at 70 mph did nothing for our nerves.

Sound & Light show

Whales in the desert

On the road again

It's another very early start today as we're off to the Sahara dessert all together in a 4x4 jeep. Even at this early hour of the morning there are lots and lots of cars all driving like maniacs, weaving in and out, whole families on one moped or a sofa strapped to the back, goats roaming across the road, people walking across the 4 lane motorway and of course a truck which cant be bothered to go to the turn round point so it drives the wrong way down the motorway. The motorway gradually gives way to empty dessert roads with sand blowing over the roads before the road disappears and we head off road bumping along until we reach an old temple and further on a cave which was home to a hermit and finally the Black and White dessert a fascinating area of pure white sand covered in black fossilised trees.

Salt Plains

Rob & Tom dune surfing

The drive continues past salt plains and endless dessert sands until we reach the National Reserve and head towards Wadi El Hitan. I really thought we were nearly at our end location but after another half an hour of bumpy driving I realise I'm mistaken! I have no idea how the driver is navigating as I can't see any road signs, rocks or markers but we do arrive at the visitor centre, which from a distance is almost invisible, its sand covered buildings cleverly blending into the surrounding dessert. The area is rich in fossilised remains of whales and is an important part of our understanding of the evolution of whales, in fact it's called The Whales Valley.

After a walk and a sand blown BBQ we set off for the fun part of the day, dune surfing. It starts out with the 4x4 climbing to the top of a huge sand dune, Rob and Maria can't see what's coming until we dive over the top into seeming nothingness and down the other side. After doing this in a 4x4 of course we must have a go on skate boards, I volunteer to be chief photographer, purely because I'm too chicken to do the boarding! After this there is still a stop at a local pottery factory, El Fayoum before the long, long drive home, some drinks and a wonderful Egyptian take away.

Water in the sahara desert

Walk like an Egyptian

The Egyptian Museum with Mustafa

Tutankhamun's Chair

Coffee stop

It's an early start today for a walking tour of Cairo, so into 2 taxis with instructions to go to Tehrir Square, the site of the revolution in 2011. At the Egyptian Museum we meet Mustafa, our guide for today.
Inside the museum Mustafa patiently leads us through a potted version of the Egyptian Pharaonic history, making sense of events and artefacts that have been found. Randomly part way round the museum we're accosted by more excited children all eager to take our photograph or have a selfie with us. Outside the museum it's time to walk like an Egyptian across the 7 lane roads of Tehrir Square, this is a big challenge for me especially, I'm not good at just walking slowly and steadily across the speeding traffic, trusting the drivers to miss me! I need a Turkish coffee by the time we reach the traditional coffee shop! After coffee we are taken for a traditional Koshary lunch, this consists of fried onions, noodles, macaroni and rice all topped with a garlic and vinegar marinade and chilli – what a carb fix.

Khan el-Khalili

On top of the gates of Old Cairo

We now need a long walk to work off all those carbs and Mustafa seems to know just the route. It starts at one of the old gates of Cairo and goes across the old city to the other side, a souk known as Khan el-Khalili, but first we have to get through the gate. There are already a couple of tuk-tuk's stuck in the narrow gateway both unwilling to give way and everyone from shop keepers to pedestrians are getting involved, there's much arm waving and gesticulating and all the while Maria and I are being swept along in the throng of people towards the ever decreasing gap around the vehicles! We both breathe in and try to make ourselves very thin as we're pushed through the gap and eventually emerge on the other side, both very relieved.

Khan el-Khalili

In the souk

Mustafa shows us the way up to the top of the towers guarding the gates of Cairo but says he doesn't need to go up them today as he doesn't wish to die, I can understand his sentiments when I see the wobbly iron ladder but the views from the top are magnificent. The walk continues through the ever narrowing street, selling everything from sexy underwear to dish clothes and gets increasingly narrow and dirty. There are thin cats everywhere, ducks and chickens trying to find scraps to eat, piles of rubbish and old men smoking shisha pipes. We emerge gasping from the smell onto a busy junction right at the centre of old Cairo, fortunately there's an underpass which leads us into wider streets full of gold shops and rich fabrics. The final stop of the tour is of course a mosque.

Now we've finished the tour we need to freshen up so a short taxi ride takes us to The Four Seasons Hotel where we try to creep through the lobby to the bathrooms to make ourselves more respectable, oh the difference between the grim surroundings of the afternoons walk and now, sheer opulence and calm. A cool drink by the hotel pool is a world away from the mayhem in the streets we've left behind and to add to the calm Tom negotiates a faluka ride for us on the Nile, so calming and it feels like a million miles away from the city.

Our evening meal is booked at Sequoia, a restaurant on Zamalek (an island in the middle of the Nile) but first we have to get there. Lets go by horse and cart, of course, just how to arrive at a posh restaurant! Price negotiated with the driver, he assures us all 5 of us will fit in the horse carriage, but it is a tight squeeze, with Rob and Maria sat facing forwards, Dave and I facing backwards and Tom sat up with the driver, except that the horse sets off without him! Thank goodness Tom can reach the reins, but if we thought that was the only fright we're wrong. The horse sets off at a canter, well he is trying to pull 6 of us in the carriage, and he's going the wrong way, so after shouting on our part and broken Arabic from Tom we get our point across but not before we've gone through the underpass at a gallop with the carriage swaying fit to over turn. Ok says the driver and proceeds to do a U turn across a 3 lane road with cars honking and fortunately missing us! Mish mish, the horse, is now trotting across the bridge in the right direction and seems to know his way to the restaurant. The roads again become increasingly narrow going down to a one lane road and as we're travelling at horse miles per hour we're building up quite a queue of traffic behind us. It was like an episode of my big fat gypsy wedding, I wasn't sure the restaurant would let us in but they did and the views across the Nile were stunning with great food and of course shisha.

Rob & Maria relaxing on a falouka

Coptic Cairo

St George's Church & Monastery

The Hanging Church

After a cooked breakfast of pork sausages and bacon which Tom has been craving for, Ahmed picks us up to drive us to Coptic Cairo where we wander around the Coptic church of St Georges, the nunnery, a synagogue, graveyards and eventually the cavern church (St Sergius & St Bacchus) where the holy family are supposed to have found refuge after their flight from King Herod. I can't help feeling a little sad that I can't share this experience with my mum and dad, they would have been so interested.

Dave & Tom in contemplation

We leave the Coptic area and I can't help smiling as we've definitely exceeded Dave's rule of only 3 churches in one day.... but as we walk towards the Amr Ibn El Ass Mosque Ahmed has asked us to meet him at we are accosted by a very excited and enthusiastic group of people who insist we join them in their celebrations. Quite frankly we've not got a clue what is going on, only that they are very eager to meet us, the whole hall of children, adults, singers turn round to welcome us and before we know it we're joining in with the dancing, well shuffling awkwardly from foot to foot. This followed by the strangest photo call session ever, I feel like a celebrity and I'm not sure I like it! However, they all seem very happy that we stopped by. Eventually we reach the Mosque where Ahmed is patiently waiting for us and he kindly shows us round the mosque explaining the customs and etiquette to us.

A warm welcome in Cairo

Ahmed drives us to the downtown area of Cairo where he leaves us to wander around the streets, watching people selling mint and lemons in the streets, the tiny shops and the bigger department stores and of course the people. The drive home gives us enough time to decide to go to Festival City tonight to eat. This is a very large Mall with food court attached and fountains just like we've seen in Dubai and like Dubai the fountains dance to music while being illuminated. The meal at Beirut is a Middle Eastern meze, all gorgeous food washed down with lemon mint smoothies.

Amr Ibn El Ass Mosque

Festival City fountains

Now is the time for us to split up, Tom to go to the airport to pick up Rob and Maria, while Dave and I return back to Rehab. This sounds so straight forward on paper, but in practise was so complicated, a taxi that picks someone else up, 2 taxis that don't turn up when booked and finally the one that does picks us up tries to take us to the airport! What should have been a 20 minute ride for us turns into well over an hour. I begin to think the boys and Maria will be home before us. 

First egyptian beer together in a dry City.

Al Rehab and the Nile

After yesterday's excitements we start today slowly, taking pleasure from drinking coffee on the balcony before walking the route Tom took us on our first night but in reverse. First the mall, it is deathly quiet with very few shops open, maybe we're too early so we move on passing the food court and on into the Souk and on to City Square, here there are a few craft stalls setting up but very little else happening. We return to the Souk to have a coffee at a busy corner where we can indulge in people watching. There are several ladies smoking shisha, the car wash next door is doing a roaring or should I say spraying trade, washing cars, we are definitely the only white faces here. There's a boy who looks only 12 years riding round the souk on a motorbike with a pillion passenger and further round there's a car for rent but it has 4 very flat tyres! We move on to the food court for lunch at The Grand Café before returning to the apartment to wait for the Uber driver to take us to Tom's school and after a whistle stop tour of the very impressive facilities which include a full sized AstroTurf pitch and an Olympic sized pool, we catch another taxi back to Al Rehab, trouble is he doesn't seem to know the way and between his lack of English and our lack of Arabic, the journey is longer than necessary cutting down our preparation time for tonight.

Jan & Tom 

Whirling Dervish

Belly Dancer

Tom has instructed us to be ready to be picked up by 5.30pm tonight for a surprise, the only clue we have is that we should dress in smart/casual clothes. So by 5.25pm we're sitting ready and waiting as Tom dashes in heading for the shower telling us to stall the taxi if necessary, with our lack of Arabic that shouldn’t be hard! The drive is long and manic with lots of traffic, weaving in and out before we eventually reach the banks of the Nile. Tom has book us all onto a dinner cruise with entertainment for the night, what a great surprise. As the boat sets sail, the sun is just setting and there's a cool breeze blowing across the deck, fortunately the meal and entertainment are inside. The entertainment is a belly dancing show with a "curvaceous" belly dancer dressed in a bejewelled bikini which accentuates the shimmying. But the highlight for me is the whirling dervish that follows. How this man doesn't fall over or throw up with all the turning he does is incredible and then the lights go out and the costume lights up. Just as I think he can't have anymore surprises left, the costume is gradually shed in layers each one revealing another layer of lights, it's very impressive.