Walk Like an Egyptian

After an eventful and busy two weeks in Jordan (I will post a friends blog, as I was too busy to write), we arrived in Cairo last night. I had mixed feelings about coming, and had no idea what to expect.
After getting through Passport Control, we were literally hounded and followed by a group of men trying to get us to take their cab. The airport staff was less than helpful, and even our hotel desk offered no help. We finally settled on a price and were on our way. The traffic is insane and the drivers are even worse. It was an entertaining and nailbiting ride. When we arrived at our hotel on the Nile, it was so nice to shower and settle in. Because our friend Ben let the manager know how terrible the airport workers representing his hotel were, we were upgraded to a Deluxe room with a Nile view. Very nice!

We then met with the concierge to plan some tours, and agreed to take a driver to the Pyramids tomorrow, but decided we would be adventurous and face our trip to Alexandria on our own. We walked about 1km down the Nile to a river boat and had a dinner cruise on the Nile. Grossly overpriced, but the entertainment was nice. There was a great band, heavy on percussion, a belly dancer, and something I had never seen before: a Sufi dancer. Sufi is a mystic order of Muslims that use spinning to fall into a meditative, prayerful trance. This guy came out in a brightly colored outfit with a large round skirt and spun in circles for no less than 8 or 9 minutes. It was completely unbelievable. At one point, they turned off the lights and he lit up the whole spinning costume, separated the skirt and looked like a UFO! It was great fun to watch him and we gave him a handsome tip afterward for making the cruise seem worth it.

We walked back home along the Nile and passed families and couples parked on the road, eating and laughing. One group yelled "Welcome to Egypt" and we received nothing but friendliness. Of note, is that couples are much more affectionate here. We saw multiple couples with the woman covered, snuggling and looking out at the water. It was nice.

This morning, we woke early and got a cab ride to the train station. We took the 2.5 hour trip to Alexandria and walked and walked and walked. As it is Ramadan, most things were closed, so we spent a lot of the day wandering and people watching. We did see the mosque that Alexander the Great is rumored to be buried under, but there was construction and a huge pile of rubble prevented us from seeing it too close. We made it to the Biblioteca Alexandria, but it too closed early and we only had ten minutes to look around. We walked a bit along the Mediterranian, soaking in the beautiful sea view surrounded by city and listening to the honking of horns and screetching of tires. We then decided to take a tram to get a bit of a local experience, and it was a blast. For 17 cents for all four of us, we were able to board the tram and see the city with our heads hanging out the windows. At the last stop, we decided to walk the rest of the way to the train station. I stopped and bought some scarves and we perused some other shops.

Overall, Egypt, I'm in love. I can barely wait to explore Cairo some more. This city has a pulse and energy that is palpable. It is bustling and exciting and colorful and loud.