Cairo

Sunday, March 12
3:17 pm CST
11:17 pm Cairo

Heehe! Fraggle Rock in Egypt! Heehe! This just made my day. Boober is running away, and he just ran into Cotterpin who is in distress. “The Blob. It ate my friend!”

Today was pretty slow, relatively to the past few. After a whirlwind yogurt and juice breakfast, we boarded our bus for the Egyptian Museum.

(The Blob just ate mother!)
(And now it just ate Cotterpin!)

Our destinations have been great all, but the drives through Cairo are phenomenal. My eyes are locked to the window. It’s a cheap way to experience the city when you don’t have the time to actually experience the city (sadly), especially from our elevated perspective. There are 22 million people in this city, whose urban plan is designed for two. The congestion is on a par with Tokyo, but the sort of (forgive my terminology) third-world-ness of the landscape makes it seem even more crammed. There appear to be no rules to the road; these drivers make Chicago look like Iowa. People walk straight into the weaving speeding traffic, and their respective paths remain astonishingly untangled.

Probably 90% of the females I’ve seen wear the head scarves, though many are not as conservatively dressed below the neck. I’ve heard from one of the travelers that this is a stark change since last she was here fifteen years ago. The Muslim Brotherhood has really moved into the city.

Today’s drive took us to central “downtown” Cairo, on the West Bank of the Nile. We passed the Four Seasons, the Hilton, McDonald’s, KFC, Baskin Robbins (!), and several Radio Shacks. Now I know how they stay in business in the US… They’re everywhere here. From the highway we got a glimpse down small streets, alleys almost, teeming with people, cars, garbage, animals. Even in the downtown area, donkeys walk among taxis. This is a city that I must return to, and not the least because I’m really bummed I didn’t get to any bazaars or suqs or marketplaces.

We arrived at the museum near opening time, and joined the throngs of tourists and school children inside. Today is Sunday, but given that Friday is the holy day, going to school on Sunday is normal I guess? For working in a museum, I sure have a low attention span when I’m the visitor. Especially this one, as Monica was right: It is so packed with artifacts, some just stacked on each other, extremely poor lighting, downright dark in some spots (brought my flashlight), and 95% unlabeled.

Robert lectured extensively on several artifacts, including a very interesting case indicating that writing began even earlier than scholars thought, and it developed in Egypt, completely independent of Mesopotamia. The capstone to one of the pyramids we saw from a distance yesterday was also on display. That was cool. For lack of a better description, it was really smooth and shiny, i.e. not at all what I imagined the cap to a pyramid to look like given the crumbling rough surfaces that remain. Makes you really wonder how stunning they must have looked “back then.” There was also a rather neglected piece that we learned was of supreme importance: the tomb of Osiris. Robert likened it to finding the coffin of Christ, for Osiris is the Christ equivalent of Egyptian religion. Very neat, very unlabeled and pushed in a corner. We moved through the cramped, poorly lit galleries that move chronologically through Egypt’s history to see the objects that tie in with this particular tour, those that feature Egypt-Libya interactions. At some points it seemed that Robert was just off on a tangent with his lectures, but at the very end he pulled it all together in a surprising and impressive manner.

After that, Walid gave us first-timers the Tut tour, showing the three galleries that house the treasures of his tomb. Really beautiful stuff. My favorite pieces were the walking sticks with the heads of his enemies carved into the handle; he would walk with the cane inverted, however, so that his enemies were scraping the ground and his name (carved in the round bottom) would be in his palm. The alabaster statuary was exquisite. The funerary beds were whimsical in a creepy sort of way. I saw some of the Harry Burton photographs we’re going to have on display in May. The pure physicality of the tomb was a bit mind-boggling for me. Seeing all four encasements around his coffin, then two of the three coffins (they left his actual mummy in Luxor), and the canopic jars. Oh, the canopic jars were also some of my favorites. Talk about detail. The delicately painted faces were mesmerizing, but one of them is on tour with the Tut show. I’ll see it in May. Of course, I had to ogle all of the gold jewelry and the mummy mask.

Can I say, European tourists can be damn pushy. I felt way too many boobs. Same scene at the Milan airport.

After the highlights, I wandered a bit back to the entrance. Through a room of, well, caskets really. Painted cartonnages lined floor to ceiling, some in quite lovely condition and still very brightly colored. There were two child-size coffins, too, which gave me chills. On a whim, I turned into a room to look over the balcony at the end, but passed two dioramas of soldiers, one featuring Egyptian soldiers, the other Nubian. It looked vaguely familiar, then I saw that they were mentioned in guide book. I’ll have to see if those are the same Nubian soldiers we have a photo of in the new gallery. This is exactly what I mean about the poor labeling: any other museum would have arrows and signs and oh, maybe a FLOOR PLAN indicating where pieces like this, pieces that are referenced as a must-see, are located. It’s not just the museum though, even the pyramids are like that; we had to ask where the Sphinx was (more on that later).

So, made my way out and popped into the gift shop. Bought some chotchke souvenirs. Got back on the bus to the hotel. I was a little torn, though. Half of the group was staying behind to wander about the city, the other half going back to the hotel to go to the pyramids. I’m generally all for experiencing the city, the people, the culture over the tourist spots, but it’s the freaking Great Pyramids. I can’t NOT go see them up close. (That’s not included in this tour.) The odds of me returning to Egypt are probably fairly high compared to most, but still. Had to do it.

So it was back to my bus-bound view of Egyptian society and culture. The route home was poignant, and pungent. At one point, it looked like all of Cairo was a slum. Apartment buildings, tenements really, were crumbling at their base and unfinished at the roof. I couldn’t really tell what was happening, as it certainly didn’t look like new construction (of which there is a lot), but they were certainly not finished. Many of the tenants used the protruding steel rods to string up their clothes for drying. Garbage was strewn everywhere. The sort of clichéd image of children playing amongst filth was stark reality here. Little boys kicking a soccer ball around mounds of trash, while in another section a herd of sheep lazed on the rubble. I think some of the trash was burning, for there was a wretched stench for a stretch. No greenery, anywhere. I know in Egypt things only grow where water is, or where water is brought, but this was a somber representation of that. It was just a stunning scene.



Returning to the opulence of the Mena House, I had a quick lunch with the Robins (I like Sandy a lot) and then we took off for the pyramids across the street. (Don't worry, Mom, I didn't wander off alone afterall.) I had a little bit of “wow I can’t believe I’m here!” again upon touching the first pyramid. We ran out of time before getting close up to the “Great” pyramid, but the second greatest pyramid will do just fine. Took a photo of a lounging camel, and got my rock. Muahahaha.



Like I said before, we had to ask how to get to the Sphinx. It’s at once tiny and imposing. Tiny perhaps, just in relation to the enormous pyramids lurking in the background. Of course, it was under scaffolding! The sun was setting and so everything was backlit. Didn’t make for great pictures, but was a rather serene scene.

At this point, Giza closes and we are made to leave. However, we were on the opposite end of the plateau from where we entered, right near the hotel. We tried to convey this to the man shooshing everyone out, that we would leave, we just wanted to do it from the other side. After much persuading, he finally allowed us to go but insisted on accompanying us. Should have known. He took us on the “very special” route back though because he “likes Americans.” Granted, it was a pretty cool walk that we would not have taken otherwise, including a stunning view of the plain all the way to Sakkara and Dashur. Of course, as we near the exit, he begins his plea for cash. Poor Norm, he endured the brunt of the swindle. Our “guide” was insulted at the 30 pounds offered to him, insisting on American dollars. I think in the end he ended up with about $5.

It was about 5pm when we came back to the hotel, and I just needed to relax a bit. Sat out on the balcony writing a couple of postcards and reading up on my Egyptian history (it always sticks better after I’ve something to relate back to). Got a little sleepy, so I took a nap, when I was actually intending to write this. Time goes by, and all of a sudden its about 9 pm, and I’ve missed dinner. Most knew I was not going with the group to the fish restaurant, ick, but I did tell Joan that I would have dinner with her. Oops. I’m really not that hungry, thankfully. Minibar is a bit pricey.

Finally dragged myself out of bed to pack up. We’ve got a really early start tomorrow, so I packed, took a shower, and changed money so I’ll be ready to get up and go in the AM. I feel like I’m already getting a rep as the late one (or, after tonight, the absent one). Got one last view of the pyramids, all lit up at night. I’m just now getting used to the fact that I’m here, and we’re leaving!

Tomorrow we depart for Port Said at the mouth of the Suez Canal. Doesn’t look like we’re spending much time there, which is too bad. Looks rather interesting. Actually, from here on out, most of our touring is just a place to stop en route to Libya, save for Alexandria.

Three weeks to go.