We literally left him biting of his nails when he realized his mistake

We had started preparing and packing already some days before our flight. Since I was still working that week and Daisy still had school we used our nights. It was going to be a three-week trip after all. Although Egypt is not the end of the world, we did want to avoid having to buy a lot over there for financial reasons. Our flights from Madrid to Cairo and back were cheap. As a result the timing was also rather bad. We were scheduled to take off in Madrid at 1:30 AM. So we left our apartment late in the evening around 10 PM, said bye-bye to our homicidal fish: Mad Max, and hoisted our backpacks (which ended up to heavy anyway)  on our backs.

Trip budget had started so we took the subway to the airport instead of a taxi. The usual two transfers later we were in the airport metro station. Luckily Aegean disagreed about our luggage being too heavy, so we smoothly checked in and passed security. Our flight was one of the last ones to leave that night from Terminal 2, so it was very quiet in the airport and we patiently waited until finally it was time to board. As usual people starting queuing up like a herd of cows about an hour before boarding.

On our way

Once in the air the crew served some nice Greek food after take-off. Although Daisy was already snoozing when it came, she still managed to eat the cheese and crackers in zombie mode. I did not sleep more than 20 minutes so the exhaustion was palpable by the time we landed. Once landed in Athens we roamed through the airport towards our next departure gate, passing the EU border control on our way. We found some reading material in a book shop and some water to re-hydrate while waiting to board the next flight. Our second flight was rather short, but still they found the time to serve a little breakfast, again Daisy was too much asleep to actually eat most of it, so we stashed it for later, budget mode….

Cairo Day 1: Deadly Traffic

• Sights:        Egyptian Museum
• Lodging:    Hilton Ramses
• Budget:      LE 911 pp

When we landed in Cairo, both of us were pretty tired when we got in line for the border control. Only to realize, once it was our turn, that we needed to buy a visa at one of the little bank offices first before we could go through. When we got that sorted out, we went through without any issue and waited patiently for our luggage, while watching one Nike bag get swallowed up by the luggage carousel. They had top shut the entire thing down to free the bag from the veil carousel’s grip. Lesson: tie your loose cords up when checking in you luggage! We had to pass another scanning station, but got waved through without scanning by a security guard.

Out in the arrivals hall we found the desk for the company I had booked a transport with the night before we left. I knew we would be too tired to deal with the taxi chaos outside the airport. The guy from the desk took us out to the parking lot and dropped us and our luggage into to a cab that took us through the center of the city to the hotel. The driver tried in his best English to give some information about where we were and what we were seeing, but frankly we were to tired to really listen.

Hilton Ramses

Finally we arrived at the Hilton Ramses hotel, which I had booked with the points I collected during my business trips. Naturally we tried to check in at the reception on the ground floor but they told us we had to go upstairs to a special Hilton Honors reception. Surprised, we went up and a friendly guy told us he would throw in free breakfast and lounge access on top of our Nile view room. He found us a free room on the 19th floor, in which we very happily took a short nap in the cloud-like bed.

We asked for the menu but the waiter told us they only served one dish

Once our batteries were recharged a bit, we changed and refreshed ourselves. With the help of our Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor we picked out a nearby restaurant and made our way through the maze-like streets using google’s offline maps. The restaurant was full and we were guided to the only free table. We asked for the menu but the waiter told us they served one dish. Surprised I ordered a “Medium Special” and Daisy took a small one. A plate of pasted, crunchy onions, lentils and pasta was brought over and the waiter showed us how to mix some lemon juice and spicy sauce into the tomato sauce before he poured it all over our plate. That is how we got introduced to Koshary, Egypt’s most popular fast food.

The chicken that had to cross the road

So far we had walked through relatively small streets with almost no traffic. To get to the Egyptian Museum however we had to cross some big streets with several lanes in both directions. Well, lanes was kind of an overstatement since Egyptians just drove through each other any way there was space, incessantly honking to let the drivers in front of them know they were up their ass. We were unsure how to cross and looked around for a pedestrian crossing or bridge.

We noticed the people just casually walking through the traffic, while the cars moved around them, just inches away from their feet.

Eventually we started thinking of going all the way around. However we started noticing the local people just casually walking through the traffic, while the cars moved around them, just inches away from their feet. We gathered our courage and did the same. Terrified and shaking we just started walking. Several near-death experiences and a lot of honking later we were at the other side. We had survived our trial by fire but a friendly Egyptian had apparently noticed our extreme discomfort. He guided over the second street by walking in front us, shielding us from the cars like Moses splitting the sea.

Our first scam?

Our new friend asked us where we were from and told us to wait for after prayer time to go into the museum, since we couldn’t get in now. Then he led us to a government souvenir store with supposedly half off only today. We realized too late what had just happened and although the store did have nice stuff but we decided not to buy into it. The shop owner showed us how they made papyrus and started showing us around but we eventually got out by ensuring him we would come back later. It got really suspicious when we saw the same guy roaming around the museum the next day… Anyway we eventually bought tickets and went inside.

The collection was impressive and although we didn’t see the mummies (you had to buy a separate ticket and that office was closed already) we did see most of King Tutankhamen’s Treasures including his death mask, one of the most famous symbols of Egypt. Satisfied but tired we walked back to the hotel. We went to the lounge where they apparently also served some dinner. So we enjoyed some free beers, wine, fish-sticks and other yummy food. After we went upstairs to the fancy “rooftop” bar which was more a “top floor” bar unfortunately but the view was still spectacular! I got a warning for my shorts and slippers outfit and assured the attendant I would be fancier next time. Once back in the room we drifted us off to sleep immediately as we lay down.

Cairo Day 2: Islamic City

• Sights:        Tahrir Square, Al Hakim Mosque, Shuyami Building, Al-Muizz Street, Kahn-El-Khalili, Bab Zuwayla
• Lodging:    Hilton Ramses
• Budget:      LE 322 pp

It was again a struggle to get of our cloud but the Hilton breakfast buffet was a very decent motivator. We stuffed ourselves, grabbed some muffins on the way out, and went back upstairs to change for a full day of Islamic Cairo. We took the subway to the closest stop, which was at Tahrir Square. Although Daisy tried as best she could to cover up we still got a lot of looks. We couldn’t go in the women’s only car because we did not want to get seperated. We walked from the closest station (Bab El-Shaaria) to our first stop. The Al-Hakim Mosque has the oldest surviving minarets in the city.

We immediately learned not to go along to admire the view from the top of the  minarets, since this involves tipping your most gracious guide. Handing over your shoes at the entrance apparently also involved buying them back afterwards. Somewhat wiser, we started walking down through the heart of Islamic Cairo. Soon we arrived at the Shuyami Building, and ancient building the government had cleared from its inhabitants and restored in its original state (minus most of the furniture).

Inside the building, we admired the maze of rooms and the beautiful small garden. The windows were often covered in the typical wooden grills, decorated with many geometrical patterns. We made our way further down over Al Muizz street, which has many more old mosques, bath houses and madrassah (mortuaries for Sultans and Kings) that you can get access to with a single ticket. All were beautiful and different some way: some had special gold-plated ceilings and others amazing decorations that left us very much impressed.

Multilingual Hawking

The waiters could lure you in using a whole arsenal of different languages, including Spanish, Korean, Chinese and even some Dutch

We roamed around the souks of Kahn el Khalili at the end of Al Muizz street and enjoyed a very nice fresh juice in a bar where the waiters could lure you in using a whole arsenal of different languages, including Spanish, Korean, Chinese and even some Dutch. The heat was real though and after a while so was the hunger when the Hilton breakfast was finally digested. So after passing through the magnificent gate of Bab Zuwayla, we ended up having a sandwich with crispy chicken.

Early Closing Time

After our empty stomachs were refilled, we walked to our next stop, only to discover the Hassan Mosque was already closed. We realized most things closed around 4-5 PM, which does not give you a lot of time to visit. So we decided to take a cab back to the hotel. We drove back through the city, while our chatty cab driver used his lacking English to try to give us recommendations. He mentioned the Museum of Islamic Art, which did actually sound interesting and is situated in an impressive building in the middle of the city center.

Back in our room we changed into something less sweaty and walked down to Garden City. According to Lonely Planet: a place of lost glory where the rich foreigners built their mansions. We walked down along the Nile but Garden City was not half as glorious or garden-like as we had hoped. After failing to find a nice bar, we headed back to the hotel with a nice and quiet cab driver. Back in the hotel we applied the known formula of drinks and food in the lounge before heading to the room and to our private cloud.

Cairo Day 3: Junior Suite

• Sights:        Museum of Islamic Art, Mosque & Madrasa Sultan Hassan, Al-Azhar Park
• Lodging:    Hilton Pyramids Golf
• Budget:      LE 1229 pp

Misunderstanding

We literally left him biting of his nails when he realized his mistake

Another day of rolling out of bed to breakfast only to roll back up entirely satisfied and full. When I asked at the reception when we should check out of our room, expecting an answer like 12, the woman asked if 4 PM was OK… I told her it definitely was! Since everything basically closed at 4, we left our stuff in the room. We decided to listen to one of the recommendations our cab driver from yesterday. So we took a cab to the Museum of Islamic Art.

Since we had noticed the day before that we had no clue what normal taxi prices were like. So we checked Uber for the price we should pay beforehand. The driver that eventually took us thought he had hit the goldmine, because he was convinced I was gonna give him 50LE. However I had said 15 yet he had misunderstood. We literally left him biting of his nails when he realized his mistake. We roamed around in the very modern museum which contained some beautiful pieces of art. Doors, porcelain, mosque lamps and many other objects, almost all decorated with intricate design of flowers, geometric patterns, animals or Arabic calligraphy.

The Blue Mosque

Our next cab ride took us where we had left of the day before: Al Hasan Mosque and Madrasa, one of the oldest mosques and the corresponding madrasa. Next we started we looking for the entrance to the Citadel. We got intercepted by a seemingly friendly Nubian Egyptian from Aswan. He insisted the citadel was closed for some important meeting between the leaders of the Muslim and Coptic church. He led us to what he called the blue Mosque after assuring us multiple times he did not want money. We weren’t that surprised anymore that once we got there , we suddenly had to pay an exuberant ‘entrance fee’ to the mosque. We blatantly refused and decided to go to the nearby park instead.

After that experience, we decided to head for the park to relax a bit. As usual, we had no clue how to get there. This time a truly friendly Egyptian, who was apparently wandering around his old neighborhood reminiscing his childhood, asked around to get us to the back entrance of Al Azhar Park. The attendant at the ticket desk informed us the entrance fee was 10 pounds. However after a quick remark in Arab by his colleague that suddenly became 15. We got angry but eventually paid the guy when we realized we were complaining about 0.25 euro.

Al-Azhar Park

Money well spent apparently because the park, the biggest green space in Cairo, was truly beautiful. The path were lined with water canals originating in fountains all over the park. After the sandy brown city the contrast with the vibrant green was amazing. We found a restaurant overlooking a tiny lake and realized we were hungry again. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough cash anymore to enjoy a nice lunch there. We still had to get back to the hotel by cab. We learned that ATM’s are thinly spread in Cairo. So we walked to the main entrance through a beautiful palm tree lane. There we caught a cab back to the hotel.

We got our stuff out of the room and left the big backpacks at the reception. We walked to Zamalek, on of the two big islands in the Nile. The upper part was full of good restaurants according to our Lonely Planet’s Cairo section. So we went to Zoöba. A hip looking place with delicious local food like fuul (bean paste) and koshary. Later we went to grab a drink in a bar nearby. We were practically the only people except for a local watching the football on the tiny TV above the bar. The cocktails were priced way sharper than the amount of alcohol in them allowed for. We both decided not to make that mistake again. In the meantime the sun had set and we walked back to the hotel through the never-ending Cairo traffic jams.

Funny Guy

Our jaw just kind of dropped. We mumbled that that would be fine, not entirely sure if he was making another joke

I had booked our last night in Cairo in another Hilton, closer to Giza and the pyramids. To avoid paying an exuberant amount to a private car or cab, we tried to order an Uber. After 20 minutes, 3 of them canceled on us. They apparently did not get through the traffic jams surrounding the hotel. Eventually the nice bell boy helped. He called the next Uber driver up to give him the proper instructions on the phone. A common practice that was apparently needed here in Cairo. The last guy finally came to pick us up at the door. It took us a rather long drive out of the center to get to the next Hilton.

Out of place

The Pyramids Golf Resort was beautiful and luxurious. We couldn’t seem more out-of-place in our dusty outfits and huge backpacks. The receptionist clearly wanted to be the funny guy. First he joked he couldn’t find our reservation and made remarks about the size of our backpack. Next he casually mentioned he had upgraded us to a junior suite and asked if that was OK? Our jaw just kind of dropped. We mumbled that that would be fine, not entirely sure if he was making another joke.

Our dusty backpacks soon defile the ginormous room. After processing the day and the size of the room for a bit we decided to see if we could still get food somewhere. Besides the wedding that was going on in one of the ballrooms, the hotel seemed rather empty. Luckily the cook of the Italian restaurant agreed to still serve us. Even though we arrived when the kitchen had just closed. The food was delicious and for the quantity and quality we got, we paid almost nothing. We headed back up to our room with our heads already in the pyramids, when we lay our heads down in our new cloud-bed.

More Egyptian adventures will follow! After Exploring Cairo we visited the Giza Pyramids which was an experience on it’s own, so it deserves it’s own post…