Desperate Serbwife

The sprawling squalor of Cairo (part I)

I have been to a lot of awful, polluted, poverty-stricken places in my life but, I have to tell you, Cairo was almost unbearable. The stories I collected in just five days should keep me blogging for the next few days. If you just want the headlines, they would be:

Good things about Cairo
Pyramids
Felucca ride
Our hotel - Hotel Longchamps

Bad things about Cairo
The air
The water
The food
Annoying people
The sewage
Constantly feeling like a tramp
Baksheesh!!!

I think I'll start by describing what it's like to visit the pyramids. We traveled from central Cairo to the pyramids by taxi since they are about 10 km out of the city. The entire way is lined with thousands of mostly roofless, windowless, facadeless, sewage systemless, half-built apartment buildings inhabited by millions of the poorest Egyptians who are literally living on the edge. The people living in this squalor tend to get their food from the tiny farms located in the little plots of land between the buildings irrigated by sewage water from the few buildings that actually have plumbing. Definitely a shock to see such poverty on the way to such a popular tourist destination.

As we approached the pyramids, we could see them between the buildings and we started to get very excited. We were within eyesight of the front gate to the parking area, when our taxi slowed down and 2-3 men stuck their heads in our windows and quickly started their sales pitches, "I guide you pyramids, 80 Egyptian pounds." "Carpet, you buy Egyptian carpet, where you from? We ship everywhere." "Camel ride, you want to ride camel?" These guys kept running along side the taxi as we pulled through the gate to the parking area. We paid the driver and got out of the car only to be mobbed by even more men, "Camel ride, donkey ride, I give you ride to hills to take picture, very cheap!" Now, our guidebook had warned us about this and told us to march straight to the ticket booth, get a ticket and go through the metal dectector into the area fenced off for the pyramids. We did this and thought we had escaped all the touts and could enjoy marveling at the pyramids in peace..... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[little side story - you have to go through a metal detector before you go into any tourist attraction or hotel in Cairo but the detector is only turned on 50% of the time and if you're a woman, you get to keep going even if it beeps because the male (Muslim) guards are not allowed (or maybe feel uncomfortable) patting you down to figure out why you beeped - real secure, huh?]

Anyway, we entered into the pyramid area with our guidebook and map and paused slightly just to take it all in. "I'm guide, I'm offical guide, I give you tour, where are you from, I give you cheap price." "No, no, thank you, we don't need a guide. Mike, keep moving or else we'll be devoured!" "Where you from?" "America." "Oh, America, New York City!! Yes, yes, my cousin lives there, ok, I be your guide." "No, no, thank you, no."

So we continue walking up to the "Camel ride, you want to ride camel, hey lady!" "No, no, thank you, I don't want to ride a camel." "Ah, ok, maybe later?" "Ok, maybe later." "Ok, I follow you until you want ride." "Ok, well, I'm never going to want to ride, so nevermind, no ride." "Ok, so is this your first time to Egypt?" "Yes, but I don't want to ride a camel, thank you."

So we walk up to the base of the first, "Hi, where you from?" "America." "Oh, America, I love America, yes, you want to buy pyramid statue?" "No, thank you." "Yes, you want to buy bookmark with hieroglyphics?" "No, no, thank you, no, we just want to look at the pyramid." "Yes, what part of America are you from?" "Thank you, we just want to take a picture, thank you, good bye." "Yes, ok, you take a picture of me." "No, good bye."

So we walk around the first pyramid and up a small, "Lady, you want to ride camel?" "No, thank you." "Where are you from?" "America." "Oh, America, yes, very nice, you ride camel I give you very good price." "No, thank you." "She is my wife?" "What?" says Mike. "She is my wife?" "Yes, she is my wife." "Very nice wife, you are lucky man." "Thanks." "You want to ride camel?" "No, thank you, no camel."

So we check the map and try to figure out where we can buy tickets to go inside the pyramid. It is back the way we came, "Hello America, she is my wife?" "No, she is my wife," says Mike. We continue walking back around the first pyramid.

We finally find a booth where we can buy tickets to go inside the pyramid, they are $20 each - slightly exorbitant considering you can but dinner for two for $8, but we figure that we may only get to go in the pyramids once in our lives, so we might as well pay. We got our tickets and got in the line to wait to go in the pyramid. "Water, Coca-cola, you want water mister?" "No, thank you."

We finally get to the front of the line to go inside the pyramid and the guard says that we can't bring our cameras in and that we will have to leave them on a ledge in the front. At this point we consider not going because we do not want to leave our $1000 camera on a ledge while we go inside. But finally, after reassurance from the guard that it will be ok, we go in. We climbed about 150 feet up at a 45 degree angle in this 3 foot tall passageway (real fun for Mike who is 6'2"). Our thighs were burning and the air is quite stale but we were actually inside a pyramid. We finally get to the top of the small crawl-way and stand in a small room with a tall ceiling. There is nothing on the walls and nothing but an empty, unmarked stone sarcaphogus. Someone told us that there is supposed to be some grafitti from an explorer that came here in 1860, but we can't find it. With no other areas to explore, we decide to head out and retrieve our camera. The guard asks for some baksheesh (tip) for not having stolen it. Mike tells him no and we head back out of the pyramid. $40 and a 20 minute climb and we can now say that we've been inside the Great Pyramids. I guess that was worth it.

We decide to walk over to the second pyramid to explore it. I have to say, when you're right up close to them they are not as amazing as they are when "Hello, hello, where are you from?" "No thank you." "No, I asked where you are from." "Serbia." "Ah, um, Serbia, um, yes, nice people!" "Yes, thank you." *insert a giggle*

We walked over to the second pyramid so that we could take pictures of the first when we spotted the Sphinx!! Mike about jumped from joy because that's what he wanted to see the most and we couldn't figure out from the map where that was, so we head over "Hello, my name is Ahmed, I can give you tour, this is the second pyramid built by..." "No thank you, we don't need a tour." "Yes, but, where are you from?" "Serbia" "Serbia, yes, I know Serbia, very nice country, is it your first time to Egypt?" "Yes, but you can leave now because we don't need a tour." "Yes, ok, that is the way to the Sphinx (pointing)." "Yes, thanks, we can see." "A little baksheesh?" "For what? No." "(Pointing) that way to the Sphinx." "Yes, we already knew that, we are not giving you baksheesh." "Ok, but maybe later you need a tour?" "Yeah, ok, whatever maybe later."

We get to the sphinx. It kinda looks a little smaller than you would imagine after seeing pictures. It is still really amazing though to think that all these things have been standing for over 4500 yea..."You want to buy T-shirt? Egyption cotton?" "No, thank you." "Ok, here, gift for you." "What, no, wait, I don't want a little green plastic pyramid, here, take it back." "No, it's a gift, now, you have baksheesh?" "No, I don't want it, thank you, I appreciate it, but no (while I'm trying to hand it back to someone who won't take it)." "Yes, gift for you, where are you from?" "No, really, I don't want it, no baksheesh." "Yes, you have baksheesh for gift." "No, here, (balancing it on her shoulder), no thank you."

After taking many pictures of the Sphinx with the pyramids in the background, we decided to head up a nearby hill in order to get a few more pictures of the pyramids. We began to wonder how they have lasted for so many years, but I guess it is the lack of rain in this genuine desert [side note - Mike has obessed about going to the desert for many years and I think that being at the edge of the Sahara at the pyramids should count - can someone please back me up so I don't have to go back to this madness?]

Anyway, we wandered all around the pyramids for the day in the hot African sun and every few minutes, when we got a break from the ever present touting, we would look up in amazement at these colossal structures that were so well engineered that they have stood for over 4500 years - longer than the Colosseum in Rome or Machu Pichu in Peru, longer than anything else I have ever seen. We are truly amazed....."Hey lady, you want to ride a camel?" "*Sigh*"

posted by Brooke @ 8:58 AM