Cairo & Alexandria

Cairo & Alexandria

We've been told by our hotel that the 900am bus from nearby Taba will stop by the exit from Taba Heights development onto the main road. We think that the staff think we're strange getting the public bus rather than signing on for one of the many tours and trips that are offered by the hotel at hugely inflated prices. We're hoping that the bus does turn up, but at about 915, a service taxi puls up where we are waiting saying he is off to Cairo and will take us for about £4 more per person, so we jump in with 5 other passengers. We're on our way through the Sinai desert learning Arabic, and chatting with our fellow passengers about where we are from (Ah London, I like the girls in London) our names (Ah James, James Bond) and other small talk...

The weather en route is a bit out of the ordinary for the middle of the desert, with enormous thunder storms, and so much water, which has nowhere to drain on the roads that were built for the dry. Then we get a huge sand storm, like the worst fog ever, and then just as we get into Cairo the rain is back and everywhere is flooded.

We're dropped at the end of the metro line - its kinda like being in Hounslow, and waiting for the train in the rain. SImilarly to London, its absolutely packed, and trundles along one stop before going out of service and dumping us all on the platform. We let a couple go off full of damp Egyptians, before getting seats on the next one, and are soon in downtown Cairo, and resting in our hotel after a long hungover journey.

Cairo is a chaotic bustling heavily polluted city, crossing the road is like the hardest level on Frogger. We get a taxi out to the pyramids at Giza, and it doesnt feel much safer on the inside... The first view of the Pyramids is awesome, but bit odd as they sit at the edge of the city - not in the middle of the desert, and there is a KFC and Pizza Hut at the entrance. However, up close, they are breathtakingly huge, and imposing - its easy to understand why the Pharoahs built them to prove their power and dominance over their people. The Sphinx also is astounding - built from a bit of leftover limestone from the Pyramid. Its a thought of how on earth could they build these 4500 years ago! The site is rammed with tourists, and also lots of guys trying to get you on their camel/horse/cart. I am offered 50 million camels for Luce. A tempting thought indeed. After a spot of rip off lunch in the shadow of the Pyramids, we head back to Central Cairo for a well deserved snooze!

After the exhaustion of the Pyramids, we trot over to the Intercontinental for a drink in the bar overlooking the Nile (we have to celebrate Sunderland beating Newcastle) and then for dinner in The Birdcage, an amazing Thai restaurant (we have to celebrate Luce's upcoming birthday) Its a real treat to have our favourite Thai food again, especially when its so good, and served exceptionally well. We're liking the idea of budget accommodation for us meaning that we can use the facilities of teh 5* hotels. After a walk along the river banks, with lots of offers of a ride on the gaudily decorated feluccas (or boats to you and me) we're back to earth with a bump and our 0* room.

As we have seen the pyramids in all their glory, it seems only right on Sunday to go the Egyptian Museum, and discover everything that was within. Our hotel is in a great location, only 5 mins walk away from the museum, which is very busy with busload after busload of tourists wandering around. Its an astonishing collection, vast statues to many different Pharoahs and dynasties stretching over millennia. Statues of families, hieroglyphics explaining the defeat of the Israelites in battle. There must be some logic to the layout, but we cant work it out. There is a fascinating room of the mummies, with real mummies from 3000 years ago, wonderfully preserved so you can make out blank features, teeth still intact. All a little scary really - imagine the ghouls from an Indiana Jones movie, and you're about there. We've seen the Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 in London, but there is still a vast exhibition of antiquities plundered from his tomb in Luxor on show. Jewels, coins and sarcophagus after sarcophagus all extravagantly decorated with gold, painted with unique designs. Its all a bit too much to take in over the course of day, so we head of for a beer and late lunch.

Another evening stroll along the Nile, and dodging cars as we cross the road. There are lots of couples standing by the river, just chatting and generally having a nice old time with each other. Any single guys cant take their eyes off Lucy, and all wish us "Welcome in Egypt." There is not an obvious middle class area which we found in Amman - its just all chaos with cars honking their horns, and people offering us all sorts of anything that we could want, so its a relief to get home.

Monday we decide to leave Cairo, and head North to Alexandria for the day. An ominous web search tells of enormous queues for tickets at the train station, confusion as everything is written in Arabic, uncomfortable 3rd class seating, but the Egyptian rail authority site gives good info on prices and timetables. Even so, we set off a little anxious for the station, and in plenty of time (which goes against everything I believe in) By 8:10, we have our tickets and are waiting for the 900am train. Nothing could be simpler, or cheaper - its £3 each one way on the train, and about a 2.5 hour journey. Bargain. The train leaves on time with fierce air con. Its packed too, and we've definitely been on grubbier trains in the UK.

Alexandria is a very different city that Cairo, and seems a lot closer to Europe than the capital - not just geographically. Its a university town, with the highest literacy rate in Egypt. This doesnt stop the manic car driving, or the huge interest of the men in Luce. The girls are also besotted with our blond-ness, and we even pose for photo with female student (at her request) The museum is closed, and our guidebook doesnt give any details on the fort on the site of the Pharos lighthouse (one of the ancient 7 wonders of the world) but we still have a great time wandering along the corniche, and through the shopping areas, and enjoying a typical Egyptian lunch of fuul (beans with tahini and salad) shouka (eggs and tomatoes) bread & salad. We both feel that we had a great day out, and pleased that we managed easily on the trains. Tomorrow is our last day in Cairo, and then we head south on the night train to Aswan...