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Egypt, where the grandeur of ancient vastly outshines the frustration of modern. Like most tourists to Egypt, I was drawn to the Pyramids and the Pharaohs. Some 5,000 years ago, the first empire emerged in the Nile river valley, and from that great empire some of the world's greatest advances emerged: writing, paper, permanent stone monuments. But alas, present day Egypt is overcrowded, polluted and frustrating.
Flight
From San Francisco I took a Delta flight to New York City, where I connected to an EgyptAir flight to Cairo. Flight time from New York to Cairo is about 10-11 hours, depending on headwinds. I have heard many complaints about EgyptAir, but I found my flight pleasant enough. The airplane seemed fairly new and in good condition. Service was not great, but not horrible either. My only advice, drink up before boarding. As a Muslim airline alcohol is not served, which makes the 10 hour flight extremely painfully.
Visa and Passport
As an American citizen you do not need to get a tourist visa before arrival in Egypt. Before passport control there is a booth for getting your visa entry stamp ($15 USD).
Airport
Cairo International Airport is about 30-45 minutes outside of downtown Cairo. It's not the nicest, most modern airport, but it's not bad either. Some shops and restaurants, wireless Internet access via prepaid cards, etc.
A word of caution, upon arrival, if you are expecting to be picked up, double check that the person is not waiting for you inside the boarding area. After passport control I went straight outside expecting to see my airport transfer. But my guy was inside, so we missed each other. This is typically not a problem in other airports, as they don't allow non-passengers inside, but Cairo is different.
Departure can be a little chaotic. First, there are two international terminals, so make sure your taxi drops you off at the correct one. Otherwise, you'll need to catch a shuttle bus to the other. The good news is the shuttle buses have signs in English (Arabic is undecipherable to most Westerners).
Security and check-in can be chaotic, with long lines and unhelpful agents. One security guy wouldn't let me through because I had an electronic ticket; apparently he needed something written. But after 5-10 minutes I got through.
I paid about $15 USD for the ride from the airport to downtown and LE80 (Egyptian pounds) from downtown to the airport.
Hotel
The users at HostelWorld.com gave African House Hotel rave reviews, so I decided to book a couple of nights there. But either the reviews were fake or the hotel has undergone major changes for the worst, because when I checked in it was horrible. My room was musty smelling and there were all these mosquitoes flying around. The bed, sheets and pillows were not very new or clean, and the location could have been better too.
Decided to go with Lonely Planet's recommendation and headed to Hotel Luna. Hotel Luna's location is great, right on Talaat Harb, one of the main streets in central Cairo. The rooms looked very clean and well maintained. Unfortunately, they were booked.
This lead me to the Arabesque hotel. Like Hotel Luna, the rooms were cleaned and well maintained. The location was also great, literally across the street from the Egyptian museum and the Ramses Hilton, with a nice view of Cairo from its 6th floor lounge. Their stairwell is also pretty cool:
Impressions
Polluted. Annoying. Frustrating. Disappointing.
Pollution
By far, Cairo is the most polluted city I have experienced. You can literally taste the suspended particulate matter; your lungs beg you for respite. At least a few times I really felt I was going to vomit from inhaling the black exhaust fumes from the city's countless rundown taxis, all of which run on leaded petro.
Luckily, I was in Cairo during November, so the weather so moderate. Given the air quality, I can't imagine wandering around during the hotter months. That said, apparently in October/November the air pollution gets really bad because the winds die down and all the pollution just hovers over Cairo in a black cloud.
Even in the coastal city of Alexandria the air pollution can be troubling, again due to the countless old Fiat and Lada taxis with no emissions control.
Beyond air pollution there was noise pollution: the incessant honking by drivers day and night. Egyptians, like their counter parts in China and many other developing nations, use the horn as means of communication. Taxis will drive around the city honking to advertise their services while frustrated drivers stuck in gridlock traffic will honk for minutes on end to vent. Westerns, like myself, not used to such a barrage on the audible senses can actually become quite unsettled. Imagine hearing this 24/7:
Touts and Scams
While the air and noise pollutions were bad enough, add to the mix the constant hassle of dealing with all the touts and scams and I was ready to scream "serenity now! serenity now!" Walking down any busy street you'll be approached by friendly young Egyptian men eager to help you, all while trying to get you to spend money at their shop. They are pesky and hard to get rid of; they will not take no for an answer. You literally have to escape them. While they are not dangerous, it really tests your good manners.
At the pyramids in Giza, be careful not to take a photo of any of the camel touts, because they will demand some ridiculous tip.
It was frustrating because it was hard to distinguish between the genuinely nice Egyptians and the touts. In Alexandria, for example, this taxi driver gave me a ride to the train station and did not want any money for it. He was just excited about talking to me, practicing his broken English. He was genuinely nice and sincere, but I couldn't be sure until he dropped me off; and this made for a less than a pleasurable conversation since I kept thinking, 'is he going to scam me?'
Frogger
There are no traffic laws in Egypt, and in large cities this can be daunting for Westerners, as cars come and go as they please. There are no cross walks or stop lights, or the concept of pedestrian right of way. Crossing the busy, wide streets of downtown Cairo was a feat in itself. Driving down the highway you'll see locals trying to cross as cars zoom by at 80 km/h. It's one big game of chicken/frogger. Yet, remarkably, I didn't see anyone get injured. Drivers are actually very cognizant of pedestrians and vice versa; it's just a matter of timing and who'll give in first.
Xenophobia
More than a few times children actually made fun of me because I was Chinese (I'm not, but they assume anybody who looks Asian is either Chinese or Japanese). As one schoolboy passed me in Alexandria, he stopped and made Chinese sounds while bowing. While in Giza visiting the pyramids, there were a few incidents of groups of school children pointing and laughing at Asian tourists. While not really an issue, little annoyances like xenophobia contribute to making Egypt not the most pleasant experience I've had.
At the same time, I don't want to give the impression that all Egyptian children were xenophobic. While walking around Cairo taking photos on my last night, this boy approached me and wanted to see what I was doing. He was friendly and was just curious about my huge camera.
All Boys Club
Walk into any mall in Cairo and all you will find are men's stores. Men's shoes, men's jeans, men's accessories. There are very few women's stores. In fact, in one popular mall on Talaat Harb there was not a single store that sold women's clothing.
Young Egyptian men and boys also like to hold hands. Evidently, they are not gay; it's just male bonding. I found it ironic that in a country so homophobic they embrace such displays of bonding.
The Pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx
For many, a trip to Egypt is not complete without a visit to the pyramids and sphinx at Giza. Giza is just a short taxi ride from Cairo (30 minutes), and the pyramids and sphinx are literally right at the edge of Giza. Here, you can see how close the urban sprawl is to the Giza plateau.
The Great Pyramids at Giza are indeed awe-inspiring. Massive monuments that have withstood the test of time. The Sphinx is actually a little disappointing, as it's much smaller in person than in photos. The Giza Plateau does get dusty, and the sand can be irritating to the eyes, so bring some sunglasses.
I ended up hiring a driver for the day, who took me to Giza, then Sakkara (Step Pyramid) and finally to Memphis, for LE180 via my hotel. It was annoying because the driver made a couple of stops to souvenir shops. If you do hire a driver, be firm upfront that you don't want to visit any papyrus factories or camel stores. Memphis, with its dinky museum, is boring and I would skip altogether, but Sakkara is not bad with its cool column entrance.
Alexandria
I needed to escape the chaos and frustration that is Cairo, so I decided to head to Alexandria, the magnificent city of Alexander the Great. Alexandria is suppose to be Egypt's cosmopolitan city, but only by Egyptian standards. It is a picturesque city, with the long coastline and the harbour. But much like the rest of Egypt, you have to use a little of your imagination to visualize the grandeur of the past.
The train ride from Cairo to Alexandria is about 2.5-3 hours. You can buy tickets at the Ramses train station. In Alexandria, it's an easy walk from the train station to the city center and coast.
On my way back to Cairo the train ticketing system was down, so I was delayed by 4 hours. Lesson, get your return ticket when you arrive, otherwise you might end up sitting in the train station for hours with nothing to do.
Egyptian Museum
In general I'm not a huge museum person, but the Egyptian museum does house some pretty cool artifacts. The down side is there are so many large tour groups that you can't just wander around in peace. You can't bring your camera inside, which is also annoying.
Other Tips and Advice
TODO
Photos
My Egypt photo set on Flickr here.
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