Amid all the history, culture, and wonder of Egypt, there is one constant. One persistent feature impossible to ignore. Mummies? No. The image of King Tutankhamun? No again. The pyramids? Egyptians could care less. The unifying factor of all the places we explored in Egypt? The incessant, call-to-prayer-interrupting, often maddening, sound of horns honking. Egyptian's vehicular aural communication is as difficult to decode as the intricate dance of the honeybee. Short honk followed by long. Three short honks. Two long honks. What did it all mean? Each pattern seemed to have some hidden meaning, a Morse code of sorts that only the other erratic Egyptian drivers understand. (Employing a driving style to rival the insanity of the Italians, Egyptians ensure each crossing of the street is a test of speed and agility that not even Frogger would dare to attempt.) As we made our way through each city, each midan, and each street, one honk became abundantly clear: a long, loud, resounding horn meant, simply, get out of the way, and do it fast.
After walking across the border from Israel to Egypt, we were immediately greeted with the most classic of Egyptian customs: being offered "a special deal" that roughly equates to someone thinking you are a sucker who will overpay by about 300%. After politely declining, we had a 2.5 hour drive on a microbus (the same as a sherut in Israel) through Sinai and along the coast of the Red Sea, to a small diving-centered city called Dahab. We rested for a few hours, and then crawled aboard yet another microbus for a 2 hour drive to St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of the impressive Mt. Sinai of Moses and Ten Commandments fame. The adventure in store? I hike to the top, beginning at 2 AM, in an effort to reach the summit in time to watch the sunrise. As we trekked up the steep, dark, cold, camel-lined trail I concluded two things: I am still terrified of camels and Moses was a crazy person. I must admit, the feat was worth it, the view impressive, and the experience unforgettable. Six hours later, after the hike down, we were back at monastery, visited the burning bush, and then took the microbus back to Dahab where we had a few hours of rest and koshary (which was insanely delicious and only rivaled by the delectable mango juice that was in season), before our overnight bus ride to Cairo.
Cairo put our haggling skills to the test immediately. As soon as we retrieved our baggage from the bus we were offered yet another "special discount" on a cab ride to our hostel. The offer? Two hundred Egyptian pounds. The offer after converting to USD? Around $36. The hilarity of it? The cab ride should only cost about 30 Egyptian pounds (around $6). Which, after an epic bout of haggling, was what we paid to get to Talaat Harb Square, our neighborhood for the next five days.
Cairo is gigantic. With a population of 25 million people it is sprawling, fast-paced, and has a modern downtown with historic areas scattered throughout. We explored Old Cairo, Coptic (Christian) Cairo, the island in the middle of the Nile, and walked our legs off on daily ventures into different directions into the city, and I think Josh can attest that I sampled the mango juice that each area had to offer. Of course, everywhere we went people wanted to help us out. Not only were we welcomed by dozens of Cairenes everywhere we walked, but they also offered to accompany us to where we were headed so that we wouldn't get lost. This assistance inevitably had one of two results. The first result: we would, just happen, to walk right by a store where our guide would receive a commission if something were purchased (I believe "high-pressured sales" does not quite do this phenomenon justice). The second result: we would, not so nicely, be demanded to proffer up a baksheesh (tip or bribe). This practice borders on the absurd. Imagine someone offering to give you directions, and then upon dispensing the unsolicited information, that person demands that you pay them. Or if you happen to take a picture of, say, the Nile, some random person might insist that pictures are not allowed unless you pay them. Keep in mind that this is a lie, you know it is a lie, and you realize the person has no authority, but you then cave into handing over the 3 Egyptian pounds (60 cents) in the face of an escalating disagreement that potentially, usually, results in someone yelling at you in harsh Arabic, that I suspect involves some cursing.
Alexandria, 2 hours by train northwest of Cairo, offered a beautiful reprieve from such antics. We walked from the central train station along the corniche (the road along the shore) to the Library of Alexandria. On the way, not only did we enjoy the peace of looking at our map and guidebook without offers of help or demands for baksheesh, but we had the most delicious meal of our trip. What could have been more fitting than a grilled fish freshly caught from the Mediterranean accompanied by baba ghanoush, fresh vegetables, sauteed peppers and onions, and the requisite side of french fries? And then to top it off with the Library of Alexandria?! I beelined to the literature section (800) and the presence of the classics on the shelves of this most historic of libraries sent my heart all aflutter. It was amazing, and beautiful, and the best part is that it is a fully functioning, high tech, modern institution. The ample seating was being utilized by university students doing what university students do in libraries: finishing homework, napping on open notebooks, and, of course, Facebooking.
But what would any trip to Egypt be without a visit to the pyramids? We saw them all: Giza, the Sphinx (I know, I know, not a pyramid), the Red, the Bent, and the first-ever attempt at a pyramid: the Step. They were magnificent. And those are only the major ones. We went inside the pyramid of Pepi I, and also hung out in Djoser's funerary complex. The whole experience was nothing short of amazing. To see hieroglyphs in person! To be inside a pyramid and have that eerie feeling that you are in someone's burial chamber! To walk to the crest of a sand dune and see even more, lesser known pyramids fill the skyline! I am so lucky to fulfill what was truly a childhood dream, and it was worth every baksheesh paid along the way.
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