Cairo ...

Tuesday, October 16th - Friday, October 19th

I cannot really think of how to best describe Cairo. I suppose if I had to, the words/phrases would be as follows:

dirty
a hassle
deadly cab rides
brilliant

The Hostel:
I am so grateful to the great staff of the Desert Safari for making my time in Cairo as memorable and hassle-free as possible. I wound up getting placed in a private room at the dorm rate. The fact that I had the room to myself wasn't the best part, it was the balcony overlooking the madness below (the busiest roundabout in Cairo circling the Egyptian National Museum ... see video) that made it the best room I could have asked for.

While staying here I met some great people as well starting with this Canadian guy who had been traveling on and off for 5 years now. He gave me some great tips on how to teach and also good places in South East Asia to teach English to make some money. He also told me of his few months in India and his time in Rajastan (the state/province I am teaching in) in which he took a 3 day camel safari out into the desert ... something that I now must do.

The Sights:
The Citadel, an old fort built on a high point in Cairo as a lookout point and to protect this city, is amazing. The Mohammad Ali mosque in the center dominates the hill. Surprisingly, this was the first time I happened to walk into a mosque. It was beautiful. The domes were decorated with intricate designs and lights were hanging from the ceiling ever so gracefully. While walking through I noticed a stairway leading to nowhere. Although I am not sure, I think the stairway is in the direction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the stairway is to symbolize Prophet Mohammad's ascent into the heavens. The courtyard outside was amazing as well with the tile floors glistening in the sunlight. I wish you all could see it.

Sadly, despite the history and significance of the al Azhar mosque in Islamic teaching, I did not find that it was quite as beautiful as the Mohammad Ali mosque, but still it was cool to walk inside the empty classrooms (they were on holiday or break) and around the surrounding corridors.

The Egyptian Museum which houses the Tut exhibit was quite cool. There were so many brilliant stone structures and sarcophagus's. The displays, although poorly lit and many without descriptions, were also captivating. The highlight, of course, was the Tut exhibit and his magnificent headdress that was truly immaculate.

I spent my last day in Cairo visiting the Pyramids. They are just as majestic as they look in the pictures. They tower of the slum, oh I mean town, of Haram and it is completely crazy that these testaments of architecture and time are still standing.

In the end, my time in Cairo was an experience that when looked back upon I'll remember fondly.