Details - details

We have some time this morning before we check out and go to the museum so I thought I might post some more thoughts and details. I think Dane might even try to get a post in.

The drive from the airport was probably one of the most entertaining things we've done so far. In fact any time we drive it is exciting! Some things you should know about driving in Cairo. First, only natives can drive in Cairo. You cannot rent a car here and drive around and trust me, that is a comforting thing! There are no lines in the road, people just drive where ever there is space, sometimes when there isn't even space at all. Our guide said that people would think that lines on the road would be for decoration not obeying. :-) We've seen only two traffic lights and no one heeds them. We've only seen one accident though and it was a simple fender bender that didn't leave any damage. Neither occupant got out of the vehicle and life went on as normal. We've seen a lot of motorcycles and even saw 3 men on 1 bike! There are donkeys pulling carts right next to the automobiles on the road. People drive with their hands resting on their horns. At night headlights are only used to let others know that you are there and you want them to move, then they get turned off again. Of course, this is all in Cairo - I'm sure the driving rules are very different outside of Cairo. I'll let you know. We've only seen 3 women drivers total in the 3 days we've been here. And the cars are so funny! Many have these shag weaves on the dash to protect it from the sun, I've already mentioned the kleenex boxes, many have Coran in the windows but I did see one Jesus flier. CD's are used to hold things to the window - don't ask - I haven't figured it out yet. But I was told that the paint cans are "road blocks for the president." Of course they were....*raised brow*

Another thing about this city - I think he said 2 million people live in Cairo. But it is very poor. I've never seen projects like this before. Much of the city looks like it is in ruins yet people are living in the buildings that you can't tell if they are being demolished or constructed. The "building hair" is rebar, the most expensive part of these structures (if that tells you anything), and they are there so that they can always add another level. Our guide said that many cannot afford to build all at once, so they build one level at a time. Amazing. He also explained the City of the Dead. Again, this is a cemetary where people buried their family in their homes. So there is a room and the husband and wife are buried there. But Cairo is poor and many cannot afford the homes - even the broken down, half finished buildings I talked about above, so people go to live with the Dead. Some people, like our guide, rent out their family's plot for 300 - 400 pounds a month (equivalent to 60 - 80 dollars) for extra income. The City of the Dead is like any other city, he says, with satellites, grocery stores, market, everything.

We went to the Red Pyramid yesterday and that was amazing. No one was there. Other than our group, we saw maybe a couple couples. First we had to pay the guards on the camels then we climbed about 7 flights of steps, maybe more, tipped another man (so we could take pictures even though they weren't allowed), then started down this shaft. Think of a slide with rungs screwed to it. A wooden slide and metal rungs. We all agreed just a slide would be more fun. Anyway, the shaft is maybe 3 feet high and 4 feet wide and we were all crouched over in the most awkward position. There was no air, lots of people, and the smell of urine drenched the place (apparently the guards relieve themselves there - can you believe that?! This is an international monument!!!). If you were nervous about tight spaces, you would have died. We thought we were through the tunnel when we got to the light, but it was only half way. After about 100 yards or so (yes, I meant yards) we were at the bottom of the pyramid - WE WERE INSIDE A PYRAMID!! The urine smell plus no fresh oxygen was enough to bring water to your eyes and burn your nose and mouth. We went in to the two rooms and took some pictures then got out of there. Surprisingly, it was much easier to go up the shaft than down. Still tiring and I definitely earned my beer that I had for lunch.

One thing that is difficult for me is dealing with all the people in my face, both at the monuments and at the bazaar. At the Step Pyramid these guys spirited Dane away on a donkey before we could even say no. In the end we got a bunch of good pictures with us on donkeys by the pyramid but I had to make a scene to get them to leave us alone. Dane gave them the equivilent of $20 but they said $20 each and I walked away then they actually blocked Dane from getting to me. Dane was trying to be firm but polite and they would not let up. So I did what anyone would have done to attract attention and the alert the Tourist Police. I started screaming at Dane. "Get over here NOW, DANE!!!" Dane didn't miss a beat - he pushed the guys out of the way and got over to me and we were left alone...for 3 minutes. If that actually. Then this other guy lead us around the tombs and showed us the heiroglyphs - but the thing is they expect to be tipped. So not only did we pay to go on the tour, paid for the tickets, now we are paying to look at stuff that we can look at for free. Grrr. Then the bazaar - OMG - I straight walked out of the bazaar screaming and cussing that if ANYONE SAID ONE MORE *BLEEPING* WORD TO ME I WOULD BACK HAND THEM. I was hoping to get some sanity, and by sanity I mean beer, but it was a dry market. Other gals in our group said that they were taken in to the backs of shops and up to the 2nd level and farther and farther away from the streets and then they tried to upsale them, sell them male Egyptian prostitutes (Egyptian men very long, very powerful they say), and anything else - marriage proposals, job offers. I was like "Wow, no one asked me that." Weird, must have been my intimating good looks. :-P Actually it was Dane. All they said to us as we past was "Lucky man, lucky man."

We may try shopping again today. We'll see. We are going to the museum and then tonight is the NIGHTTRAIN! We have about 20 minutes left, so Dane is going to try to post some pictures and maybe blurb about that.

We assume everything is going well since we haven't gotten any emergency calls or comments on the blog. Someone tell my cats I miss them!