A quick trip to Cairo

Last week, I went to Cairo for work, and it was an interesting place to visit! It was a short trip, so I feel fortunate for the sites I got to see. Here is the view of Tahrir Square from my room, which is the major square in Cairo that was known for the demonstrations during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. The other side of the hotel was facing the Nile River. It was Ramadan, so the setup outside the window was for that evening's Iftar (breaking of the fast). I tried to visit the National Museum, the day I arrived, which is the pink building on the left, but it was already closed for the day.  

 The sun rose early in the morning - this was around 4:45am!

 One evening after work we went to the Khan al-Khalili bazaar, in the center of Islamic Cairo. It used to be a mausoleum from the 8th century for one of the caliphs, is located next to a major mosque and al-Azhar Islamic University. There are many old mosques and buildings along the cobblestone streets, with shops built into the walls. It was very crowded and lively, especially being there during the evening prayers.

There were shops selling souvenirs of all kinds, jewelry, food, spices, sweets. It was full of energy and a really neat place to wander for a couple of hours!

 There is a Coptic Christian quarter of the souq, that is closed on Sundays, which is when we went, and represented a fair number of shops.

 We wandered upstairs to some more shops and found lots of adorable stray kittens. I thought we had a stray cat and dog problem in Jordan, but Egypt definitely has us topped!

 I really want to get an arabic clock before we leave this part of the world - there were lots of choices in this store, and some of the ones on the right are made of old frying pans.

 Lonely pink shirt on the wall caught my eye.

 As sunset approached, the buildings began lighting up. I wish I remember what they all were, but I don't!

Making our way back to the van to pick us up.

Very interesting place to visit!

 The next morning, we went to the pyramids in Giza, which was about a 45 minute drive outside of Cairo. This is the Great Pyramid complex, and I am standing in front of the Great Pyramid, of which I believe there are 6 in total. It was a nice clear day, but it was hot at about 105 degrees, at only 8am!

This pyramid was ginormous! Our guide said that each stone weighed about 2,000 lbs and took about 100 men to lift. Just thinking about the immense labor required to build these pyramids is incredible. I know the Israelites came to Egypt long after the pyramids were there, but I couldn't help but think about the hard work they endured for hundreds of years in this harsh desert environment.

 You see the hole towards the bottom left of the pyramid? That was the entrance to the top.....and this is not an escalator, it's a wooden ramp you walk up. It was good until about 1/2 way up, where the corridor took a turn and the ceiling dropped about 1/2 way, and I had to crouch down and climb the rest of the way up. I was definitely sweating and out of breath by the time I got to the top, and it was probably better none of us knew what we were getting ourselves into! And the best part was, i...we got to reverse our steps on the way down. Going down was easier, and I was thankful it was not very busy inside or the mid-summer temperatures!

My reward, an off-centered picture touching the top of the great pyramid!

 Next we went to see an the Khufu ship, which was discovered at the base of the Great Pyramid around 2500 BC, for King Cheops.  We had to wear feet coverings to get into this part of the museum, but it had AC so I probably would have done most anything they asked at that time to get inside!

 Then we drove a little further to see more of the pyramids.

And lastly we arrived at the site of the Sphinx. Apparently they do a light show at the pyramids at night, which is why all the chairs were set up. They also do high school graduation here!

 Here she is, the great sphinx of Giza, believed to be from around 1400 BC.

It was a really good trip, and I am glad that Nathan and I have both had the chance to see a little bit of the country!