The view from our hotel
Lots of shots like this. Must be a common way to transport bread in Egypt
Inside one of the big mosques
khan al khalili - one of the greatest markets in Cairo
How many cats can you spot in this pic?
Simon's favourite photo of our holiday
Giza pyramids
The lovely sphinx
We had soooooo many locals ask to have photos with us. Not sure if it was our clothing or that we looked funny to them???
Nat & Danielle
Sakkara pyramid
Safety is not a concern in Cairo - these friendly locals were soooooo excited to see some westerners in the desert
A slice of luxury. The pool at Hotel Intercontinental (where Danielle was staying). This was such a huge contrast to outside the hotel
Our lovely felucca ride up the Nile
Smoking a bit of sheesha on our last night
Well... what a trip. We were lucky to fly out of London to Cairo with British Airways given it was the day after their strike. Have to say that everything was pretty good... we were even on a 747 for a five hour flight. All good with me!We landed in Cairo and our hotel had arranged a taxi to pick us up and take us to the hotel. I'm so glad we had organised that before! If we had of arrived with no transport to the hotel, I can't imagine how long it would have taken us to sort something out. And finding the hotel... well it didn't even look like a hotel from the outside so I have no idea. We were staying at a family run Egyptian/French cheapish hotel on the 12th floor of a building. Luckily the taxi driver knew exactly where he was going.
I could write about the chaos of driving in Cairo for a very long time... we had so many crazy experiences where taxi drivers would let you in and say they know where to go, but then pull over and ask any random on the street where to go. Of course, everyone was helpful and gave directions so this must be a standard practice for them. Because they were speaking in Arabic we had no idea what they were saying or even if they were on the right track of getting us there... we even had one experience where we were driving along at around 80km an hour, windows down and the taxi driver screams out to the passenger in the car driving parallel to us. They start having a full conversation about directions and neither of them were phased about this. Classic!
The pyramids were definitely a highlight. Simon has wanted to take pictures of the beauties ever since I have known him so it was pretty exciting. We visited three different sites and even got to climb down into one of the pyramids. If it hadn't of been 38 degrees, I think I would have been up for staying a bit longer and just absorbing the sights.
Nothing can really prepare you for the poverty in Egypt... or the hassle you will get as a Westerner... they are generally very friendly people and always keen to practice their English, but if you don't like attention from EVERY male, it's not the place for you. This definitely was the most third-world place either of us have traveled to. So very interesting at the same time. Our friend Danielle was with us for most of the trip. Simon was offered various different numbers of camels to sell off the two girls. Isn't he a lucky man!
We were glad to get back to London after our five day stint in Egypt. Makes you realise how well everything is organised back home... we must take it for granted to some degree I guess...
Enjoy our photos!