EGYPT

Cairo from Citadel of Salah Al-Din 

After Christmas, we travelled to Egypt for a vacation. Flying from Sofia to Egypt took nearly an entire day, with a five-hour layover in Istanbul. When we arrived, our tour guide helped us through customs, and chatted with us during the drive through Cairo to our hotel in Giza city. Giza and the pyramids are on the opposite side of Cairo, across the Nile from the airport.  

Cairo traffic is wild. With a population of more than 20 million, everything seems to be in motion. People are cooking, eating, chatting, and working down every street. Car horns are used as a part of the language of driving, announcing a vehicles presence, alerting an unseen danger, or just adding to the cacophony of noise the competing donkey and horse carts, mini buses, trucks, three wheeled tok-toks, and pedestrians create.

Cairo Street

Our guide in Cairo was Mauhmud, from Memphis Tours. An Egyptologist, he was a fantastic guide and interesting to get to know during our trip. He shared his story of the Revolution, during which he brought his son to Tahrir Square and helped guard the Museum of Antiquities from looters. Listening to Mahmoud talk about the Revolution, describe the pride he felt in changing his country, was inspiring. 

We almost didn’t go to Egypt because of the protests during their recent parliamentary elections. I’m so glad our apprehension didn’t prevent the trip. There was no threat to us the entire time and the few protesters that remained camped out in Tahrir Square were peacefully drinking tea whenever we passed by (we didn't seek out the square, it's across from the Egyptian Museum). 

Tahrir Square