Update: Cairo
Wow… First impressions: MIND BLOWN. Cairo is no joke and not a beginner travel destination. There’s no confusing Cairo with any other city. It’s loud, crowded and dirty. Building are all substandard. The people are very friendly and proud to be Egyptian. The hawkers in the street are a bit overwhelming but will take a firm NO and leave you alone. The traffic here is next level madness. Like in Asia there are no lights and traffic lanes are just suggestions. The roads are just as crowded as Asia but here they drive cars unlike Asia where scooters rule the roads. We went for a walk for an hour and a half and watched 2 people get into accidents. Later when we were talking to someone and told them we saw 2 people get hit by cars today and he replied “only 2”. Everyone oversells also. If someone tries to sell you something I have found you counter there price with ¼ what they offered. As soon as you start to walk away they drop their prices. Even the taxi from the airport started at 250 Egyptian Pounds. I said 100. He said no. I said 125. He said No. I started to walk away and he dropped it to 150. I could have kept dealing but at 1am I didn’t feel the need to haggle over $2.
When we got to our hotel, Shariff our hotel manager who seemed so happy to see tourists. He spent over an hour telling us all about Egypt. We mentioned wanting a traditional breakfast and when we woke up he was waiting with a homemade spread on the balcony for us. Cucumbers with chili on them was my favorite part.
After we ate we went for a walk before the temperature got too high. Then we hired a driver to take us wherever he wanted. We ended up at a Papyrus making shop where we got to see how the ancient Egyptians made paper. This was actually really interesting. We ended up buying a couple of small paintings, each with a unique stories. One of which we will be giving away on our youtube channel to celebrate our first milestone of 100 subscribers.
As I said before I don’t believe Egypt is for first time travelers. It’s intense and you need to know what to look out for and what to avoid. I don’t feel like it’s dangerous here at all. Be assertive, bargain, stand your ground and accept that they expect you to bargain. Never take the first price. If playing the hawker game isn’t for you I suggest sticking to government run shops. The prices are fixed and there is less pressure.
Overall the weather is perfect and the people are friendly and proud. Great start. Our driver even stopped on the highway so we could see what he called a panoramic view of the Pyramids. Although we were far away, maybe 5 miles, we could see 3 of them and were awe struck. All that was just the first half a day in Cairo. Our hotel has a huge night of dancing, eating and sailing on the Nile. Then tomorrow we are off to the pyramids and the national museum. Unfortunately they are opening a new giant museum in July and are in the process of moving everything to the new museum so we aren’t sure how much we will see but have been told it is still worth going to see. Exhausted and jet lagged but super psyched and loving Cairo. Stay Tuned!!
p.s For those wondering about covid. We showed our covid test at the airport and got a temp check. Other than that Cairo is much more open then the US. Masks are only mandatory on buses and trains. People walk the streets like normal here.
