Cairo and Sinai

After a long plane flight from New York Angela and I arrived in Cairo, jetlagged but happy to be here. We took a taxi from the Airport to Aimee's flat in Maadi. We spent the first few days hanging around at Aimee's and trying to shakeoff the jet lag. Its been great to spend time with her family, they have added a different dimension to our international adventure and helped a lot with logistics around Cairo. Angela and I took a night bus from Cairo to a small town called Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula. Dahab is a pretty laid back little hippy town on the Red Sea with lots of scubadiving, snorkeling and other tourist activities. We spent the first few days laying on the "beach" and eating good food. They don't really have a beach, they've built restaraunts and lounges right up to the edge of the water (more on this in a minute). Here's a nice photo of Dahab at sunset.

We swam a little bit, did some snorkeling, and just generally lounged about in the sunshine. After a few days of that we decided to get a little more motivated and either head for St Catherines or do some snorkeling. But when we woke a wind storm had come up over night. We walked down to the waterfront to find huge waves crashing into the restaraunt we ate at the day before. It turns out if you build right next to the water, occasionally the ocean trashes your place.

Well we only ended up doing a little bit of snorkeling because of the storm, but it was still pretty cool we saw lots of colorful fish and coral. We headed back to Cairo after a week in Dahab. The drive back to Cairo was great even if it was pretty long. The Sinai Peninsula is very rocky and mountainous.

Today we went to see the pyramids at Giza. Yup those pyramids! The pyramids were pretty much what I had expected, they're huge and impressive and surrounded by pushy touts that really want you to ride their camels. The pyramids and the sphinx are really incredible, the sheer scale is hard to fathom. We had a great time wandering around the site taking pictures and ignoring touts. The pyramids are amazing despite the crowds, touts and ridiculously crooked guards (apparently you can climb the pyramid for the right price). It is hard to see such a timeless historical legacy slipping away under poor management and the drive for individual profit. Trash, camel shit and "Good price for you!" are the main hallmarks of an astonishing monument to human accomplishment. Despite the hassles the pyramids are still incredible, it is impossible to really comprehend the time and effort it would have taken to construct even one of the smaller ones.

Ultimately we did ride a camel from the second pyramid down to the sphinx. We rode a camel named Charlie Brown. The guide spoke English, Arabic, French and German but can't read or write. Here's Angela kissing some old guy...

Tomorrow we're heading down to the main bazaar in Cairo for more haggling and hassling!!!