I was awoken about 5:30 this morning to the sound of the muezzin’s call to prayer from the mosque adjacent to our hotel. As all of these are on loudspeaker they manage to alert large swaths of the populace to their early duties. It lasted a few minutes and then all was silent. The mirror over the desk in our room has a small green arrow pasted to it, to indicate the direction of Mecca. The prayers which are said five times a day must be said always to that direction. We noticed that at one side in the subway station foyer that we passed through that there was a large carpet, partially unrolled, which had woven into it discrete rectangular areas within which number of the faithful could stop and kneel to say their prayers if they were to find themselves in that spot when the call came.
We had a quite full breakfast here – included as always in most countries, in the price of the hotel. It was a thorough-going buffet with a fellow in one corner making omelettes to order. There was a section with cereals, salads, cold meats and cheeses, boiled eggs, delicious potatoes, juices, and a proliferation of breads and pastries. A young woman came about frequently to refresh our coffee and tea cups. Very sustaining. After this we headed out to walk in the city. It was warmer than last night and I was able comfortably to wear sandals and a light shirt. We are on the left bank of the Nile, the side of Giza where the pyramids are, though some miles from here. To go over to the other bank we headed across several lanes of traffic and onto the island in the centre. This is definitely a Third World country. Walking about the city, one feels very as one does in Mexico City or Bangkok. The air is quite polluted – over 5 milli0on cars in the city – and there is dust everywhere. It takes some getting used to. The walk on the island was fine though parts of it were adjacent to the major highways that cut through Cairo, so very noisy and smelly. One quite interesting area that we happened across was between some of the highway extensions. The streets here were just alleyways but they were, like everywhere else, teeming with life. There were tiny shops along the way. Mark chatted entirely through signs and noises with a fellow who was building a cabinet without nails of any kind. His young son showed me his two caged pigeons. We had a lot of trouble getting past the various strands of highway to find ourselves an hour or so later in a shopping area, very peopled. We saw some amusing things, like a fellow riding along on a bike balancing a tray about 6’ x 4’, piled with loaves of bread. It was astounding to see how he could keep all that together and manoeuvre so well through the teeming traffic.
Before we left the hotel I asked the shop keepers here about their prices – knowing that these would be on the high end. At the other stores it was difficult to establish the prices though as the number are different from those that we use. I asked about and even tried on a long, green skirt in one shop. It would have cost about $17 and it was very nice but didn’t fit. Along the way we came across a large garden marked on the street map. It was entirely empty though there were many people on the streets surrounding it. As we passed through the gate a fellow approached us asking if we wanted tickets. That explained the lack of strollers. We declined as it looked dirty and unkempt. Nearby was a Metro station. We went through the process always new in any city to discover how to work that system. The tickets were just 1 Egyptian Pound – about 18 cents Canadian. In the subway a clear directive is given to keep separate the cars for men and women. Mark and I obeyed that on our way back to the hotel. I found myself on a car quite full with only four other women in Western dress. All of the others were clad in various levels of Islamic attire – from a simple scarf that covered all of their hair, to full cover with veils. I undoubtedly looked as exotic to them in my slacks and Indian shirt, as they did to me. A couple of girls near me, dressed in regular clothes except for the scarves, plus lots of make-up, gave me curious glances and a big smile when I grinned at them.
We were back at the hotel about three hours after starting out. I was so tired that I ended sleeping most of the afternoon, even skipping lunch, most unusual. We met at 6 PM in the lobby with our Egyptian guide, a fellow named Maged, and 13 of the other 15 people who will be on the tour. The other two had not yet arrived at the hotel. The group so far consists of a young couple from Portland, Oregon, a woman from Capetown, South Africa, and 10 Canadians: a family of six from London, ON, a couple of girls from Brampton, and us. Seems a congenial enough group. I think that the missing two-some are coming from China. We had a long meeting with perhaps more detail than we needed at the moment. We decided collectively to be up at 5 AM tomorrow for a 6 AM start on the drive to Alexandria – mainly to try to avoid some of the heavier traffic. We’ll have about 24 hours there, then drive back to Cairo to see the Egyptian Museum and some other site before we board our over-night train to Aswan on Monday night. Such a whirl!
After the meeting we all headed out into the night for a local restaurant. It was closed so we ended up getting shwarma at a street place and bringing it back here. When Mark and I walk about I take his arm all of the time. The streets are often very uneven in the pavement and there are sudden holes or drops in level. I don’t care to repeat my adventures with a “broken” ankle after a stumble and fall on the cobblestoned street of Moscow five years ago.
I’ll get this post off so we can organize ourselves and get some sleep before the early wake-up. I hope all are well. Go to the bottom for more photos. Cheers. Brenda.
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