"First We Go Here, Then You Get Shot!"

Here are some thoughts about Egypt.  Please read further for an explanation about the quote from our guide about getting shot. 

    We had toured the Pyramids exhaustively the day before, so today we went to see some of the other sights of Cairo Egypt.  The weather is beatiful, sunny, warm, and dry.  I want to say it's clear, but that would not quite be the case, as the air quality (smoggy haze) is not good.  

    The locals complain that tourism is way down, almost to zero. Egypt is on the list for world places that are not safe to visit.  The US and British governments recommend that you don't come here.  There have been numerous citizen clashes with police, violent protests resulting in hundreds of deaths, revolution, bombings, terrorist attacks, and currently a war against Libya.  Frankly, we were a little uneasy about coming here and we're kinda used to that stuff. 

    So most people are afraid to visit Egypt right now, rightfully so, and we just didn't have enough sense to avoid it.

The Citadel and Mosque

    We first went today to visit the large old Turkish fort on a hill in the city, known as the Citadel.  Actually there have been a number of invaders and others who have occupied this fort, it was built in the twelfth century.  There is also a large Mosque there.

    We enjoyed the visit there and the view of the city.  

we also visited the large Mosque and got an earful about the world of Islam.  But it was a cool place and an architectural marvel. 

    Of course when anyone wants to go into these sacred religious sites, women have to cover their head.  Since Fiona didn't have a head cover or scarf, our female guide offered her that she could borrow her hat.  It looked a little goofy but it's important to keep things lighthearted!

Visited the Church - those are not wishes!

    We went to visit Old Cairo, which includes a lot of Christian relics and things in current use.  This area is occupied by Coptics, or Egyptian Christians dating back to Biblical times.  In fact 25% of Egyptians are Christians. 

   

    Anyway we went to this really cool old church and the guide kept pointing to things and mentioning that people could put their wishes here, or light a candle and make a wish, and they could write their wish on a piece of paper and put it here.

    Finally I had enough and said, "They are not wishes, they are prayers ..."

Lunch at the local eatery!

    So we next went for lunch and our driver asked if we wanted to go to a "real Egyptian cafe", where the locals eat.  "You can get some real culture and the food is good and it's cheap."

   

   Okay, we're in.  So that's where we went and the decor was real local and so was the clientele.  The floor was covered in sawdust, and it was noisy.  The food was really good, kind of a basic combination of lentils, rice, noodles, chick peas, onions, tomatoes, chili, and garlic sauce and oil.  It was the kind of thing that really wakes up your mouth!  Whew!

   About halfway through the meal I mentioned "People sure yell a lot in Egypt," and our guide said "yes, ... especially the men, and especially in restaurants!"

Violence and Mayhem happened here

    We went to the center of the city, a place called Tahrir Square.  If you have watched the news at all in the recent past, you have seen this place.  It is where the revolution and overthrow of Hosni Mubarek took place with a whole lot of brutality.  It was on the news all the time, violence in Cairo, the Arab Spring, riots, bloodshed, etc.

    It has a great deal to do with why people don't want to come here, for good reason.  Although things have died down (oops, wrong word!) there is still a lot of unease here.  Egyptians are pretty unhappy about their political situation.  
    But they still have a sense of humor.  This is the part where the guide says jokingly "First we go down this road to the square, and then you get shot!"  We chuckled ... a little anxiously ...

    Notice the tanks standing at the ready in case more trouble breaks out. 

    And have a look at this building lining the square, totally blackened and burned out by protesting riots and bombs.  

    I don't want to be unkind, but in reality, this place is pretty rough. The economy sucks.  It's crowded and it's dirty, bordering on filthy, and smelly and nothing works here and it's run down and prospects are not good for most Egyptians.  Among other things they depend a lot on tourism, and it is not happening.  Too bad, because it has a wondrous historical past and culture.  

Moving on, farewell to Egypt

    While most of you were waking up this morning, the sun was going down, and I was able to catch this sunset shot behind the pyramids.  Notice the Sphinx at the bottom right. 
    A cool moment in time, in a timeless place.