The other day I had an awesome trip. To summarize the trip I rode a horse from Giza, which is the site of the big pyramids to the Saqqara Pyramids and the Abu sir Pyramids which are less famous but are some of the oldest pyramids in Egypt. Now I will say this, any time you take a 5 hour round trip horse ride, your ASS will hate you the next couple days and I’m not talking about if you have a jealous donkey at home (waant waaant, bad joke, that was for you grandpa and dad). I went with a buddy I met out here at the Arab Academy named Brian and being his last day he wanted to go on one last adventure. I agreed when he told me what he had planned not really knowing what to expect, but that’s pretty much how things go down here in Cairo. Now meeting up was an adventure altogether and involved a crazy taxi ride, which if anyone has followed the other posts already knows that’s inevitable. I said take me to the Sphinx and he took me to this restaurant in town and then I told him the pyramids and he did take me there but to the wrong gate about 5 miles away. Not completely the Taxi drivers fault on this one, so I’ll take the rap. Brian and I met up at the Giza pyramids after I got out of school and were going to try and find a stable and get a good price for the trip without having our horse die on us in the desert. I will definitely write about the Egyptian selling techniques or “hustle” in a later post, because I’ve seen a lot of them and I’ve been involved as well, and I will use this trip as a reference for sure for both the taxi ride over and the stables and our trip, but it deserves its own post for sure. Now getting back to the story we found a stable to take us out in the middle of the desert for LE 250 (Egyptian pounds) to look at these pyramids and to do some exploring on our Egyptian Cadillac’s as our guide called our horses. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking, but we didn’t make it all the way to Saqqara due to a misunderstanding, but we did get pretty close and took some pictures and had a good time. We weren’t about to argue too much with our guide since he did hold our lives in his hand and if I was on that horse for another hour or two I would have regretted it, and I’m sure the horse was happier too since it try to turn around on me a couple times on the way out there. On the way back from the desert we took the “back way” home and saw a whole other part of Cairo that was really cool to see. This place is huge and so diverse and it really is fascinating. I thought Egypt would be all desert and although we were in dirt for most of the day we saw so much green on the way back. So take a look at the pictures below and definitely the videos. I probably should have taken a couple more pictures to illustrate but I’ll do my best to describe in the captions.


You would think that they wouldn't be that hard to find
(taxi ride there).


Our journey already begin by the base of these. I should have taken more pics
leaving the stables, but this is about an hour into it looking back.


The road ahead for the next couple of hours.


The next time I looked back at the Giza Pyramids.


Coming up to the first destination Abu sir. small but some of the oldest and
possibly the first. We ended up passing it and coming back by on the way back.

Half time, time for some photos. If you look very hard between me and the horse

you can see the Giza pyramids where we began.

Not to many people can pull this look off in the desert and I think I also fall into that

category. Abu sir behind us. If you look really hard about an inch to the right of the big one

you can see Saqqara's very top

The hotels close to mine in the far distance to the right.

I had to cut off the horse on the right due to the PG rating of this blog.

We went on a little bit more to get closer to Saqqara. The original plan was for the guide to

take us here and to explore a little, but do to a "misunderstanding"/we got hustled, this is about as far as we went. to get here we talked him into letting us go to the next hill (about another 2 miles) to take a better picture. The guide didn't mind, but my horse waaas pissed.

You smile you die in the desert. In the distance the Giza Pyramids even further.

Rhinesstone Cowboy, don't hate on the white "boots".

On our way back, going to pass back by Abu Sir

Cairo off to the right, pretty hard to see because of the polution.

Walking by Abusir. Not to far from this is the road and some really huge nice houses. In between these houses (where the videos were filmed below) is a man who lives in a shack, our guide stopped by and had a drink of moonshine.

I only have 1 horse power, but I was still moving. This was after we visited the guy in the shack. the guide filmed this while he was running next to us, if I could state the obvious. That's Brian with me.

Secretariat eat your heart out.

You can see some larger houses coming up behind us and when I say big I mean equivalent to $3-10 Mil American homes. Our guide said that at one houses we passed one of the horses the guy owned and kept there was a show horse worth LE 2 mil or about $360,000. We cut through to the street where you see the backside of Cairo pic about 2 miles up the way.

The "back side" of Cairo and our guide. I should have took more pictures but there were a mixture of really nice homes and as we got closer to Cairo, it turned into more like projects or poor housing. to the left about a mile is the desert we walked through and to the right is farms and homes.

Looking to the right of the road.




Cutting through some hood about an hour away. In between the buildings you can see the slant of the pyramid. It looks like the wall of that building, but its not, I just have bad timing.



Again I should have taken better pictures coming back to the stables, but the walls were lined

with horses and camels who were finishing up for the day. The Giza Pyramids were about 2 miles away and I should have taken a picture of them as well, but since I was visiting them later in the week I didn't bother.

A bit of modern Egypt

I wanted to write a post on a couple of different activities that I thought were worthy of a combined post of things you might do in Albuquerque on a weekend lot of writing and not so many pictures but the good pictures will be coming. The other day after class I went to a mall in Cairo called City Stars. I must say the whole experience of traveling to and from the mall was worth a mention. I rode a cab. Now I bet your saying “WOW! A cab.” and I thought it was no big deal either since I’ve ridden a cab around my hotel and it was a pretty easy ride, but I should have known different when I got in the cab and the driver was counting a wad of cash. I soon put it together that that guy picks up a lot of people in a short day because he gets to his destination quick. City Stars is a good 30 min cab ride in traffic, but what I stepped in was not a cab, it was a roller coaster and for the cost of $6 dollars it was well worth the admission if you like those sort of things. The video I have down below is not very good evidence because I almost lost an arm putting the camera above the car, but you might be able to get a little idea. Long story short I made it safe and didn’t even have to use my barf bag, but I’m glad I didn’t eat lunch before that. The ride back was the same only in the dark. Don’t know if these guys are related but they had similar driving styles.

When I arrived at the mall I heard it was big but this thing was ridiculous. The picture below shows 7 stories and the top only having a few shops at the moment but each story was easily the size of Coronado with just as many shops as Coronado on each level. Each level had restaurants, one had a grocery store, and two had movie theatres. To give you an idea they had Fuddruckers, Macaroni Grill, TGIFridays, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, Sabraaro and that’s just a few of the recognizable ones.

The movie theatre showed both Arabic movies and American. I saw The Taking of Pelham 123, but the hard part was getting in. I paced a little back in forth looking for what movies might be showing and at what times. It was a guessing game since there were no times posted anywhere and there were so many posters, it was hard to tell what was playing and what was an add I went up to the ticket counter and the lady helped me, took my money and pointed to an electronic seating chart and asked me where I wanted to sit. I couldn’t really tell which seats where occupied to I pointed to one about halfway down by the Isle. Found my way into the side I needed to be in and handed the usher my ticket to be seated. Now already you can notice the differences between this and your typical American theatre, but there’s one last thing. So I was seated and not knowing which seats where occupied initially I was sat next to this guy and probably wouldn’t have made a difference but there were only about 8 other people in this huge theatre. During the movie more people showed and his girlfriend eventually showed about half way through so I didn’t feel so awkward sharing the arm rest with him. Now the movie was going good and started getting intense and all the sudden the lights turn on and the movie stops. At first I didn’t know what to expect but after looking at everyone’s reactions and not being pissed off, I put two and two together and realized this was intermission. The movie resumed and turned out to be a pretty good one so it was a fun experience in all. After lunch and dinner and a movie as well as some purchases I was on my home.

Now the other experience I had this past weekend was going out to a club/bar. It was kind of late and since I missed coordinated a trip to the Suez Canal with a couple of other students I decided I had nothing really planned for the weekend. I was in my room all day and hadn’t eaten so that also prompted me at 12am to explore the town. I went to the Hard Rock Café by the Hyatt thinking it would be safe and close to my hotel as well as have good food with not too outrageous prices. I was right about the first three, but as far as the outrageous prices it was up there. To give you an idea a gin cost $20, beer was around $5 which is not so bad, and a Double Jack was $32…Vegas eat your heart out. When I got there the place had crickets and I thought to myself that noise of disappointment like “waant waaant”, but being the trooper I am and the fact that I slept in my room most the day I was willing to go the distance. It was fun just people watching and seeing how people interact in a similar setting that we might have back home. People slowly rolled in and about 2am the place was rocking to Arabic house music. Hard to explain the noise I heard but it was a combination of voice, horns, I think I caught a few accordions and a beat machine all put together. Different to say the least, but the background sounded like 20 screaming cats with a beat and a voice on top but that’s most techno no matter where you’re at and you zone out the music any way once you’ve been there for 5 hours. The DJ did play a couple of American songs by the end of the night but the dance floor would clear out a bit since dancing styles differ drastically. It was definitely fun to people watch. I would watch the guys walk up to girls numerous times and drop a line and the girls would literally shove the guys away! I was thinking of something I could say to not get pushed away and then I remembered I don’t speak Arabic, but it was entertaining to be a spectator. So at 5:30am the lights kicked on which wasn’t my only hint since I could see the sky start to get lighter out the window, and I was on my way back to my hotel to catch some shut eye.

Hard Rock

Moving quick, sorry.

Some Car shots of the town to the mall.

A very small sliver of the malls stories. looks the same on all sides

and each side goes back and into different squares or sections. I wish

our mall was as good as one story of this place.

This clip isn't doing justice

This one either

Egypt…once upon a time.

I’m sure a lot of you are wondering when I’m going to actually post something somewhat interesting and not just more pictures of the Nile or talk about food, although both are important, today is your lucky day and the posts are only going to get better from here. Some things are not to be photographed because cameras are not allowed in the museum, but you know your boy, rules are made to be broken. Just kidding, I’m not a bad kid…thanks to mom and dad, but I know how to bend them although this time I didn’t know we weren’t suppose to take cameras in, because my guide was encouraging to take as many pictures as possible and I put my camera through security but I guess they missed it. The point was brought home though after I got kicked out of one of the exhibits for taking a picture of King Tut, but no harm done.

So, today after class I went to the museum with a couple people from school and a couple of the teachers/guides. First off, I will say that to walk through and see all of the ancient tombs, mummies, gold jewelry, furniture, sculptures, etc., is one of the all time best experiences in my life. I’ve always been fascinated with history and to be standing by some of those things was absolutely amazing and I highly recommend if given the opportunity go see it sometime. Also we were on the fence about paying another 60LE which is like $10 (damn I’ve gotten cheap) to go see the mummy exhibit of 24 past emperors, kings, queens, etc. but I am glad I did and if you ever find yourself in the same predicament whether or not to see the mummies or to buy a sandwich with that money, I think you know what I recommend. Shawermas (sandwiches) are good though. It was pretty surreal to be standing next to these people who lived about 4,000 years ago and that ruled one of the greatest ancient empires ever.

I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking because I can’t really do the experience justice with my writing and unfortunately my pictures aren’t that good, but it was an undercover operation.

I can't tell who is more stiff? I do know I'm more chiseled though.

The entrance...right after you dodge security with your camera

A large sculpure

This is a gold tomb

Solid granite minus the part where you put the cofin and boby in.

My arm was stretched over my head so it was about 5' 7" tall

Silver Cofin
Horus is the Gods name

My piece and chain (fancy word for necklace grandma) wait that's King Tut's

King Tut

More of Tut. He died doing the Macarena, arms crossed an all!

Tuts mask, and than I got kicked out

I see dead people.
Mummies

I knew I should have got out of the sun faster.

This is Ramses III i think

Ramses II

Nile Cruise

Once again it's me,

My first weekend night out and decided to hit the town. I wanted to go on a Nile cruise and do the touristy thing. Matt also wanted to go so our options were the Grand Hyatt or another questionable cruise my hotel was offering. Knowing what I know now I probably would have taken the risk and gone with my hotel, but we both opted for the $15 more Hyatt cruise due to the fact that the boat looked awesome and I knew the food would probably be safe to eat.
The cruise was a two our boat ride up the Nile in the heart of Cairo. It started at 830 and went until 10pm. We got there and found our seats and I felt kind of funny since we were the only same sex group in the whole boat. The ambience was definitely set to more of a romantic cruise, but that’s all right because the buffet was all I really cared about since I hadn’t had any healthy food in a couple of days and was scared to eat vegetables on the street, so this was definitely a good option. The food consisted of “world” cuisine. A little bit of this and a little of that but for the most part it was pretty good hotel food. After dinner we went up to the top deck and took some pictures of the city. Really pretty at night with a lot of lights from the city, other boats going by, and just to say you went on a dinner cruise on the Nile. After figuring out how to work my camera at night (still didn’t figure it out, see below for proof) and taking some snap shots of the city, the staff pulled us down below for the entertainment.

When I came back down into the dining hall I was welcomed by a belly dancer on stage. For as much as we paid you think the Hyatt could have done a little better, but again it was just the experience that was cool. It was however pretty funny to watch some of the guys look at the belly dancer in awe while their wives were all covered up in their veils next to them. So, after a couple dances, songs and changes of clothes, the two hours was up and he headed back to the hotel.

Pulled up to the Hyatt and said our goodbyes to the staff and paid our bill which wasn’t the initial 280LE pounds like I thought, but included a service fee (which every restaurant does), water and soda and came out to about 320LE which is still only about $60, so although expensive for Cairo not too much of a dent in my pocket book. After dinner my initial plan was to go to the Hard Rock, have a couple of adult beverages, but after a long day of walking the streets and a full stomach, I didn’t have the energy, so I’ll have to let you know on a later post about the real night life of Cairo.

Talk to you soon,
Mike

There is our Yaught! Half of it anyway.

Dusk

Just went under the bridge.

Pretty shot minus the guy on the left

What a show!

If you look directly in their eyes they will attack.

Americans!

Assalaam ulekum,

Being that I’m in class by myself I haven’t had much interaction with any of the other students but the other day a couple of them came into my class during a break and invited me to dinner. They were with a program of about 10 college students who had just finished a 6 week stint in Egypt so they were going to celebrate. It’s definitely nice to have some people to hang out with, talk to, and share experiences. So far I’ve hung out with a few of them a couple times and there definitely have helped me out with becoming more familiar with my surroundings. So big thanks to Shawn, Martina, Bryce, Vanessa, and Q for the hospitality. They’re leaving this Tuesday but it was fun while it lasted. I will say I am thankful for them showing me this website http://www.otlob.com/. It’s a food delivery site, click on it and go to Garden City Cairo to see what other American influences are out here.

The same day I met those students I met another guy by the name of Matt. Matt showed me a place to grab a good authentic meal and the next night we went on a cruise down the Nile (more on that in the next post). Matt left the other day and just finished up a month out here, but he was a cool guy to talk to and again shared some “ah he’s” and “what not to do’s” while here in Cairo.

I’ve also met a couple of other guys through Matt and now that I started another class today I am with someone that just started the program and we are doing 101 together. All cool guys and willing to explore Egypt with me. Just wanted to post something quick about my new American friends and with a combination of Facebook, email, and phone, I haven’t been completely isolated. So until next time…

Take care,
Mike


Hyatt Regency, wish I was staying here.
Just walking around town.



Four Seasons Hotel...Very nice





Matt posing

An everyday kind of day

Hello again,

It’s been a couple days since my last post so there is definitely some info I wanted to share with you all. I wanted to write about an average day for me in Cairo if there is such a thing. So far during the week has been pretty consistent, with this weekend being a little different. First off I have been starting off the day by waking up around 630 and going on a run down by the Nile (about 4 blocks from my hotel). It’s really nice in the mornings here being about 70 degrees and overcast most mornings, it makes running not to bad and since gym memberships are exclusive and expensive and haven’t seen any basketball courts yet, running is one of my only options.
After my run I get back to the hotel and get ready for school. The hotel provides breakfast buffet every morning and even though it’s the same every day it’s pretty good and healthy. The first day I tried a little of everything to see what was good and they don’t have a whole lot of options but those options consist of tea or coffee, orange juice and or milk to drink. The food spread is corn flakes(cocoa crispies), hard boiled eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes, Tamaya (falafels), pita bread, French rolls, couple different cheeses, jelly and fool ( a lot like refried beans). I try to mix it up a little every day, but usually find myself making a Tamaya sandwich with pita, cucumber, tomato, cheese and I get a hardboiled egg, coffee and OJ.

I already wrote about school, but that takes up four hours every day from 9 to 12. I will give an update though. I have finished Arabic 100 and start 101 on Sunday. After school I usually go and grab lunch. I’ve eaten at different places everyday and they are all very good. Some are just little places open to the street and don’t look very clean but are almost like your street vendor cars you might see in ABQ or anywhere else just with a little place to sit. Everything I’ve had is really good and depending on where you go you can get a good meal that anywhere from a $1 to $10.

After my lunch I usually go back to the room and take a little nap, do some home work, or mess around on the computer. I usually get back to the hotel around 3pm because I walk around town to get to a new lunch place. I try to go in a different direction everyday to see whats all is out there. This has been my average day on the weekdays, but each day I usually meet someone new or travel to a different part of the city so it has been getting a little more adventuresome as each day goes by.

Till next time,
Mike


Tahrir Square


Walking into Tahrir Square



The Nile



The Rio Grande, just kidding the Nile again.




Walking the streets of cairo







She is carrying a baby!






Frogger anyone? View From my window.