Irene writes:
The drive to and from some of our "tourist" venues gives us much insight into the culture of C
airo (Egypt). Downtown is congested with people dodging traffic, cars dodging people and bicycles and scooters....it's a zoo! We follow a branch of the Nile. This street is beautiful with palm trees, gorgeous hotels and restaraunts on s
hore and on the river. Everything is decorated with strings of lights. Benches line the Nile where couples sit to enjoy a romantic evening....we see alot of young couples holding hands and embracing...in a largely Muslim setting this seems unusual to us. The Egyptians are surprising us with how "western" they are. The women and young girls are wearing head coverings but you should see how beautiful they are. The scarf (head covering) is the only evidence of their culture, the rest of the outfit is just like home....jeans, calf length pants with boots, stylish shoes etc. In one shop the sales girls are all wearing their colourful head coverings but have a baseball cap (with the store name on it) on as well. 
(Stay posted for pictures...don't have access to my camera on this computer in Tamale).
Our tour guide gives us information overload on all the facts and figures of the old, middle and new kingdoms...everything from Rames to Cheops to Kartouches to the mummification process. Neven tells us that she had to go to school for 4 years to learn everything she knows about the Egyptian history. She really knows her stuff! What we are left with is the sense of how self absorbed these rulers were. They put so much effort into trying to keep themselves preserved for the afterlife that there is very little found about how the people actually lived. The pyramids were built as tombs, but the workers only worked on them for 3 months of the year when they were not working on their crops. To see the size of these "tombs" and the manpower needed to build them leaves us shaking our heads. The trip to the museum gives us even more insight into this history when we visit King Tutankamen's treasure. King Tut did not reign very long and was only 18 when he died but he is the most famous becuaes his "tomb' was notfound and looted until very late. This display is quite magnificent ...everything is gilded with gold. It's amazing how man hs been able to decipher the hieroglyphics and discover how life was back then. The trip to the bazaar is disappointing...each shop is trying to sell you the same thing...and it's all pretty "kichy". We find very little of interest.
We finish our tour of Cairo by ordering pizza from Pizza Hut, spending some time on the computer and trying to sleep as we need to catch a 3:45 a.m. flight. After all is said and done this has been an amazing stop!
The drive to and from some of our "tourist" venues gives us much insight into the culture of C
airo (Egypt). Downtown is congested with people dodging traffic, cars dodging people and bicycles and scooters....it's a zoo! We follow a branch of the Nile. This street is beautiful with palm trees, gorgeous hotels and restaraunts on s
hore and on the river. Everything is decorated with strings of lights. Benches line the Nile where couples sit to enjoy a romantic evening....we see alot of young couples holding hands and embracing...in a largely Muslim setting this seems unusual to us. The Egyptians are surprising us with how "western" they are. The women and young girls are wearing head coverings but you should see how beautiful they are. The scarf (head covering) is the only evidence of their culture, the rest of the outfit is just like home....jeans, calf length pants with boots, stylish shoes etc. In one shop the sales girls are all wearing their colourful head coverings but have a baseball cap (with the store name on it) on as well. 
(Stay posted for pictures...don't have access to my camera on this computer in Tamale).Our tour guide gives us information overload on all the facts and figures of the old, middle and new kingdoms...everything from Rames to Cheops to Kartouches to the mummification process. Neven tells us that she had to go to school for 4 years to learn everything she knows about the Egyptian history. She really knows her stuff! What we are left with is the sense of how self absorbed these rulers were. They put so much effort into trying to keep themselves preserved for the afterlife that there is very little found about how the people actually lived. The pyramids were built as tombs, but the workers only worked on them for 3 months of the year when they were not working on their crops. To see the size of these "tombs" and the manpower needed to build them leaves us shaking our heads. The trip to the museum gives us even more insight into this history when we visit King Tutankamen's treasure. King Tut did not reign very long and was only 18 when he died but he is the most famous becuaes his "tomb' was notfound and looted until very late. This display is quite magnificent ...everything is gilded with gold. It's amazing how man hs been able to decipher the hieroglyphics and discover how life was back then. The trip to the bazaar is disappointing...each shop is trying to sell you the same thing...and it's all pretty "kichy". We find very little of interest.
We finish our tour of Cairo by ordering pizza from Pizza Hut, spending some time on the computer and trying to sleep as we need to catch a 3:45 a.m. flight. After all is said and done this has been an amazing stop!
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