Cairo was full of impressive architecture, impressive amounts of trash and impressive hustling.
Impressive architecture. The Pyramids of Giza and The Great Sphinx were both on my "wish list" of things to see in my lifetime. I feel like every history museum in the United States, or even around the World contains some exhibit on Egyptian history. The episodes on National Geographic or even the photos do not adequately prepare you for the massive size. Walking through the tunnels inside takes you back to a previous time. How were they able to create such massive creations? How did they accurately plan the placement of each block in order to create tunnels within? Were they only 3 feet tall, these tunnels are tiny?!?! Photos from Ryan's phone will help you to understand the "difficulty" we had maneuvering.
Impressive amounts of trash. Impressive is not the correct term, I simply used it to go with the "impressive" theme. The amounts of trash around Cairo were like nothing I have ever seen before. Underpasses were piled high with trash, river embankments were piled with trash, any spare area of grass was piled with trash. Our tour guide did not try to hide the fact that they have a trash problem. I did not take pictures of the trash because I did not want to remember Cairo because of its trash, but rather its history. But consider yourself warned, if you ever travel to Cairo, you will be met with unimaginable amounts of trash.
Impressive hustling. This is a true downside to Cairo. For an area with such incredible history, it is discouraging to have such aggressive hustlers. Ryan and I have been fortunate to travel to many areas of the world this year. Each area we travelled to had a certain pride in their country, their history and their tourism. Cairo is not included. We felt that locals did not take pride in the Pyramids but rather used them to exploit tourists. Each step was met with a new hustler trying to get us to buy something. Or each time we showed interest in a certain item, the desire to get as much money out of us as possible was overwhelming. The hustlers did not hinder my enjoyment of the Pyramids, but they did make for a slightly less relaxing experience.
My photo album for Cairo focuses on the impressive architecture with no trash or hustlers representation.
Welcome to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
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