Cairo, the happiest saddest place.

Nils had a four day weekend for May Day, and we thought to ourselves, "Let's go somewhere!". Nils suggested Cairo and I jumped at the chance. Tickets were cheap, and due to the revolution induced fear of traveling in Egypt, we could easily book rooms and pop down to the pyramids to take a gander without much advance booking. I read a few articles (NY Times "What to do in Cairo" and Trip Advisor), and bought a travel wallet that hides under your belt, and we were off and running.  On the plane, we were fighting over the window seat, which I haven't done in about 25 years. Here is Cairo from the air.

Cairo is completely built in the desert. The whole city is brown, with a layer of dust settling over the plants, the buildings, the cars. Nothing looks new. In the taxi on the way to our hotel, it started to sink in. Cairo is a chaotic, destroyed city. It is the largest city in Africa (differing estimates 17-22 million), and it has no traffic lanes, no traffic lights, and no crosswalks. Large brick apartment buildings are half built all over the city. An earthquake in 1992 destroyed buildings that still lay in heaps. It is common to see men and women walking along side traffic moving at 60-80 mph because there are no sidewalks, or the sidewalks start and then just stop. This was one of the more peaceful encounters we had after a day out at the pyramids. Goats.

Drivers honk constantly to warn each other and pedestrians, which only makes up a small part of the constant noise emanating from the city. Our first night out we went to a strange and empty restaurant on a boat, and then walked over the bridge towards Tahrir Square to investigate the loud vibrational tones coming across the Nile. What we found were not demonstrators, we found people dancing on boats decorated with amazing flashing colorful lights. Women in head scarves were the most intriguing ones to watch, mostly because the modest dress did nothing to curb their ability to keep it movin' on the dance floor. Here are the party boats along the Nile.

Speaking of head scarves. Nils burst out laughing when I tried to cover my head with a black scarf walking around after dinner. They are used to seeing tourists, but we were getting a lot of attention. During our trip, we posed with several groups of young people who wanted to take a picture with us. Most of them spoke no English, so we have no idea what they plan to do with with pictures, but it was funny so I started to take pictures of them taking pictures of us.

Many women are covered entirely from head to toe in black. And it is damn hot in Cairo. I have no idea what it feels like to be this devout, but women are known to sacrifice comfort for all types of worship, Allah being one, Valentino being another, and the list goes on. This particular woman was walking as fast as we were with her daily purchase atop her head. I know that people are capable of this, but seeing it in real life is really impressive.

The most incredible thing to me about Cairo, was no matter how many of the problems you can point to, the people appear so happy. The Egyptians were very quick with a smile, and to welcome us. You can hear young people on the streets laughing and talking for hours and hours every night. Men and women sit by the Nile aside loud honking traffic and pollution on little plastic chairs talking...and talking...and talking. Men walk arm in arm with each other, playfully as if they are all siblings. Women seem so close, often you can't tell who is the mother of which children because they all seem to be taking care of all the children.

This optimism comes across when they talked to us about their upcoming election. The pride in our pyramid guides voice when he talked about the chance to vote brought me to tears, thank god I had my sunglasses on or he would have thought I was nuts. One man sitting at the entrance to the alabaster mosque asked if I had a "comment" on the revolution. I replied, "I'm so proud of you, I'm so proud of Egypt, everyone is". He smiled and said, "Obama" and made a thumbs up sign. I replied in kind, and made a little prayer of my own that the future leadership of Egypt is worthy of it's people.

Here are a few more pictures I liked. The pyramids of Giza, a door and some flowers at the Cairo Opera house, some women fishing in the Nile, and some of the local fare. That's it for now!