I arrived in Cairo from Doha in the evening, and Cairo was a bit chilly and windy. As I stepped out of my plane after clearing immigration, I pulled some Egyptian Pounds from the local ATM as I knew I would need some cash to pay the taxi driver. As luck would have it, I was met at the airport by a local Egyptian tour operator, with whom I sat down and planned my entire itinerary for the three weeks I would be spending in the country. The whole three-weak plan would cost me three thousand dollars, including the pyramids, the ride across the Nile, and trips to the south of Egypt and the Red Sea.
This time, my hotel was a very modest one called the Horus Pyramid View and was a distinct departure from the ultra-luxurious five-star hotel I was staying in in Doha, Qatar. Egypt and its capital, Cairo, were stark departures from the opulence and luxury of Doha. Egypt is an ancient civilization. Cairo is a third-world city, and the streets are dusty and dirty with open sewage canals, shabby shops, and an old, worn-out transport system. It reminded me of a C-grade Indian city, the ones you see in the interiors of Bihar or Eastern UP. People drive auto rickshaws and move around on donkeys, horse carts, camels, and even bullock carts, just like in villages in India. That way, Egypt reminded me a lot of India. The roads are dirty, and garbage is all over the streets. The city has old Cafes and Kirana shops like the ones in India.
Men here wear long woolen Kaftans with traditional headgear; most sit ideally smoking Hook-a or Shish-a outside their shops.
My tour guide was an elderly gentleman called Abdul Latif, aged sixty-four; he landed at my hotel at nine in the morning with a car and a driver. I still suffered from a cold and cough caught during my travels in Doha, so our first stop was the pharmacy. I managed to grab some antibiotics and Hall’s, which I popped immediately to ease my fever and soothe my aching throat. Our next stop was the Akhenaton Carpet School, where I saw how intricately skilled artisans weaved Egyptian carpets. Egypt is a large exporter of carpets, dates, and coffee. I bought the same rug for myself, and then we ventured into a perfume shop selling exotic oils. The shop owner, a plump and fair lady named Saba, gave me a taste of the perfumes. She would rub some on my hand and some on my forehead, explaining what each perfume did for my skin and body. “ You see, sir, this one will open up all your chakras in the head, and this one will improve your sex life .” Saba went on to show me the magic of her oils, and I duly bought a pack of six perfumes.
As in Jordon, my best trick to get friendly with the people of Egypt was to show them my YouTube videos of my acting with Shah Rukh Khan. Everyone knows him in Cairo, and people also love Amitabh Bachchan in this part of the world .” Wow! You acted with Shah Rukh Khan. That is great; I thought I had seen you somewhere .” Saba said excitedly as I showed her more videos of my acting in commercials and other ads.
Our next stop was a shop selling paintings and old artifacts, which included large images of the Sphinx and Egyptian Mummies. The shop owner took me to a room, and then she shut the lights. All the paintings started to glow in the dark like strobe lights in a disco room. I managed to take some pictures, which you can see in this blog.
Lunch was a buffet full of rice, vegetables, mutton kabab, and exotic ice cream. I maxed out doing some food blogging to get a flavor of traditional Egyptian cuisine. After photographing a conventional mosque, we ventured into the Saqqara archeological site to get the first glimpse of the mighty pyramids of Egypt.
Saqqara archeological site
It contains the oldest stone building complex in Egypt. It includes the famous step pyramids built by Emperor King Djoser. It is almost 4700 years old and was said to have been made in the 27th century BC. It is the oldest stone structure of its size in the world. It also contains the Buried Pyramids, known as the Lost Pyramids, which were built in 2645 BC. Djoser was the first or the second king of the third dynasty; he was believed to have ruled for over nineteen years.
