Cairo in a Nutshell

Day 101
We will probably not be posting again for a little while, so if this post is still on top in a couple of days, scroll down and check to see the other ones! This is the third in three days...

I've been saving our post about Cairo for a couple of weeks, because we always seem to notice new and different things. We've stayed here a total of 12 nights, but more days because that doesn't taken into account night buses and trains. Now we are leaving for India, so it is time to share a bit about our experience here (aside from the greatness of staying with our friends).

Morgan has compiled a Cairo list of... observations/themes/memories. Check it out:

• Boys riding bikes with huge crates of pita on their head
• Buses bursting with people

• Babies wrapped in full-sized blankets
• Confidently crossing the street one lane at a time
• Meat hanging in the street
• Lazy mornings at Cilantro reading the New York Times

• Waiting for white checkered taxis and insisting on the meter
• Getting piles of small change at HSBC
• Men sitting in plastic chairs on the sidewalk
• Sampling streetside bakeries

• Cars concluding that repeated honking of their horn is an acceptable alternative to having lights on at night (we've had some close calls with this one)
• Watering the dirt to keep down dust
• Squeegies everywhere
• Headaches and stuffy noses from smog
• Rare glimpses of the Nile that aren't filled with trash

My personal favorite experience was walking through Khan al-Khalili, the Islamic district of town. We got off the beaten track and wound our way through the old backstreets to al-Azhar Park, a beautiful community place located on top of what was formally a garbage dump, and watched the day fade away over the whole city. It was our first day in Cairo, and a wonderful introduction to the laid back approach we were to take for the following two and a half weeks.

Thanks for continuing to follow our travels. It means a lot to us that people at home care to hear what's happening. We have a lot of pictures on flickr that don't make the cut to the blog, so check out our flickr site by clicking on any of the pictures here. See you in India!