3.18.2012

Cairo graffiti


Circumambulating the streets of Cairo was a visual treat. All of what you see here is from Zamalek neighborhood. This is the neighborhood I stayed in. It is on an island in the middle of the Nile and quite close to downtown and Tahrir Meydani (Square), where the protests continued to take place on a daily basis. The newest round of protests occurred because of an event that I was in town for. There was a futbol match in Port Said against Zamalek- the local Cairo team. That night is now termed, The Port Said Massacre where the Port Said fans attacked the visiting Zamalek fans. I believe 44 people were killed that evening as the people broke out onto the field moments after the game was over and stormed the field with a vengeance. 
So, as the story goes, I had just gotten into Cairo after a very relaxing week down in Sinai on the beach camping out, etc. I was in a taxi cab at 1 am heading into Zamalek and we passed the train station where all the players and dead bodies were returning on the train from Port Said- up on the Mediterranean Coast.
It was a terrible tragedy and re-sparked the revolutionary spirit that has swept across the MENA region since the original 'Jasmine Revolution' commenced in my beloved Tunisia. 
So, the next few days in Cairo were a bit of a mess. People everywhere were flooding into Tahrir and the strength of the revolutionary spirit of the people compounded into outright rage at what was allowed to happen that evening (It is said that the police did nothing as the people flooded the futbol field, and even that they let it happen. It is also said that it was planned & that the government and military forces planned this as a way to scare the citizens into wanting the current military powers to stay in power). 
So, below is just a taste of the spirit of Cairo graffiti. Enjoy!

























That's all folks...

Egypt Odyssey: Giza & the Nile River Valley heading south baby...


So... the journey continued on. Azadeh & I met up again after leaving Nuweiba. I traveled northwest heading up to Cairo, and A went deeper into the Sinai to hang for a few days. We met back up in Cairo. The next few days we traveled to Giza and south along the Nile River to check out the pyramids. My first impressions: Giza sucked. Going deeper south, towards Luxur, is where it's at. Saqqara was excellent and felt remote. 
read da sign

in da big guys tomb

prehistoric graffitti

sunburst to set the mood

it's a long walk so we invested in alternate forms of travel in order to save ourselves for what would lie ahead...

Roar!

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Der Sphinx 

trotting around Giza

we were fortunate enough to realize to get da hell outta there & head south. Giza was exhausting. Hawkers everywhere detracting from the experience. Begging you to let them take you around. Peeps saying they worked for the govt. & were archaeologists- hah! Men telling you they want to marry you... exhausting & annoying...

this stretch of road was spectacular w/village upon village dotting the roadside



the day was beautiful & sunny & warm!

nearing Saqqara

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lots of carpet factories in the middle of the country along the Nile River Valley

some oases too

the famous Saqqara step pyramid. Saqqara was an ancient burial ground. It was the necropolis for  Memphis. This is the step pyramid of Djoser- from the 3rd Dynasty.

there are various stages of preservation going on at Saqqara
cutie-pie, or beast of burden- whichever you prefer...

this was a fantastic view

there wasn't many people at Saqqara. I don't know if it was just an off day as it was in the middle of the week, or if it is just not as popular as Giza. At any rate, it was way more fantastic than Giza

yep

even the camel renters were very relaxed & just chatting with us & not even caring that we didn't want to ride a camel. They were so polite. They couldn't believe that an Iranian woman and an American women were traveling not only alone together, but were even friends. They were all amused by this and kept complimenting us in this respect. It was odd because it happened the entire time we were traveling together. We were speaking Farsi, Turkish, Arabic & English so it was quite an amusing time getting our ideas across to one another & somehow we managed to every time.

nap time until show time...

these serpent details were cool

driving was... a thrill to say the least

really enjoyed the scenery of the interior

time seems to stand still out here. Worlds away from Cairo- which is quite close at this point

peek-a-boo

some of the scenery reminded me a bit of Tunis in the outskirts- just a bit

pits stop

what you don't see is the front of the picture w/bot on their cell phones chatting away! 

well irrigated fields just outside of Cairo