Cairo

Well it is a bit hard to write about Cairo in a totally positive way, to be honest.

It has those 'bucket list' attractions that are totally worth it, but this is not a place you visit for any other reason. You get more enjoyable exposure to the people, food and culture of the Middle East in Jordan, Turkey and Luxor.

Filthy due to the constant blowing in of sand of course, plus the literal crumbling of the buildings into gravel, but garbage everywhere. Because there isn't municipal collection, they just throw their household garbage in ditches and the shoulders of the road where it decays and is scavenged by packs of dogs and cats. And of course, in a city this size, smog is quite bad.

The difficult thing as a traveler is getting around the city. Cairo is vast and the places you want to visit spread out. People get around using this wild system of casual services. Absolute SWARMS of buses, vans, micro vans and Tuk tuks roam the streets. These do not follow any routes or schedule. You just stand at unmarked spots on the street and as the vans go by you make hand signals. For example if you are going to the ring road, make a circle motion with your finger. The driver will decide if he will be passing that way and pick you up. Tuk tuks you can flag down and as long as your life insurance is paid up and you sign a waiver of liability, you're good to go but it really is terrifying in that traffic. These people have taken Jordanian crazy to a whole new level. Take coaches, trucks, the aforementioned mini buses, cars, motorcycles, these weird tricycle pickup things, tuk tuks going in all directions and I kid you not - donkey carts all mixed together on all roads of every size and speed limit. Too stressful.

Finally, as a tourist you are just a mark. I don't like, but can tolerate the pushy vendors absolutely everywhere near the attractions. However it's not nice being scammed at every turn. They tried to shortchange me in the first and every store and restaurant I went from. And scams at every turn. One guy with a horse stops me at the top of the hill and says the site is closed to pedestrians and you are only allowed to go further on horse or camel! The most disturbing is the police. They are just corrupt. First time was at a remote corner of the Pyramid (I was actually the only tourist in sight) where a cop is stationed to prevent climbing. I had stopped to take a pic and he asks if I would like to climb up to get a better shot. I had heard of this scam where he would then "fine" you. I declined and he then offered a cigarette while standing under a "No Smoking" sign. At the Djoser site, a cop with a machine gun suddenly starts waving me over. I went to him and he then showed me some cartouche carvings. I said nice, took a picture and when I went to leave he holds out his hand and says 'baksheesh". I liked the find so gave him 5 LE. Next time near the Coptic district this cop is randomly stopping tourists on a side street and scanning them with a wand. I move on after and he calls me back. He points to a side alley and goes in. I tend to obey cops with machine guns so I follow. He points a a small wall and says Old Fortress. As if I didn't know. I said yes nice to know and start to walk away. He stops me with a hand on my chest and says 100 pounds. I said "I don't think so" and walked around him. He just let me go. Finally today at the airport, the guard at the x-ray screening stops me and goes through my carryon and confiscated my nail clipper because of the tiny fold out nail file. Huh? He then points at my camera bag and asks "camera?" I said yes and he says "no camera " He was going to shake me down so I picked up my bag and walked away. He shouted but I ignored him and got away.

PS. Connection through Cairo coming home. Don't need to get into details but they mess this place up with a "you can't get there from here" setup. For example there are no stairs from departures to arrivals you have to go outdoors. Then you are not allowed in anyway. The icing on the cake is extreme 'baksheesh'. So going through the security X-ray, there is a shortage of bins. I finally see one. I reach for it but a guy grabs it and puts it on the conveyor and gestures me to put my stuff in. I do so and he then holds out his hand and asks for baksheesh. I literally said "No way you provided me no service" .He starts to take my bin off the line and I had to wrestle it from his grip. All this in sight of the uniformed police. This is the International terminal. What a great image to the visitors of this country.

Oct 29 was a travel day, seeing the city from a car and just a walk up the block for a meal came to 7,410 steps
Oct 30 was the "Day of the Pyramids" at Giza then Djoser was walking around in the desert landscape for a total of 19,054 steps
Oct 31 was all museums that still came to 14,402 steps
Nov 1 I just did the one museum and walked around Cairo airport as my Uber took me to the wrong terminal in order to eke out 9,619 steps.Læs mere