orange
I arrived in Egypt a bit tired after all my misadventures in Greece. I bought a sim card called Orange and took an Uber to where my Couchsurfing host in Cairo, Khalid, was.
On the way, seeing Egypt was surreal, even the thought that I was there was unreal.
It was quite sandy, and the Arabic architecture was apparent. It seemed like a very old city with nothing much changing despite all the time that had passed.
A bit dirty too but who am I to judge?
I arrived at the place and had a walk around, asking people for direction, a school even.
However, Khalid was hangover from partying last night and I had to wait a long time outside his place, thankfully I had internet from the sim.
I was coming up with a fever.
Khalid finally came and brought me inside, it was a shabby place but I had the entire place for my self. He gave me the keys and that was it. Pretty crazy deal if you ask me.
Water was filtered and I was staying inside a child’s room. The walls were painted with fancy cartoon characters and there was a single fan.
I was quite sick so I decided to stay in for today, I also had to go get something to eat but nothing was open even though it was lunch time, they were opening very late around 2pm apparently.
I made friends with the local restaurant and took out some chicken, ate what I could and just slept in the whole day.
the scams of cairo
I woke up and got ready for the day ahead, I took an Uber to the Giza Necropolis to see the pyramids, I bought a ticket and tried to present my old student ID which was quite successful in Athens but this time, not so much.
Seeing the pyramids in person after seeing them so much as a child left me awestruck.
They were huge (that’s an understatement), and just nothing short of amazing.
I was walking around the perimeter until somebody called my attention, I had thought I was in a place that I wasn’t supposed to and he started telling me that he was a government official and showed me his ID and invited me for a “free” tour.
I already had my doubts but since he said it was free, off I went. Being the naive backpacker I was back then, you probably already know where this is going.
He did take me to a variety of places, I got to go inside one of the pyramids and saw the Khufu ship, and there were lots of interesting ruins as well.
Now, there were camels and he said I could ride them but I didn’t want to because I knew it wasn’t going to be free but he insisted it was part of the tour. As I got on it, he took a photo of me and asked me for 300 Egyptian pounds and there was no way I was going to pay that, so we argued until he settled for 50 pounds and I walked away while he hurled some curses at me.
Still, the photos were pretty good.
I went to find the Sphinx as well, being approached my a lot of other people but now that I’ve learned my lesson, I just chose to ignore them all.
I also visited the Egyptian museum after.
I tried taking public transportation but ended up getting lost so I took an Uber motorbike instead.
It was amazing really, all those artifacts, mummies and ruins but I was getting more sick by the minute, so I did a speed run instead and went straight home to rest.
I had the same food from last night even though it was without refrigeration, nasty I know, I’m sure it was super unhealthy but I was just trying to survive at that point.
That night, I started to get a sore throat and a fever.
visiting dashur
Even feeling a bit off, I was still determined to go out and do something today.
I ate the same leftovers from yesterday which I’m surprised still hadn’t spoiled. I was too weak and to hungry to wait for the restaurants to open late afternoon. Forgive my idiocy.
First, I had to exchange some cash, so I searched and booked an Uber and had my first experience in an Egyptian bank.
They offered me cigarettes but I declined. Good service though.
I got my cash and off I went with my driver for the day, he took me to Dashur as I requested, he was surprised to find out that there were pyramids there.
The journey to Dashur was interesting, I got to see outside Cairo. It’s sad to say life outside seemed to be much more impoverished, even the donkeys seemed malnourished.
It was harrowing to see this part of Egypt but also necessary.
We arrived at the Unesco World Heritage Site and it was a pleasant surprise to see it was empty, I had the entire desert and pyramids to myself. I started with the Red Pyramid, and encountered a French couple inside who apparently hired a full day driver.
Uber was definitely a much cheaper alternative.
My next stop was the Bent Pyramid, I totally Indiana Jones’d that place, it was really fun and even a bit scary to be inside the dark and narrow labyrinth all by my lonesome.
I found myself to be out of breath quite fast, I wanted to continue on to Saqqara but my body wouldn’t let me, so I told the driver to head back and stop by McDonald’s. I got my food and we went our separate ways.
a night out
I was quite lucky that there was a pharmacy next to my place, medicine was cheap and I got some antibiotics, throat medicine and strepsils as well as hydration medicine which really saved my life.
I was chilling until night when Khalid invited me if I wanted to go out with him and a girl from Tunisia.
Of course, I said yes.
Riding the Egyptian metro was an interesting experience.
Being outside at night in Cairo was a whole ‘nother experience, the city seemed to come alive as the temperatures started to go down.
Egyptian lifestyle is quite different with many shops operating until late AM and opening in early PM.
The place Khalid took us to was amazing, I don’t know how to describe it but it was like an Arabic teahouse except without the tables, we sit on mats with drinks while music plays.
It was a good vibe, Chai’ma, the girl from Tunisia showed us a couple of dances and Khalid also joined in. I sang for them a Japanese song while they also had their fun singing Arabic music.
My cough really started to get worse throughout the night and the tea really helped. As the night went on, I found that Khalid was obviously into Chai’ma, he was flirting with her a lot and she was into it too but in the end it didn’t work out.
We all went back using an Uber and yet, Cairo seemed to just be getting started with the day.
surviving egypt
I was way out of it, my body’s too weak, dehydrated with a sore throat and cough, feverish.
Really one of the other rockbottom days I had in this trip, I had to go out and get the usual food from that restaurant, at least it had huge servings for cheap.
The guy there already started calling me habibi as I was already there for the third time.
I dedicated this whole day to just rest and recuperate, taking all my medicine at the right time and drinking a lot of water. Showering and just resting on the bed, already wet with my sweat from the hot summer nights and fever.
A difficult day,I was very lonely. Alone and sick in a foreign country, I had my doubts and also had to start planning my next steps, I was jumping from either Hurghada or continuing onto Aswan, I had hosts who were ready to take me in.
The Egyptian couchsurfing community was tight-knit and everyone pretty much knew each other and had their own group chat. I ended up cancelling Aswan as I already lost a few days just being sick in Cairo. Also backed out of Hurghada scuba diving with Luka.
I decided to go for Luxor and Alexandria instead.
preparations
Khalid said he would come with me to the train station as I had to buy my tickets to Luxor.
He wasn’t there with me as he overslept so I had to go at it alone.
It was chaotic, people were just cutting in line and even while I was already talking to the clerk, people would just butt in constantly, I couldn’t believe it.
The clerk was really nice though but I was told that the trains are for Egyptians only and I had to purchase the luxury ones for foreigners and they were very expensive. I was quite lost as I really needed to get to Luxor.
Luckily, I was in contact with my friend Nuri on Couchsurfing. We had never met before but she pointed me out to the night bus. Go Bus it was called, she really saved my life and a lot of time.
I was able to go back home and book it and waited until night time. Khalid and his friends came by and had some tea, I almost lost the keys and had him worried but I found it and gave it back and said our good byes.
Brother he called me.
I waited for a long time in the bus stop, I met three guys as well who helped me look for the actual bus terminal. A guy took my things and placed it in the bus and asked for baksheesh, a tipping culture that’s quite prevalent here in Egypt.
The only solace I had was that the overnight bus had really comfortable seats and it was air-conditioned. I slept-well and woke up the next day on the roads to Luxor.
