Visiting Cairo
[youtuber vimeo=’https://vimeo.com/55546554′]
As soon as we’d finished our visit to The Pyramids we boarded our mini-bus for the journey to downtown Cairo and Tahir Sqaure and the Egyptian Museum.
We’ve been to Cairo on a number of occasions but hsd never had the opportunity to visit the Egyptian Museum even though we’ve sent countless Nile cruise clients so we were really looking forward to it. Of course, Tahir Square is now famous throughout the world as the main centre of activity as the Egyptian Revolution unfolded.
If you’ve never driven through Cairo then you are in for a treat when you finally do so. Emad, our guide, told us the the only traffic regulation you need to know in Cairo is that there are no regulations. It’s every man and woman, donkey, camel, motorcycle, moped, bicycle and pedestrian for themselves. Believe me that’s’ so true.
Traffic was bumper to bumper all the way with vehicles, cyclists, cart drivers, animals and pedestrians changing lands, crossing backwards and forwards and essentially “doing their own thing” all the way. How people actually ever get to their destinations on time is beyond me.
One minute your next to a family saloon completely packed to the gills with passengers, the next minute your being overtaken by a moped carrying father mother and up to three small children. Crazy but very entertaining.
We took about 40 minutes from the Pyramids complex to get to the outer part of the centre of Cairo (hope that makes sense) and then we really were crawling along bumper to bumper. However that gave us a great opportunity to look around and get a feel for downtown Cairo and for how busy it is.
There are people everywhere all going about their business. In all modes of dress. From traditional Egyptian clothing for both men and women to the heights of western fashion and all sorts of fashions in between. Its’ a really cosmopolitan city, really vibrant and exciting. We loved it.
As we got nearer to the centre Emad pointed out the signs to Tahir Square, where we were headed. It was strange to think we were going to be driving through a location that was so prominent on television and the media just eighteen months before.
In places we were driving parallel to the Nile and could see the other side of the city on the other bank. Emad told us that some of the most expensive properties in Cairo lay on the other side of the river and was home to many embassies and other foreign properties. On both sides of the river we could see a mix of brand new sky-scrapers, sparkling office buildings and traditional Egyptian buildings with all sort of influences architecturally.
As we drove into Tahir Square Emad pointed out the graffiti that had been created that was a tribute to those demonstrators who had tragically died during the Revolution and it was hard to compare this vibrant, lively, bustling square with the images we’d seen just 18 months before.
Across the square Emad pointed out the Egyptian Museum building and also the apartments and offices that surround the square where the television and media companies from around the world had rented apartments so they could broadcast overlooking the Revolution as it took place.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you more about Tahir Square and our visit to the Egyptian Museum. In the meantime I hope you enjoy the short video footage I took with y iPhone5 as we drove towards Tahir Square.
