Day 13: Cairo (January 20, 2011)

Today was another touristy day, I went to the Egyptian Museum and walked around the city a bit.  I'll start with the museum:  It's entirely dedicated to ancient egyptian art, dating from around 4000 BC to about 400 AD. 

The highlight is King Tut's mask, sarcophogi, and other objects found in his tomb, but the museum is littered with other ancient objects that are equally cool: tombs, building facades, household goods, and thousands of objects created solely to accompany the dead on their journey after mummification.  Speaking of mummies, did you know the ancient egyptians mummified animals?  All kinds: pets, livestock, those they worshipped.  Crocodiles, cats, dogs, bulls, snakes... everything.  And they made little coffins about the size of a human hand for scarab beetles.  And yes, the museum had a bunch of mummies too, human and animal.

My initial impression of Cairo was that it was really cool, and that was reinforced today while walking around.  The city reminds me of New York or maybe Paris, but the people walk a lot slower and the drivers honk their horns a lot more.  Oh, and there don't appear to be any rules on the road at all.  I saw some stoplights, but people didn't heed them.  And if there are three painted lanes on the road, rest assured the cars will be at least four across.  The only thing that made me nervous in Cairo was crossing the street, and it was terrifying.  In my taxi rides around town and during my walk, I expected to see accidents everywhere, but I guess egyptians are used to it.

With this stop I actively wish I'd decided to stay longer in Egypt.  I'd considered coming for 7-10 days originally, then let myself be talked out of it by a friend/acquiantance in DC (/shakes fist at Moh/) and now I wish I hadn't.  The people are somewhere between friendly and gently gruff, and other than the hawkers at the pyramids, I've had no problems with them.  Most people speak at least a little english, and it's a modern city so there is a lot to see and do.  The upside is, I now have a place I know I'd like to return in the future!

One reason I like it here is I'm staying at the second coolest place ever, after the convent in York, England. No, this place might even top that! The Windsor Hotel is one of those british-influenced buildings built around the turn of the 20th Century. A plaque on a wall here talks about its "fading grandeur" -- I second the fading part -- but it's still awesome. First of all, it's got an old elevator with sliding gates on each floor and a manual mechanism, so the hotel has an elevator man/porter on staff. I don't think I've ever seen an elevator like this, except in the movies, let alone ridden in one.

The stairs circle around the elevator bank all the way to the 7th floor (I'm on 6).

The ceilings are 12 feet tall and there is carved wood and wrought iron everyone. It's possible my armoire is as old as the hotel, and I'm certain my telephone is.

And there's this hidden staircase around a dark cornerdown the hall that leads to a mysterious door set high up on a wall. I was too chicken to open it; there's undoubtedly something sinister inside. Back in its heyday, this is the kind of place the evil archeaologist in Raiders of the Lost Ark would have stayed at. He wouldn't stay here today, it's too shabby, but it's the first place on this trip where I didn't feel compelled to sleep in my sleeping sack, because it's clearly clean. An added bonus is the hotel lounge, which is just crowded enough to be lively, but empty enough I can comfortably write my blog.

I'm logging off in a couple of minutes to go to the airport.  I'll be on a plane from 9pm until 3am, then have to stay awake in the Nairobi airport to catch a bus at 8am, which will arrive at my next stop at about 2pm.  Wish me luck, and I'll write again when I can!