Cairo

All,

In Cairo. Incredible city and to many, the cradle of human civilization from the written age. Influenced by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Coptic Christians, Europeans, Jews, Muslims, and Ottomans, it provides such a unique history.

Cairo

Sunset over the Nile

We spent the first day here at a couple of museums that have artifacts over 5,000 years old. Incredible!

4,000 year old 24k gold jewelry. Even “back in the day” I guess they liked their bling 😆

Hard to believe, but this statue is 5,000 years old. Look at its details and the condition it’s in. It’s hard/humbling to think that human beings could do something like this 5,000 years ago. I guess EVERY era of human civilization thinks it is (and IT IS) the high point of humanity and evolution (Until it isn’t, of course).

Then out on the town to one of the local markets. I grew up in NYC, known as the city that never sleeps, but this place makes Times Square look calm and tame hahahahaha.

This is the old market in Cairo. Thing is, this is 10pm on a Monday night. CRAZY!

Also, the driving here is something else. No lanes, not many traffic lights, no rules. Just a million cars each making their own way to wherever they are going. And crossing the street is a life and death situation. You kind of wade out into this fast-moving sea of lanes of cars that are going in both directions (kind of like Chris Dennis in Las Vegas hahaha), and you kind of “part the sea” (inshallah) and get to the other side. Something you have to see to believe. And, no car insurance, so as our guide says, whenever there is an accident, the drivers get out and argue, “Your fault”. “No, your fault” and argue for a while and then just shake hands, agree that today was a bad day, and are on their way 😆

This bus snaked through these narrow streets (and all the people in them), rubbing up against both sides of the road.

Tomorrow we will visit the famous pyramids of Giza, the oldest surviving structures built by humans.

Onward!