Cairo, Part 1

We haven’t talked much about Cairo, so I’m splitting up the month we spent there into two posts.  Here goes part 1!

After a week in Dubai, we hopped on a plane to Cairo.  I cannot speak for Meadows, but I had the following initial reactions upon our arrival: 1- where did all these people come from? (It was so crowded.)  2- TRAFFIC. (I thought Atlanta roads were bad, but O-M-G this is on another level.)  We will revisit my gut reactions to Cairo later.

I should mention that we came to Egypt at an interesting time.  We landed on January 16, just 9 days before the fifth anniversary of the January 25 revolution.  For those of you who don’t care to dive into the Wikipedia rabbit hole, this revolution is part of the larger event we know as Arab Spring.  For obvious reasons, the security team limited our movements and our travel during the first two weeks.  Thankfully, the hotel we stayed in is attached to a giant mall (7 stories tall and hundreds of shops and restaurants), so we went on a lot of team dinners at the mall!  Between the hotel and the mall, we had access to some nice restaurants, and we played a lot of pool at night.

Despite much hype by the media and terrorist groups, the January 25 holiday came and went without any “action.”  The local police and military were reported to have raided 5,000 houses in the weeks leading up to the anniversary.  Now, no more safety talk.

Thankfully, having an Egyptian bestie has really come in handy!  Melody’s mom (lovingly known as “Mrs. B”) set me up with her Egyptian family and friends in Cairo, so I’ve had the chance to get out and explore (safely and under supervision) while Meadows is at work.  Mrs. B’s cousin, Mona, met me for coffee in our first week.  We were instantly friends (like Mel and Mrs. B, she is about the most likable person you’ll ever meet!), and she promised to show me around Cairo.

In week two, Mona showed me around her neighborhood: Heliopolis.  Heliopolis was developed by Belgian Baron Empain upon his arrival to Egypt in 1904.  He built a palace, which is modeled after Angkor Wat — you can definitely see the resemblance!  [Full disclosure: it was a rainy day, so I borrowed the photo below!]

In addition to a palace, Baron Empain built the Basilica of Heliopolis, where he is buried.  He also built the Heliopolis Palace Hotel, which is now used as a presidential palace and the Heliopolis Sporting Club, a country club in the heart of Heliopolis.  This is not your average country club — it spans 18 acres of land, which is especially huge considering the dense population surrounding it!  When it was founded, it was even larger.  Mona and I had the best time reliving her memories at the club.

The Heliopolis tour wasn’t over yet; we visited a wonderful area called El Korba “the curve” with shops and restaurants.  No surprise here: it was developed by Baron Empain!  The entire day I was in awe that one man had a vision for a “city of luxury and leisure,” and he made it happen!

Since I had the ear of a local, I had to ask if my snapshot judgments of Cairo are really true.  First off, Cairo has 12 million residents; Greater Cairo has a population of 18 million.  So yeah, there are a lot of people around!  When asked about the traffic, Mona just laughed.  Unless you’ve visited Cairo, you will not believe me when I say: there are NO traffic laws in Cairo.  Three lane roads quickly turn into five or six lane roads; cars in the extreme lefthand lane regularly cross in front of five lanes of traffic to turn right; pedestrians jump out of nowhere to cross (obviously not at the crosswalk); and traffic lights and stop signs don’t exist.  It is a chaotic free-for-all that truly feels like a game of Frogger.  An did I mention that they never stop honking?  Despite how terrifying it is to be in a car there, I have to give credit to the Cairo drivers for their creative maneuvers — it’s impressive …and extremely dangerous!

A special thanks to Mona for showing me around; but you’ll see more of her in other Cairo adventures 🙂

With the first two weeks under our belt and the security situation somewhat improved, we were given permission to head off to Luxor.  Stay tuned for Cairo, Part 2!