Shopping and Zoo

Stall at Khan El-Khalili Market

We were both woken to what seemed to be the sound of a man singing over a loud speaker I turned on the lamp and looked at my clock it was 4:30am the singing went on for about another 5 minutes then stopped. Later we found out that it was the mosque close by calling everyone to come to prey. This happened 5 times a day and no matter where you were in Cairo you would hear a call from Mosque coming from every direction.

We were awake now and due to a early night and jet lag we could not get back to sleep, being 4:30 in the morning and breakfast not available until 7am we spent the next few hours flicking through the channels on the tv, reading the lonely planet and planning what we would be doing in Cairo over the next few days.

Our plan on the first day was to go to the famous Khan El-Khalili Market in the morning and the Cairo Zoo in the afternoon. After breakfast and some time on the internet we went to the main road and caught a taxi to the market. Once we reached the destination and we were out of the taxi we had no idea where to go we saw a big mosque in front of us and many little alleys around us with stalls selling fabrics this is not what we expected, unsure if we were in the right place we started going in one direction and that didn't feel right so we turned around and went the other we must have looked lost because a man came up to us and asked us what we were looking for. We told him the El-Khalili Market he laughed and said "You are here come to my friends shop" we had read about people coming up to you and dragging you in their shop and not letting you leave until you purchased something so we kindly declined. He then asked if we wanted him to show us around, again we declined and turned away he was following us again asking us to go with him to his friends shop " I will get you and good price I won't ask for any 'backshish'" which means tipping in Arabic. Again we declined the man and walked in the other direction to get away we saw a tunnel that went under the road we would go that way, when we came out of the tunnel we saw a big open square with cafe's lined on the left and stalls on the right side this is what we more expected to see we felt we were in the right place

It was now late-morning so it was somewhat vacant we thought that the place would be crowded with people because that what we had read in the lonely planet. We decided that we would sit down at one of the cafe's and have a bite to eat and a drink before we ventured into the rest of the baazar, even though the bazzar was not busy there was still lots of noise shopkeepers calling out to people walking past their stalls, coffee cups clinking against saucers and horns of the traffic that were driving by. It also had the smell of freshly baked bread and incense burning.

After our meal we went in one of the alleys that was connected to the square we saw stall after stall all filled with different colours. They sold everything from tourist knicknacks, Galabea clothing, food, spices and local wear. It seems like if you can't find it here, you won't find it anywhere. The stall holders are very vocal in trying to find out what country your from to open up conversation to get you into their stalls, we both felt a little uncomfortable because it was quiet we were harassed a lot so we never walked deep into any stalls we looked at the items that were lined up at the front. We walked around for about 2 hours in the end we didn't buy anything because we were worried about our bargaining skills and decided that if we had the time after our tour we would come back, we should be experts at bargaining by then.

We were now in a taxi onto our next destination the Cairo Zoo it was on the other side of the city in the taxi Mel and I sat in silence looking out the window taking in what was going on around us. No one seemed to follow any road rules traffic was not sticking in any of the lanes that were lined on the roads and no indicators were used turn corners, cars were using their horns to tell other drivers that they were coming and to move out of their way.

At the Zoo we went to the front gate to purchase our tickets there was a price for locals and a price for foreigners for our tickets it cost us 10 Egyptian pounds a total of $3 AUD each.
Inside the gates there was a big grass area but it looked like it had not been watered in months so it was so dry and brown however people were still using the area sitting having picnics.

We took one of the paths and started to make our way around the zoo. We were the only foreigners there all other visitors were Egyptian. Not long after being there we noticed a group of teenage boys following us with their phones out taking photos of us. They followed us most the time we were there.

There were a lot of empty cages or cages with just one animal looking sad and lonely. It was dirty, neglected, poorly maintained. Most the animals were skinny and smelt really bad. If you are an animal lover, you will probably not be happy with what you see. If you wanted you could get photos with the lion cubs for $1. Even though it was cheap Mel and I both decided against it we felt terrible for the animals and knew the money was not going to go towards them.

We had enough of looking at sad animals it was getting late anyway so we went back towards the hotel stopping for something to eat we found a KFC unlike any KFC I had been to all the staff that worked there were deaf. To order your food they gave you a place-mat and you had to point at what you wanted. This was something I did not expect to see in Egypt it really took me by surprise what a great idea to get the deaf community out in the working community.
Back at our hotel we were exhausted it was going to be another early night shower and bed.

Again the next morning at 4:30 I was woken by the call for prayer. Mel slept through it this time so I spent the time reading and listening to my ipod. After breakfast today our plan was to spend some time by the pool in the morning and in the afternoon go to the biggest shopping centre in Egypt.

Before we could go anywhere we had exchange money we went to the reception desk to ask where was the closest place to do this. They had no idea they said that we would have to go all the way back to the airport that was the only place. Surely this could not be right. We saw a sign in the lobby with our tour company information and a number to call if you had any questions. After niggling with my sister over who should make the call to the number provided I was the one that had to do it.

A man answered the phone his name was Marwuan, I told him our situation that we had to exchange US dollars to Egyptian Pounds and that reception told us to go to the airport to do so. He told me that the information was incorrect and I could exchange it at a 5 star hotel that was just a few blocks away. Sorted we knew where to go. Little did I know then that the man I had just spoken to would one day become my husband?

We went on our way to exchange the money it was very easy to find on the way back to our hotel a man started to follow us he then started to speak to us saying that he worked at our hotel and asked if we wanted to go and see his friends shop. We had never seen this man at our hotel before so I asked him to tell me which hotel he worked at. He went quiet I asked again still no response he continued to walk beside us. I grabbed my sisters hand then told the man that we were not interested in his friend shop and asked him to please leave us alone. To my surprise he stopped walking beside us and just watched us walk away.

When returned to the hotel we put on our bathers. We went down to the pool area we were the only people there. Our plan was to get a bit of a sun tan but the pool was surrounded by tall buildings so that did not happen. We were both sure that people were looking out their window at us lying their in our bathers but we continued we were on vacation and needed to start to relax so we enjoyed the morning swimming and relaxing in the heat.

In the afternoon we made our way to Citystars the biggest shopping mall in Egypt. It was huge 5 floors filled with all the great labels Zara, Hugo Boss, Celvin Klein, Gap and many more. During our time shopping it just came upon us we were holidays and yet to have a nice alcohol beverage. All the restaurants were on the top level surely one of them would sell alcohol. We choose a restaurant called Ruby Tuesday because on their menu they had pictures of all these pretty cocktails in tall glasses win we thought our first drink on holidays after a great morning swimming and afternoon shopping. We sat down all excited ordered our food then went to the drinks menu lots of cocktail were listed so we ordered our cocktails Mojito with big smiles on our faces. The waiter must have noticed our excitement then said to us "you realise these have no alcohol in them". I looked at Mel then turned to the waiter the smile had left my face "oh really no I didn't but that's ok" I was shattered was really looking forward to a nice cold cocktails. I started to worry was this holiday going to be a dry holiday would I not be able to have a drink for the whole 3 weeks.

We returned to our hotel after dinner. As we walked through the lobby we noticed a group of people that seemed to have Australian accents listening on the sly to see if they were on our tour I learned that they were just finishing their tour. We also over heard them say they were going to have a shower and dinner then go up to the roof for a beer. What a beer on the roof I turned to Mel "you're telling me there is a bar on the roof here and we didn't even know" the concern I earlier had a about a dry holiday was no longer an issue we had to go up there straight away.

When we reached the roof bar no one was there not even a bartender we looked around the view was amazing we had a view of the city and the Cairo Tower which was lit up with lights changing colours every minute. Even though no bartender we took a seat anyway we wanted to enjoy the view, a bartender arrived not much longer.

Bartender came over to our table and asked to take our order I asked what was available he told us soft drink, juices and 2 types of beers that was it. I'm not a beer drinker I actually can't stand the stuff but if that's all they had to offer that had to be it. The bartender returned with 2 bottles of beer they were bigger than I was used to seeing 500ml and 8% alcohol. They tasted terrible but I got through most of it. I felt a little tipsy also fatigue hit me hard the jet lag was still lingering and the fact I was awake again at 4:30am. We were going to wait around to meet the other Australians and ask about their tour but I couldn't it was time for me to hit the pillow, tomorrow we planned to explore along the Nile and our tour was starting tomorrow evening.

The Begining

Hi all and welcome to my page "Beyond the Pyramids :)

Today I am just setting it up but over the next few weeks I will go back to the start and let you know all the details from when I first went on tour to Egypt and met my husband to where I was kidnapped , spent days in hiding under police watch, shot at with machine guns by Bedouins, being pregnant, having a baby in an Egyptian hospital and my daily life married to an Egyptian Muslim man... The last two years of my life have been interesting and I can't wait to finally share with you..Please feel free to share this page with whoever you like.. I hope you enjoy and get inspired by my story.

My sister Mel had just moved Melbourne it was the first time as adults that we lived in the same city. It was a very exciting time for us to get to know each other on a more mature level. We thought it was also the right time for us to share travel overseas we were both old enough, single and had some spare money. If we were not going to do it then we would probably never do it.
We started to look into where our big adventure would be, both of us had been to south east Asia so that was out, Europe was an option but for what we wanted to do in Europe we both didn't have the time or the money to fit everything in so we said we would put that on a back burner and do in a few years. Where could we go that was in our budget and we could fit into our short time we both had off work?

After doing our research talking to friends, flicking through travel brochures and speaking to travel agents everyone was raving about Egypt it was the number one place to holiday at the time, plenty of sights to see, warm weather, the prices were cheap once you got there and the time of the tours fit us perfectly, so we made up our mind Egypt it was.. We booked a 14 day tour which included all the ancient sights as well as 5 days relaxing in a Red Sea coastal town we still had a couple spare days up our sleeves so we decided to add 2 extra days before and after the tour in Cairo to explore the city on our own..

I remember us walking out the travel agent jumping up and down, we were going to see the pyramids, cruise down the Nile and snorkel in the Red Sea and we were going to do it together.
After months of counting the days October 27th had arrived time for us to leave for Egypt both of us excited but also a little nervous about the first few days that we were going to be spending alone in a Middle Eastern country that we heard was very racist towards women traveling without a man.

Flying over Egypt the sun was shining we were both leaning over looking out the window at endless desert. It is interesting to see that the desert is not all sand dunes like you see in the movies. It looks very rough, rocky and the colour is a dull brown. As we got closer to Cairo we started to see apartment building after apartment building all different heights but all looking similar blending into the ground with the same dull brown colour. Occasionally you would see a patch of green ground which we figured to be football pitches. Finally after 24 long hours traveling we landed in Cairo..

Stepping out the plane the heat hit us it was hot and dry and dust was in the air, reminded me of the dust you get lingering around after you shake out your vacuum bag.

The terminal was chaos people were going in every direction we had no idea where we should be going all we knew was we needed to get our entry visas then after going around in circles we spotted a small sign sticky taped to a window with a man sitting behind that said "ENTRY VISA 15 USD" The man spoke English but not very well collected our visas then asked for directions out . We were soon out of the airport with very little security checking from airport officials to meet our transfer driver and on our way to the hotel where we would be based for the next few days.

Traffic was terrible we were moving very slowly with people everywhere walking in between the cars but we did not mind as we were taking it all in. After almost 2 hours in the car we arrived at our hotel" Indiana", it was on a one way street lodged between apartment buildings it was located in Giza and walking distance from the Nile.It looked run down but we did not expect much as we were doing a budget tour all we cared about was if it was clean and close to the city. Walking into the lobby we noticed the decor it was like we had just gone back in time 40 to 50 years with big old dusty chandeliers, pinkish and gold coloured walls and furniture that was wooden with gold timings.

We checked in and made our way up to the room the lift was worrying you had to pull open the door and once in it you could fit at most 3 to 4 people it made creaky noises and jolted each time you went past a floor, Mel and I looked at each other then both started to laugh. Our room colour was much like the lobby with 2 brown beds with yellow covers thankfully my sister was a thinker and made us sleep sheets we did not have to use the covers provided. We decided that we settle in for the night and would start our adventures of Cairo the next day.