Cairo

The mosque one block away woke me up with the 5am call to prayer, but the cold shower shook off any jet lag I might have felt. The breakfast the hotel provided was a lot of bread, fresh cut cucmber and tomato, tea, a banana, a pastry, and a hard-boiled egg.

In the morning, I walked around a touristy market called Khan al-Khalili. There were shops selling spices, produce, clothes, souvenirs, and anything else a tourist might buy. The first thing I noticed when walking the streets was that they are very dirty. Hazy pollution sits over the city, trash is everywhere, and it smells. The shopkeepers would clean their floors by sweeping them onto the sidewalk or alley. The buildings are very run down with the exception of mosques, government buildings and some fancy stores. It is kind of fun being the one who sticks out in a crowd, but it makes it easier for people to hassle me. Although two people have said I look more Egyptian than American. I find that hard to believe, but some of the tourists are extremely noticeable. Every single adult Egyptian I've seen has worn clothes that at least cover everything but there hands and head, which makes the white people in shorts and/or t-shirts stand out a lot. Even when I had breakfast in the hotel, the owner kindly suggested I put on long sleeves (because it might rain).

That afternoon I overpaid a taxi (US$6 for 15 minutes) to take me to the National Museum. There were a lot of artifacts scattered around, but most of them didn't have descriptions. I guess that's how the tour guides make their money. The highlight was definitely the royal mummy room, which inculded Ramses II and Hatchepsut. I've seen pictures, but it was still hard to believe how well preserved they look. Ramses still had his hair! Well, he was bald, but he had some around the sides.

For food, I picked a take-out restaurant from my guide book. I had a delicious chicken schwarema (sandwich) and a pepsi for US$2.70.