OLD ISLAMIC CAIRO

The true heart of Cairo lies in its old Islamic center. Today this area is still bustling and although it is not well maintained, it still clings onto its cultural and historic significance in this ever prolific city. With it's many mosques and countless minarets towering over busy markets and blasting out prayer calls, a walk through this section of the city is an experience like no other. Chaos meets serenity and beauty meets refuse in a most unique experience.  

EGYPT MUSEUM

Located right next to the charred remains of Mubarak’s headquarters and adjacent from the very active Tahrir Square, the Egypt Museum barely manages to function. More of a storage facility than a museum, it is home to some of the oldest and most impressive of Egypt's ancient artifacts.

One should arrive to the museum with a basic understanding of Egyptology, even if just a Wikipedia skim and scan the night before. Scattered around in an unorganized and uninformative manner are 100,000's of ancient treasures. Ranging from the neolithic period to the infamous treasures unearthed from the tomb of King Tutankhamen to the Royal mummies, it is all housed here. Unfortunately no cameras are permitted inside for both security purposes and preservation purposes so flash photography does not damage these priceless artifacts.  

Modern Cairo

Looking beyond the poverty, pollution and political turmoil; modern day Cairo actually is a beautiful city with a lot to offer. Even though the Nile may no longer be full of wild life, it does provide a means for ample human activity. Lined with Cairo's most luxurious hotels and teeming with boats both leisure and commercial, the Nile still is the life line of the city. If viewed from a larger scoop it still maintains some of it's natural beauty infused with urban glamour    

Cairo's Trash

It is said that Mohammed was an environmentalist who would have his men clean up all the trash at his camp sights during his journey. He also taught merciful treatment of animals and forbade the destruction of nature even during time of war. It seems however that these teachings of the beloved Mohammed have somehow gotten lost along the way.

Around every corner can be seen an animal pulling excessively heavy loads or a pile of burning trash. It has been accepted as a way of life that by throwing your trash on the ground is indeed a righteous task. By leaving your trash that means someone has to clean it, and thus helping society by giving the less fortunate work opportunity. In reality however the trash is largely left uncleaned thus filling the city with garbage and giving it a beyond third world look.

Even with garbage cities where, collect, recycle and live among the trash the problem is much greater and seemingly inextricable. Unless an entire populations mind set can be changed from leaving your trash as being acceptable to unacceptable, the potentially beautiful Cairo will remain hidden below a permanent layer of rubbish.

  

Wrong Place, Right Time

Having ridden metros in many of the worlds biggest cities during rush hour, I thought Cairo would be no different. Get your place along the track and move like a sheep with the crowd towards the metro door closest to you. This however would not be the case, as pure mayhem begins the second the approaching train bell sounds.

Having separate cars for men and women, I found myself surrounded by men of all socioeconomic statuses. Men in business suits, students, soldiers, elderly, children, and more. All at once their status is forgotten and all resort back to a primitive, every man for himself mind sets. Everyone begins pushing each other violently out of the way and cramming on the cars before people are given the opportunity to get off.

Regardless of it being a father with a small child, a handicap, or an elderly man they are just seen as competition and in the way as people shamelessly throw them aside to jump aboard. Once on board the animal instincts are not forgotten and the job is not done. At this point you begin pushing people off the train to make more room for yourself. An absolutely shameful display of mankind and surely not the teachings of Mohammed.

Disgusted by this display, I exited the train as soon as I could, having gone in the wrong direction and several stops past my intended location. Finally emerging victoriously into the open air of the metro I stumbled across a blood drive for a children's hospital and thought it must be fate for me to have escaped the barbaric metro and stumble across this. Without hesitation I filled out the forms, hopped in the chair and began pumping. Passerby's found it humorous that a foreigner was donating blood in a metro and when asked my nationality, with pride I proclaimed USA.

TAHRIR SQUARE

Having been exactly 2 years since the Arab Spring and Mubarak stepping down from power, things in Egypt seem just as volatile as ever. Although Mubarak acted as President for 30 years he was solely interested in strengthening Egypt's economy. If Egypt was more wealthy, he would be more wealthy. Just days after he stepped down from power his name was scratched off of every sign that bore it. All to soon the Egyptians found themselves conducting their first elections leading to President Morsi's rise to power.

Looking back now most Egyptians agree that things were better under the reign of Mubarak. Morsi has not lived up to his campaign promises and has been moving the country progressively backwards. Although he claims to have left his affiliation as a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, they remain his strongest supporters. Since taking office he has taken away basic civil liberties of the people of Egypt thus causing them to take back to the streets around Tahrir Square and elsewhere in Egypt. This fresh revolution has seen a large death toll already. It is unclear the fate of this nation, but it's clear the people are angry and won't be silenced.  

The Pyramids

Being the oldest and most intact of the ancient wonders of the world, the pyramids of Giza, collectively known as the Giza Necropolis including the 9 pyramids, the sphinx, surrounding cemeteries and workers village; remains one of the most famous places known to man. The three main pyramids belong in order of size to Khufu, Khafre, and Menkare with 6 smaller pyramids for their queens.

Menkare's pyramid is the not the largest but the most famous as it is the only pyramid to still retain part of it's polished limestone finish at the top, which gives it it's iconic appearance. Lining up just perfectly with the guardian sphinx, these two marvels combined create the imagery that most picture as Egypt.

Over 4,500 years old, these amazing structures took 10's of thousands of workers an estimated 20-30 years to build. As gateways to the after life these ancient kings spared no expense and on their tombs and in doing so perhaps they may not live on forever but their legacy certainly will with their pyramids permanently marking both history and the land.