Impressions of Egypt

We arrived in Cairo early this morning and I went out for a walk to orient myself. I'll be staying in a different hotel here for the next few nights but didn't check in there yet. It is in the downtown core, so is well situated, but doesn't look that great from the outside.

Cairo is a decidedly ugly city, but is somewhat prettier than Amman in that it actually has some green space and of course has the Nile running through the middle of it. Still, it looks to be consisted mostly of greys, and is really filthy. A thick layer of smog lies over the city.

I enjoyed a fairly hassle-free walk early this morning so am hoping Cairo will be easy for me. I had a couple of unfortunate interactions with Egyptian men/teenagers in Aswan when I was walking alone there. They are also very persistent in their sales efforts and it all makes for a very exhausting experience. It certainly has made me realize that taking a tour was the right decision for me in this part of the world. Being in the company of other travellers, especially men, really makes things easier.

I am off this afternoon to visit Memphis, the former capital, as well as Saqqara where there is a large necropolis of tombs and pyramids. I'll spend tomorrow in Alexandria with a handful of my tour-mates and will blog again the following day.