One is the loneliest number

Today, Jack and I awoke after our coma at about 8:30. Yes, we both slept for 14 hours but I got up at one point to check my computer and so did he. We had breakfast (this time skipping the fruit) and then made a plan for the day. We needed to make our deposit for the Mt. Sinai trip and go the bank first thing. As luck would have it, Holiday Tours is one block away and two stories up from a bank. This is really really really lucky as there is almost no way to find anything in Cairo. So we paid for our trip and then exchanged some 50s for some smaller bills. At that point, Jack still did not feel well but I wanted to see Khan al Khalili Bazaar for at least a little bit. We split up and I told him I would come back to the hotel 2 hours later to check on him. I tried to follow my map but like I said, it is impossible to find anything here.

Here is an exercise to demonstrate how hard it is. Imagine a major street near your house. Okay, now give it about four different names. Good? Now name every street it touches (but you cant use numbers!!) Then place a street sign randomly along that street, but not at each intersection, more like every fifth intersection. And lastly, remember less than half those signs are in English. You might think you could ask someone on the street for directions. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to talk to any woman and much of the men do not want to be talked to. Some people are friendly and you may get lucky and encounter someone who wants to practice English. Much of those people, however, first demand you come visit their store first that is in “every guide book”. If you do manage to find someone who speaks a remote amount of English, chances are they have no idea what location you are asking about because you do not have the right accent at all.

With that in mind I got lost for an hour and eventually made my way back to the hotel to check on Jack and try again. Our Lonely Planet book could be a little bit better maps, just saying. Jack was still not feeling up to walking so I headed out again. It is supposed to be a 20 minute walk but I just kept going and going because, following my map, I thought I was headed the right direction (I was not). I ended up on a side street by myself with a family cooking chicken and quickly found a major road again. I should point out at this point that one truly is the loneliest number. Everyone was staring at me and for a much longer time than when I am with Jack. After an hour, I got in a taxi and they brought me to where I wanted to go which was Al-azhar Mosque. I went inside and got a Hungarian man who I talked to for a while to take my picture. A quick historical note on the mosque: "The mosque was founded in 970 AD as the centerpiece of the newly created Fatimid city. It is one of Cairo's earliest mosques and its sheikh is the highest theological authority for Egyptian Muslims."

This is the entrance and also the fanciest designs in the mosque, which I found interesting. 

Just one street of many

I then wandered around the Bazaar which is pretty cool, although annoying that every shopkeeper happens to "know" exactly what you are looking for. Once again, this was not as fun as if I had my trusty partner with me. I sat down for a meal of Egyptian pancakes with honey, recommended by my book, and they were quite sweet but good. I wrapped up the leftovers for Jack and then went to find the Husseinn Mosque. This mosque does not allow non-muslims inside and is one of the holiest places in Egypt. They claim to have the head of al Hussein, Muhammed’s grandson who was killed at Karbala sparking the divide between Sunni and Shia. After snapping a photo I hopped in a cab and went back to the hotel. This is when I found out that I had just turned down the wrong street and it really probably is a 20 minute walk from our place.

Holiest place in Egypt? You would not guess that from the outside

A couple of general things:

Both our shopkeeper that we keep going to and one of the receptionist’s enjoy messing with us. Two cold waters cost 4 EGP and instead of just handing 1 EGP back to us our shopkeeper will put out both hands and we will reach for one and he will drop the coin down with the other hand. This was funny when Jack bought the drinks and he placed the coin in front of me without Jack realizing it. As for our receptionist, we came in the other night and asked for 14 (our room). He asked, “for who?”. We told him for us and he proceeded to write “14 for you” on a piece of paper and gave it to us. We then asked for the room key for 14.

For those of you who were concerned about our safety, I really do feel safe walking the streets. It’s not too crowded on the streets where we are constantly bumping into people and need to keep our hands in our pockets. Only on the subway is it super crowded and we just try to go back to back and stay smart when we ride that.

The heat is exhausting!! I walked around for 4 hours today (after sleeping for 13) and still could hardly move by the end. There is zero humidity but your entire body is sweating by the end and not lightly. Even my arms were dripping. I guess it is no wonder people stare at me. Surprisingly, the heat is not the type where you walk outside and immediately feel it. Instead, it slowly accumulates faster and faster until like I said, you get back and need to lay down. One thing the heat does do is keep people inside until about 3. The normal time for dinner is 9 or 10 and people do not go to bed until 2.

As far as nutrition goes, it has not been much so far today. Also, please do not blame our nutritionist for us eating the small amount of vegetables we did. We would have one maybe two bites and I figured that was healthier than having none for two weeks. Either way, we had none today as we continue to recover.

Nom