Al-Ataba

On our last day in Cairo we visited the bustling market at Al-Ataba, located centrally near Ezbekkiyya Garden.


Some friendly guys selling bread


And of course you'll need some tea after eating


Shoes? Just dive into the pile - maybe you'll find a matching pair!


Pretty much anything you might need is here.

Women and eating

Women must always cover their faces in Muslim countries, so we were curious about eating in public - how could they do this? While eating with our driver a couple came in and once the food was served the restaurant errected this shield so no other male diners could see her face.

Fascinating!

Some local goats

We spotted one of these guys feeding off a motorcycle


When I approached them they took a good try at eating my camera

We shared a meal with our driver

Mohammed. We hired him for two days at the local currency equivalent of roughly 20 quid. He was a real nice guy.



We ate at local restaurants and street stall every day without any problems, but used common sense - we never tried any of the meat (heads and legs and stuff) the locals relished, and took a good look to see how clean the places were before sitting down.

Coptic Cairo

Although predominately Muslim, Cairo has active Jewish and Christain communities. We visited an area known as Coptic Cairo, where one of the oldest churches is found. After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD many Synagogues were also built here; one remains to this day.

The Pyramids

And the best and only way to get around the pyramids at Giza is on horseback.



Or maybe a Camel!




These are all located at Giza, maybe twenty minutes from central Cairo. We also visited the pyramid fields at Al Shaqqar and Memphis but these are much smaller so we walked about.

Memphis

Located about 9 miles south of Cairo, Memphis is the Greek name for the administrative capital of ancient Egypt. The city is thought to have been founded by the first king, Menes, who is said to have united Upper and Lower Egypt for the first time around 3100 BC.


This colossal limestone statue of Rameses II, missing its legs and lying on its back, is a twin to the statue erected in the centre of Midan Rameses in Cairo. It measures about thirteen metres so it must have been really impressive when it was standing.

Sorry folks - we're staying

We've decided to leave cold, dark and rainy old England behind for a new life in warm, bright, dry and - uhh, well ok it's fucking old but still it's way cool - Cairo!


Oil rich (pay attention gals!) Shiek Al Mutant


And Belly Dancer extraordinaire, the lovely Slapper!

We're getting ready to head off to a Belly Dancing show now. Few drinks, some savory Egyptian food, watch them bellies wiggle and we'll be way way mellow.

The Citadel

Created to defend Cairo against the infidel Crusaders, The Citadel - on the Eastern outskirts of the city - stands to this day. Absolutely amazing!

Cities of the Dead

Cairo has two extrememly old and very, very large cemetaries on it's eastern side.

It is said that over 3,000,000 people are buried there and some 200,000 live (squat!) there in the debris and crap; these cemetaries are known informally as The Cities of the Dead.

We spent half a day wandering about flithy and interesting streets.


Andi, in front of some herdrs animals - goats, sheep and a few chickens.


Not all dead things are buried here. I was gonna poke this dead dog with a stick but SPOILSPORT Andi said NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Two interesting shots showing some of the totally amazing structures that are here...just waiting to be squatted!

Islamic Cairo

We spent today wandering about one of the older parts of Cairo, the "old Town", or Islamic Cairo. Absolutely wonderful people there.


Just behind the financial district you...see...an old man herding goats and sheep and chickens! Amazing.


This was such a great image of an old woman sitting in her doorway. Wonderful.


A cute little girl playing up for the camera. We showed her and the rest of the crowd her image on the digital cameras display; an approving roar resulted!


A couple selling chickens and pigeons to folks shopping for dinner. A few yards down the road someone else would butcher them for you. Convenient.


We just had a couple of drinks, and Andi is getting ready for our New Years Eve night out. We've got 9PM reservations at one of the Four Seasons restaurants (Aqua, which specialises in sea food), then we're going dancing at a club here in the hotel.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2005 FROM MUTANT & ANDI IN CAIRO!!!!!!!!!!

Cairo at night

From the 11th floor balcony of our Suite overlooking the Nile.







Pretty much a 180 degree view, the Pyramids (yes, they are visible from Central Cairo) should be just behind the big hotel on the island to the left.

We be chillin

The hotels driver picked us up and got us through Immigration & Customs without incident, taking care of all the "issues" that arose (we don't speak Egyptian and were damn glad he did!).

A lite meal upon arrival at the Four Seasons, and some wicked cocktails to settle us down so we can walk like an Egyptian tomorrow.



Feeling comfortably numb.

A warm welcome from the Four Seasons

Nice bottle of Moet and a fruit plate awaited us on our arrival to Cairo.

Progress report

And they ain't saying it in English!

A photo take of the aircrafts onboard GPS display. We've got about one hour before we land in Cairo, just a little ahead of schedule.

The Queen is ON BOARD

Andi in BA's Business Class seating...notice the attitude problem....

Cairo bound!

Boarding...

In the lounge

We're just hanging out in British Airways business class lounge at Heathrow, quaffing Moet and waiting for a 16:05 departure.

We'll get into Cairo at 22:50 (local time), where a driver from The Four Seasons will be waiting for us.

On the road again...

We scored these nifty free First Class upgrades for the Heathrow Express, the train that runs from central London out to Heathrow.



Sweet!