I am just back from a business trip to Cairo, Egypt, and it has been a very interesting experience for me. It was my first time in this beautiful country of extremes, and I truly want to come back as soon as possible. This should be quite soon if the business I went there to help initiate fructifies in the way I expect. I found Egyptian people nice and full of sincere hospitality. At first I was shocked by the presence of armed police in just about every corner of Cairo, including inside my hotel, at which entrance there was a metal detector control that we had to cross every time we entered. Soon enough I got used to it, and in fact I always felt quite safe, even in crowded areas at night. Traffic is absolutely mad and nerve-wrecking, even worse than other crazy cities like Shanghai or Belgrade, or Madrid, but since my driver seemed confident in the middle of the battleground I forced myself to relax, buckle up, and simply hope for the best.
In the one day free of work and appointments which I managed to have I did a bit of turism. Of course I visited the pyramids at Giza, about half-hour drive from Cairo, and I went into the Kefren Pyramid, which considering I am quite claustrophobic it was something I really had to push myself to do, and it was nice. Not to many people around, and hot, but not extremely.
I also went for a quick visit to the Egyptian Museum of Cairo: truly amazing the treasuries the keep in there. Particularly beautiful among the pieces of the museum were all the artifacts found in the tomb
of Tuktankamon, a rather unimportant pharaoh who died at the age of 19.
I had a change to buy some gifts for the kids and for Clemen too, and even something for myself for a change.
The Nile at night was magnificent, with hundreds for people just hanging around its banks, and dozens of boats of all sizes, full of lights and people having fun, some in small private parties and others (like myself) in organized dinners for 200 people with life music and dancers.
One sad note: I saw some really poor people, many of the children, in the streets. I particularly remember a kid, no more than 8 or 9 years old who was picking up papers and carton and garbage on the street, and all by himself was filling up huge bags as tall as him and leaving them on the side walk. As we drove by I saw he had already filled at least 6 or 7 of those huge bags. It was almost midnight. Where would he sleep that nigh, or what would he eat, or what future awaited him when a new day came and I had already flown back to my safe, clean home in Madrid and forgotten about him.
I look forward to coming back soon, and I highly recommend it to anyone. Egypt is truly worth it.
