Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

Is this a postcard from Paris? London? Another modern world capital? Try again. Actually, this is Cairo, the vibrant city on the river Nile. I came here expecting ... well, I'm not really sure what I was expecting, but not this. I was pleasantly surprised how clean, vibrant, tourist-friendly this huge metropolis is. Fifteen million people live in the Greater Cairo, yet things work pretty smoothly here: the metro, the power grid, the government run schools. There is all kind of food to be found. The locals are more than happy to assist you, even if their English is only rudimentary. I spent 3 glorious weeks here in June, staying on the Zamalek island but venturing to the old town, to Giza, to ancient nearby cities of Memphis and Saqqara and even taking an overnight train to Luxor. This is definitely a place I will gladly revisit.