Cairo Tower and the Nile

I headed into Cairo this morning still not exactly sure what to expect. For the most part there is little evidence of the protests that swept the country just weeks ago. The area around Tahrir Square, the center of the protests against Mubarak is still heavily militarized, with tanks and soldiers lining the street near the famous Egypt Museum, and there are army checkpoints in front of most of the more famous tourist sites (although I don’t know if that is new or if if they were put in place after some of terrorist attacks that Egypt experienced several years ago).

In the morning I visited the Egypt Museum, which is right next to Tahrir Square. The museum houses some of the most important artifacts from ancient Egypt, including King Tutankhamun’s golden mask and the mummified bodies of many of the pharaohs. The museum was the site of some looting during the protests, and there was a lot of concern about what state the museum would be in after the protests ended. The museum has reopened and as someone who had never been to the museum before I wasn’t able to spot any evidence of the looting, although I’ve read that several items are still missing.

The usually crowded museum was pretty empty, and most of the other tourists appeared to be Egyptian. However I was not the only Western tourist, and it seems that tourist are slowly starting to come back.

Egypt Museum

From Egypt Museum

The reopened Egypt Museum stands in stark contrast with the burned out government buildings visible from the courtyard. Everyone I spoke with was very open about talking about what had happened, and expressed hope that now that Mubarak was gone life in Cairo could continue normally. “Maybe those buildings will be made into a hotel [for tourists],” one man at the Egypt Museum said to me as he pointed to the burned out buildings. Note: I know there are other view points, including those who think that the protests didn’t change enough and the women are being excluded from the rebuilding process, but I didn’t speak to anyone who held those views, or felt comfortable expressing them to me.

Burned out government buildings behind the Egypt Museum Courtyard

Burned out government buildings behind the Egypt Museum Courtyard

I spent the rest of the day visiting the usual tourist sites, and attempting to navigate Cairo by foot, Metro, and taxi. To everyone who has expressed concern for my well-being– I’m pretty sure the danger faced as a pedestrian in Cairo remains the biggest threat to my safety. I can’t even count how many cars I had to dodge to cross the streets!

In addition the the Muslim majority in Egypt there is a large Coptic Christian community here. Tensions between the two communities often flare, as they did earlier in the week, but after speaking with people in Cairo it seemed safe to visit Coptic Cairo (located in Old Cairo, which attracts a lot of tourists and was not the site of the earlier fighting).

From Cairo

After visiting the Coptic Museum in Coptic Cairo I went to Islamic Cairo. Unfortunately the Citadel and many of the temples were working on limited tourist hours, so I had to see them from the outside.

The Citadel from the outside

Tank outside the Citadel

After the Citadel, I finished up my day at Khan el Khalili, a giant bazaar selling everything from spices, to clothes and sheesha (traditional water pipes).

Note: I don’t have as many pictures as I would like from today. The museums forbid photos inside, and I wasn’t sure about the rules on filming in Cairo right now, and didn’t want to push my luck waving around my large SLR in areas with a lot of checkpoints. Also, in many of the more crowded areas, such as the bazaar, it didn’t seem practical to take photos.