Best. City. Ever.

I arrived in Cairo today, worn out form the limitless entertainment options on the ten hour flight, feeling a bit wired and a bit tired. But flying low, right over the Giza pyramids and seeing the Sphinx up close and personal shocked me into the trip. Customs was easy, finding a taxi a bit more challenging, but once I got into the city, the day quickly turned. Three hours after I arrived I was eating iftar with an Egyptian family who generously kept Charlie and I supplied with food and a wide assortment of crazy drinks, most involving hellacious amounts of sugar and dates. Four hours into the trip I was on a felucca cruising down the Nile with our new local friends. Six hours and five mint teas later I was outside of Cairo overlooking the city from a park on the edge of a sheer cliff. Seven hours later I was jamming to MJ sitting 8 deep in a Hyundai sedan and racing through downtown, where red lights mean nothing, and green lights even less. One hour before the start of the days fast (4am) we found ourselves eating ful (a popular Egyptian bean) and Arab bread talking with locals about Islam and politics. Aside from the scary highways, where crossing eight lanes of fast-moving traffic is taken one steady step at a time, the city is perfect.