Cairo

After visiting 35 cities in Europe, I experienced some culture shock in Cairo. Exiting the airport was a painful experience as every taxi driver haggled me at 11:30pm. The air was more polluted and had a distinct smell. Cars drove aggressively without acknowledging traffic rules. And there were many positives. The tea. The hospitality. The street food. The pyramids. The night life. The history.

My entire time in Egypt was accompanied by some hosts who took good care of me. We went to the touristy and the real parts of Cairo. I even rode a camel around the pyramids! Cairo was by far the cheapest city I’ve visited so far. One bag of around 10 pita breads made of the street was $0.25. I had a great Egyptian experience and hope to go back soon.

Duration

3 days

Accommodation

Believers house (3 nights)

Favorite Food

Koshary

Favorite Site

Pyramids of Giza

Cool Person I Met

John. John is probably the nicest and smartest guy I met in Egypt. He learned English and is learning other languages on his own. We went to the pyramids together. I’m excited for his future as he continues college and dreams to work in telecommunication.

Highlight

Riding on a crammed bus through a wedding parade

Big Takeaway

I experienced the good and bad culture of hospitality in Egypt. Generally, this region of the world has a rich historic, cultural way of providing hospitality. My experience matched this expectation, except for one time. On a positive note, I stayed at a house that provided me a comfortable bed and breakfast. Another person I met, took me around the city and paid for everything. He also shielded me from the “scammers” who were quite aggressive, especially at the pyramids.

The bad hospitality I experience started out too good to be true, because it was. A man invited me to his brother’s shop as I was walking to the Egyptian museum. I agreed because I was curious. He told me his father works at the Egyptian museum and his sister is getting married tomorrow. Later on, I discovered these were lies. In his “brother’s” shop, I was given coffee and then tea. He said, “This is Egyptian hospitality. Enjoy.”. The shop owner proceeded to give me a free papyrus painting because he was so excited for his sister’s wedding. Next, he signed a few more paintings using Egyptian text and says this is a gift. Thankfully, I exited the shop without anyone attacking or threatening me. The guy on the street set me up for a scam and they used hospitality as a cover up.

This is much less common to experience than the many good hospitality experiences. Unfortunately, there are people who do this but please do not apply this experience to all Egyptians. It’s an exception.

Your Turn

What is the best hospitality you have ever experienced?

How quickly do you trust people?