Kareena's Page

No trip to Egypt is complete without the obligatory visit to the Giza Plateau which houses the Sphinx and Pyramids (along with the touts, camels, donkeys, horses and hoards of Russian tourists). We set off by taxi from our hotel and arrived 1/2 an hour later thanks to our taxi driver whose other car must be a Porsche.

The pyramids are still amazing even after so many visits. We wandered around, took some pictures then haggled for a camel ride down to the Sphinx. We got a great price in the end… Continue

Finally after 4 years of anticipation I was back at my favourite restaurant in Cairo. After a 5 minute walk and a quick turn down a dark alley, we were standing in front of the biggest wooden doors I have ever seen. There were no signs or markings on the doors or the building nor were there any handles. We pushed open one side of the enormous black door and entered Abu El Sid. There was a wait to be seated and the air was filled with the faint smell of apple sheesha.

The decor is truly traditio… Continue

We tried to take Maya to a puppet show, but it wasn't playing. So instead we headed across the city to Al-Azhar Park. It's the only proper park in Cairo and was finished shortly after we left in 2004. We paid the 5 Egyptian pound admission (1.25 CAD) to enter the park. We soon found ourselves walking up a palm lined avenue with the occasional fountain. It was a serene retreat from the hustle and bustle of the busy city. We had a great walk around the park. In some parts there was a stunning view… Continue

I know I already wrote a little bit about the Citadel, but I had to sit down and give it the full credit due.

The Citadel is a huge mosque sitting on a hill "overlooking" the city. I put the quotation marks as it is indeed overlooking the city, but how much of the city can been seen depends on the time of day and smog. The walk up to the Citadel is surrounded by gardens, flowers and the occasional white butterfly. We took off our shoes (as is the custom) to enter the enormous carpeted mosque an… Continue

Jason had the great idea of taking Maya to the zoo. It cost 25 cents to enter- quite possibly the cheapest thing we've done here. Maya met a little girl named Jana. She was at the park with her grandfather. As soon as the girls met, they became instant friends. They held hands immediately and we couldn't separate them so we decided to tour around together. Maya was speaking English to Jana and Jana was speaking Arabic to Maya. However, they both seemed to understand each other. We made our way a… Continue