A bomb explosion in Cairo has killed a French tourist and injured more than 20 other people, mostly foreign tourists.
It happened at an open-air hotel cafe packed with tourists in the Khan al-Khalili area - a major attraction and home to a prominent mosque.
The device, most likely home-made, was thrown from a balcony, Egyptian police said. Conflicting reports say the bomb may have been left under a bench.
The tourist killed was identified as a 17-year-old girl by French authorities.
There has been no indication so far of who is behind the attack, and no arrests have yet been confirmed... - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7904731.stm
Makes you want to travel to Egypt, don't it? Yeah, that's what I thought too when I read this article THREE DAYS BEFORE I ACTUALLY WENT TO CAIRO.
What started off as a pipe dream painstakingly became a reality as I weighed the pro's and con's of traveling to another one of my dream locations: Cairo, Egypt. It was surreal as I sat in our school's fallout shelter-like library in between Facebook and doing absolutely nothing productive when I actually booked a flight to Egypt. Who the fuck goes to Egypt? Welp, obviously this guy. And obviously I picked one of the best times to go in the past 5 years too -- the last time Egypt had any terror-related attacks. Horray for fulfilling dreams!
Ok, so I started this off a little douchebaggy. I am NOT complaining in the least about going to Cairo. It was fucking amazing. I cannot stress how overcome with emotion I was when we touched down in Cairo, excuse me, AFRICA. WTF MATE? Africa? Really? Like really, truly the continent of Africa? Yeah, I guess so...but it still doesn't seem like it was real.
So I made quite the executive decision before embarking on this fantasy-turned-reality that I would skip all-of-my Thursday and half-of-my Monday classes in order to truly fulfill this experience. As of now my decision hasn't bitten me in the ass, but then again, I haven't received any grades back from the mid-terms I just had to take coming off of my sleep deprived trip of a lifetime.
The first thing I noticed when we landed in Egypt (besides the humongous Lion King-esque sunset going down over the horizon) was the absolute horrendous air quality and pollution that infests Cairo. Breathing the air is like huffing a vacuum cleaner; garbage is strewn about like a landfill. It's terrible. Not just because of the devastation that human waste causes, but because of the history, grandeur, and imagery that I had previously conjured in my head over years of wonder and awe of the ancient Egyptian world was suddenly turned into, well, garbage. So long, The Mummy. Goodbye, Aladdin. Yet then again, Egypt was still a whole new world to me...
After cruising through customs (with the newly-added and now always-cherished "EGYPT" stamp), we were met by the guys who were running the hostel we were going to be staying at. We arrived safely at the hostel, but not after thinking we were going to die at any given chance while en route. F whatever you think about how badly Americans drive in any given city. Egpytians drive like they are all in Sherman tanks on D-Day. In-fucking-sane. I can't begin to describe to you how badly they are, I can't find the words.
Either way, after a great night relaxing at a local shisha bar (hookah, for all you un-cultured folk) near our hostel, we made sure to take at the very least a cat nap in order to wake up the next morning. We were heading to the mothership: Giza.
Located about 20 minutes outside of Cairo, we woke early in order to watch the sunrise atop the sand dunes in Giza. Oh, and I forgot to mention we were watching the sunrise onto the Great Pyramids. Amazing.
Like a little boy on Christmas morning, I raced as fast as I could to the very top of the dunes. The sun was my Christmas tree, and underneath it she unveiled my presents: the Pyramids.
We wrangled up a group of guides that led us around the place, equipped with horses and camels to transport us throughout our journey. I was beyond words. Actually, I lied. I was singing "A Whole New World" the entire time. Thanks, Disney.
Galloping across the Sahara on horseback, swaying with every bob of the camel's neck, I was in Egypt. I was in hysteria.
The sun, the sand, the Sphinx...need I say more?
Without boring you about how cool I feel my life has kind-of been lately, I'll spare you most of the details in regards to everything else. Every night was capped off at a shisha bar for a mint tea lounge sesh. Looking back on our day's events, we would try to capture the least of our emotions in words. The result was endless chatter, laughter, and incessant headshakes from disbelief that we were truly experiencing these times.
So, how do we try to out-do our day at the Pyramids? Head East, of course, to Alexandria.
Now looking back, our four-hour bus ride was well worth the wait as we drove into what seemed to be a day spent with a shotty tourguide and half-assed sights to see while battling the rain. Eventually, we made our way to the Catacombs of Alexandria. Anything short of playing the Indiana Jones theme song, I'm pretty sure you could get the picture of these underground tunnels/burial chambers that were carved into 3 separate levels deep into the Earth. It was pretty neat, but nothing I really expected to be blown away by (call me calloused because I probably was after yesterday's incredible jaunt to Giza).
After staging a mini mutiny to overthrow our tourguide's plan for the day's adventures, we ended up agreeing on visiting the famed Library at Alexandria. It was spectacular. What seems like an architect's wet dream, the Library is a 7-level informational hotbox loaded with everything from tourgroups to students and ancient heiroglyphics to the world's fastest printing press -- quite the building to say the least.
Upon eating the most Egyptian meal I could afford, KFC and McDonald's, we took the bus to the Citadel that used to defend Alexandria's coast. EPIC. That's all I can say. Waves crashing into the rocks. Warm ocean water exploding with blues and greens of every sort. The sun fighting through the clouds in the distance to shine rays upon the endless sea. Agape.
That pretty much completed our trip to Alexandria, and our trip to Egypt as well. I'm purposely omitting the last day or so because it was filled with Egyptian museum in Cairo (you know, really boring stuff like seeing King Tut's stuff and a couple of cool knick-knacks here and there...no biggie really) as well as the Citadel in Cairo (fully equipped with more national museums, one of the largest mosques in Cairo, and some other neat things I'm sure I'll tell you about if you ask).
We ended up doing A LOT of unbelievable things in Egypt. It truly was everything I hoped for, and more. I don't even know how to end this really. It's like my trip to Switzerland; I just can't put into words skydiving over the Swiss Alps. I now can't put into enough words how Cairo was just recently. Epic, to say the very least.
I sound trite. I sound cliche. I sound pathetic, most importantly, I'm sure. But really, I don't give a damn. This is my life, this is my story...and goddamn I'm sticking to it.
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