Arriving in Cairo

The airport in Cairo was quite an experience.  It was crowded and moving at a hurried pace.  It was also 4:30am after a long day of shooting and traveling, so we we all exhausted.  We were met by a driver who helped usher us through customs and immigration and out into a sea of people.  It was a crazy almost overwhelming and surreal experience.  The place, the language, the customs so alien to me.

After making our way to the curb and to the two vans that were there to take us and our equipment to our hotel, several people started "helping" load gear - but then wanted money for their troubles.  It was quite a whirlwind of activity.  We convinced them to leave us, and we managed to load our gear safely and to be on our way to our hotel.

After check in we collapsed and slept for a few hours.  I awoke to a view that looks across the Nile toward the pyramids.  Although the smog and dust are too thick to see them, knowing they are there is pretty amazing.

  

Richard and I went out to explore the area and to grab lunch.  We walked pretty far, across the Nile and ate on the 65th floor of the Cairo Tower, with a view of the entire city.  From there, we could see the faint outline of the Great Pyramid.

  

We returned to the hotel briefly before heading out to the production office.  While Doug conducted his call backs, and Peter went over production details with the local production coordinator, Richard, Melanie and I explored another neighborhood.

Cairo is a sprawling city, with lots of activity.  It seems to wake a bit late, and continue late into the night.  There are no crosswalks or traffic lights; it's a bit of a free for all with pedestrians and drivers caught in a perpetual game of chicken.  It's intense, and fascinating.  Wonderful in its own way.  The drivers keep one hand on the wheel and the other on their horn - and the city is filled with a honking symphony of horns.  Somehow this works.  Though we have had a few near misses as we drove around - it is intense.