One Step, Two Step...

We had a day to ourselves to wander around Cairo, so we went to see the Nilometer, which they used to measure the depth of the Nile and predict how good the crops would be (and thus the amount of taxes that would have to be paid), and back to Old (Coptic) Cairo to look around and do a little shopping. We decided to take the subway back to the hotel--it couldn't be that difficult, right? There are only two subway lines in the city, and it was pretty easy to use (no doubt it simplified matters that we were only going 2 stops.) We ended up on the women-only car, which was much less crowded than the co-ed ones. The real challenge was when we got out of the subway--crossing the street was seriously like playing a game of chicken with the cars. I don't think being a pedestrian in any other city has been scarier. But we put on our game faces and made it safely back to the hotel.

On our last day in Egypt, we took a visit to the first real pyramid at Saqqara: the Step Pyramid of Zoser. This is the one that started it all.

We also stopped by the ancient city of Memphis, which at one point was the capitol of the kingdom. It was considered a sophisticated city, but unfortunately, there is very little left except an open garden with some statues that have been found in the region.

The day's highlight was stopping by a local sandwich joint and having some falafel and shwarma. I think it may have been the best meal we had in Egypt and it cost just a fraction of the price--lunch for four of us was only $10!