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The flight from Nairobi to Cairo was empty - maybe 15 passengers on an Airbus 320. As there was no one on the plane, we enjoyed a nice set of 3 seats each to stretch out and sleep for the 4.5 hour flight. On our way in, we had an aerial view of the pyramids surrounded by a few miles of desert sand, and then we crossed the Nile into Cairo!
We checked into the Hilton Ramses (where we were staying on our hilton points for 3 nights:)). The hotel is beautiful, and we have a great view of the Nile and the city from the 18th floor. We can actually see the pyramids from here (although we mostly just see a silhouette through the thick smog :)). The trumpeting of vehicle horns heard from our room is both laughable and possibly incredibly scary (for sleeping purposes). The smog casts a gray coat across the already tan skyline of highrises visible from here. Hard to believe we see so many people smoking cigarettes around here, as I feel like I'm smoking a pack every time I walk outside (I have never seen smog this bad). After resting from our flight, we ventured outside to grab lunch. Walking across the street was an adventure in itself. There were no street lights from where we were to where we wanted to go. We followed the foot traffic, and watched people just cross a 4 lane highway by simply walking across and expecting the cars to stop. After literally watching for about 5 minutes, and just laughing at how this is supposed to work (and being laughed at by the locals), we starting walking across the traffic. We felt like the little frog in frogger, hopping left and right, forward and back, and just hoping not to be squashed. We had to cross a few of these streets to get where we were going, and each time I couldn't hold back a tremendous (maybe nervous) laugh as we followed the foot traffic and stopped cars to cross the road. Of course, as we're westerners, every taxi driver that passes feels the need to slow down and beep - to check if we need a taxi! More horn noises :)!
Of course, after a few minutes of getting to know each other, the original person's "brother" began to try to sell us perfume oils. It was quite amusing as we could barely understand his english, and yet he was pushing 3 different perfumes so hard - actually spreading some on Jaimie's hands, and telling her to pat them on her cheeks, etc. It was funny to watch, it was hard to refrain from laughing from what we were doing.
We saw Ali on the way out, and he invited us back for a drink later in the week. I have to say that the people of Cairo are very nice. Obviously, they are trying to sell us the city and everything in it, but we've been in some countries that just expect us to spend money in their city, whether they're nice to you or not. It seems like the people of Cairo actually care about their image, want you to come back, and want your friends' (money) too :).
After dinner, we made it a half a block, before a street vendor stopped us and noticed our papyrus tube. He obviously knew we had bought some drawings and wanted to make his sale. With no overhead of tea :), he was able to sell us a painting for about 50% what we had previously paid. His drawings weren't as nicely drawn or painted, so we weren't that interested. These guys sell hard though, and after confirming that we were from the US, he laughed and said, "howdy" very enthusiastically. Doesn't sound that funny, but just watching this guy's reaction was the topping to just a shockingly laughable day. We laughed, and finally gave in to buying a painting and tiny sculpture object (for only $2 each, how could we resist!).
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We had a 5:10am flight this morning, so we were up at the painful hour of 3am to catch the flight. We had arranged for Dominick, our taxi driver last night, to pick us up at 3:30 am. When I made the booking at the Nairobi airport the previous day, I almost prepaid the return fee (as it was a good deal). However, my senses kicked back in, and I said I would pay the return fee to the driver the next morning. Lucky - as the driver was a no show. While we were waiting, we noticed an Egypt air shuttle out front for the crew - so I asked one of the crew members if we could hitch a ride, since we were on their flight to Cairo. He walked over to the captain, who sized us up, and then said sure. The crew was very nice, and we chatted with the captain and co-captain for the 20 minute ride to the airport. They were excited to share their thoughts on Cairo, and definitely made a good first impression of what to expect of the "Mother of All Cities".
When we arrived in Cairo, we paid our $15pp visa entrance fee, and passed through Immigration/Customs. Afterwards, we found the lobby completely empty - very weird for one of the most densely populated cities in the world (16 million people). We did receive the customary approach by a taxi driver (but there was only one in the lobby!), and we took up his offer for a $13 drive to the Hilton Ramses, in downtown Cairo. He actually wasn't our driver, so when he took us to the driver, he asked for a tip (baksheesh). We had read that this was part of their culture, so we obliged with a ~$1 tip. He then hopped in, and decided to try to sell us an all day driver for a tour through the pyramids and city. The more interesting part of our trip to the hotel was learning about the crazy driving on the streets of Cairo. We had experienced the overuse of the horn in central and south america, however, this was no comparison. Drivers in Cairo beep for, what I can only say is, "fun". There can be a line of 20 cars, and we're in the back, beeping (as if the other 18 cars behind the first one wouldn't want to move). This leads to a chorus of various horns blasting on all streets. Incredible. They also have no regard for staying in their lanes, and many times completely ignore the color of the stoplight. 
Anyways, we made it one block, and we started talking to this random guy who appeared to be a taxi driver, sitting on the front of his hood talking to another person on his hood. I figured he would end up asking us if we needed a ride, and since we were in no rush, we started talking. After a few minutes, he asked us to come back to his shop, so he could give us a card of his sister who lives in Seattle (weird, huh?). I was bored, and felt very safe on these streets in Cairo, so we followed him back to his shop (obviously, we had no interest in his sister, but just felt like being polite). When we got to the shop, he offered us the customary tea, which we accepted. We sat down, and he introduced us to his brother, showed us pictures of his sister in Seattle, and pictures of his daughter and her husband. It was funny, as there were 2 other white people in the shop, sipping tea and being sold various items. I glanced over at them, and the one woman glanced up at me. Her stare answered my question - her stare clearly asking, "how did we get here?". 
We managed to escape this shop without buying anything about 30 minutes later. We walked another block and half (note, further than the first block) :). This time, we were just hanging out on the corner, deciding on which restaurant/direction we would choose, when a person approached us and told us we should come in to the cafe behind us and enjoy a drink. We politely declined, and he began the entourage of questions (where are you from, how long have you been here, do you like Egypt). These were the same questions we had received just 30 minutes ago (see where this is going?). We chatted with this person, whose name was Ali, for about 30 minutes. He helped us plan our days in Cairo, in what to see, how to enjoy the Pyramids, etc. After leeching all of this information, he asked us, "Please come to my brother's shop, he lived in Minnesota, I want you to meet him." Here we go again :)
We walked over to the shop, and of course were offered a drink of tea. We ended up accepting (as they informed us not accepting is an insult :). We chatted with Ali's brother, who after about 10 minutes, tried to sell us perfume. Common for brothers to sell perfume :). We declined, and headed downstairs, where they insisted on showing us how papyrus is made. It was an interesting lesson, on how the papyrus stalks/reeds are cut, placed in water for 6 days, and then crossed and pressed for 12 days. We enjoyed the demonstration, which of course led to an attempt to sell us paintings. I had to admit, they looked very nice. We spent about 30 minutes picking through the paintings, and ended up buying a few with a lot of negotiating :). 
We finally made it to a restaurant. Our dining experience started out well, with Taamia (fried fava bean patties), some hummus-like sauce, and baked flat bread. Our main courses were also traditional Egyptian foods, but weren't as good as the starters, and I'm hoping we make it through the night :).
That was it - we had to make it back, so we "froggered" it back, passing the Egyptian museum, which we'll go see tomorrow morning. We were exhausted from the last 2 weeks, and from our flight, so we had our fill of Cairo for the day. We retreated back to the hotel, and just enjoyed the various horn sounds from our room. We have a balcony, so we watched the sun set over the city, as the car head and tail lights came to life. This city has some busy streets, and at 8 pm, we're still hoping these sounds will die down :) (Note: As I edit this webpage, I am serenaded by the sounds of the various horns - it sounds like out of a hollywood movie - just constant concert of horns!)