IN THE DAYLIGHT we looked out of the tall, elegant windows of our chic hotel and saw that our neighbors across the way (we were many floors up) had piles of trash on their roofs, which I videotaped. We had been woken up, incidentally, at 7:15 a.m. by Ramses and his wife, who seemed eager to hang around with us for the day. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that, but decided not to fight it in case there was a reason for it.

An elaborate breakfast buffet was included in the room price—scrambled eggs, crêpes, croissants, tomatoes, potatoes, coffee and more—served in a fancy old dining room filled with non-Egyptians.

Seeking a little more local flavor, we scanned through our Lonely Planet book again and decided to check out an interesting-sounding place called the Windsor Hotel, located in a more exotic section of Cairo. It described splendid double rooms for less than $30, including bath, plus a belly dancing show. While Joy went to change money I took off with Ramses and his wife in a taxi to look at the Windsor. They could easily afford the Cosmopolitan but were willing to switch in order to stick close to us.

FROM THE WINDSOR'S WEBSITE: Located in the heart of Cairo's shopping, business and theater districts, the hotel is within walking distance of some of the city's most celebrated attractions.  The Egyptian Museum, Opera Square, Khan Khalili Bazaar, Abdine Palace and the River Nile are just steps away and the Cairo Metro (subway) is easily accessible for points further afar.  The Windsor Hotel is an oasis of tranquility amid the bustle of downtown Cairo.  The Windsor is also a venerable Cairo institution and boasts a rich history and warm hospitality. Built at the turn of the century as the baths of the Egyptian royal family, the Windsor served for many years as a colonial British officers club before being purchased by a Swiss hotelier as an annex of the legendary Shepherds Hotel and converted into the 'Hotel Windsor-Maison Suisse.'  Today, the Windsor's guestrooms retain an ambiance of faded grandeur and the hotel's famous Barrel Bar remains a popular Cairo rendezvous.  More recently, the Hotel has been featured in a number of Egyptian and Hollywood films.

The Windsor was the last word in “faded glory.” Across the street men were sitting around smoking from their water pipes. I took an enormous corner room that included a living area, armoires, a huge bathroom, tall ceilings and views of noisy, smelly, charming Cairo streets, and the Indian couple reserved a similar room for themselves.

Besieged by tour operators at every turn, we made our way back to the Cosmopolitan and met up with Joy. Here we split up as Ramses and his wife wanted to visit the pyramids while we wanted to see the mummies. Again leaving our packed bags in the lobby, we walked through the crowds to the Cairo Museum, risking our lives each time we crossed a street, dodging honking cars, motorcycles and assorted reckless vehicles.

WHO ARE THE EGYPTIANS?
… Egypt was first dominated by the orange man, then by the green, followed by the indigo (black) man, and still later by a mongrel race of indigo, blue, and modified green men. [728]

[When the Adamites in Mesopotamia] suffered from population pressure, instead of making war to secure more territory, they sent forth their excess inhabitants as teachers to the other races. The cultural effect of these earlier migrations was not enduring, but the absorption of the Adamite teachers, traders, and explorers was biologically invigorating to the surrounding peoples. Some of the Adamites early journeyed westward to the valley of the Nile. . . . [870

For more than thirty thousand years Egypt received a steady stream of Mesopotamians, who brought along their art and culture to enrich that of the Nile valley. But the ingress of large numbers of the Sahara peoples greatly deteriorated the early civilization along the Nile so that Egypt reached its lowest cultural level some fifteen thousand years ago. [889]

The crowds were dense at the famous museum, mostly schoolchildren with their teachers and foreign tour groups, but relatively few Western-style tourists. Here we viewed incredible displays of ancient Egyptian treasures, including the mummies and ancient artifacts.  

After exploring as much as we could, we foraged our way to the Hilton Hotel for information on the bus from Cairo to Israel, which we were advised to book in advance as soon as possible. We were directed to a travel agent who proved impossible to find. Instead we wandered into a different place and bought the tickets (E110 pounds each, about $30) for Wednesday morning, leaving at 5 a.m. from the Sheraton Hotel.

Joy: “There was also an annoying but relatively harmless scam that we fell for more than once. It worked like this: Once we were on a street corner, map open, trying to find our way through the confusing streets of Cairo. A friendly youth approached us and asked if he could help us with directions. We told him where we were trying to go, and he replied, “I'll take you there. Follow me."  We followed him for a block and suddenly he darted into a shop, motioning us to follow him inside. The shop turned out to belong to his brother, who  then attempted to sell us something. In fact, as we learned later, the shop was in the opposite direction of the street we were trying to find!”  

Returning to the Cosmopolitan, we picked up our bags and took a taxi to the Windsor. After settling into our spacious corner room, which had windows all around looking out on colorful street scenes, we went downstairs to the historical Barrel Bar for a drink, to write postcards and do some people-watching.

 
The view from our hotel window, taken with a zoom lens.
The famous Barrel Bar
The lounge

Afterwards we took a walk down one of the main streets near the hotel. Every person we made eye contact with smiled back at us—men, women and children. These people seemed very friendly and hospitable, and some were eager to practice their English on us. Several times college-age Egyptians walked up to us to ask where we were from and how we liked Cairo. 

Around eight we returned to the hotel to try out its restaurant, to see who else was staying here and to sample some Egyptian food at the same time. (We were expecting to bump into our Indian friends but they never appeared.)

The dining room

Alas we were the lone diners in the fancy dining room. It was a fixed menu—lentil soup, bread, a macaroni/rice dish, vegetarian falafels with potatoes and lima beans in a sauce—good but so filling that by the time the main course arrived we were full. We also drank a bottle of Egyptian wine. The two waiters tried to strike up our acquaintance and offered to escort us after midnight to a belly dancing show, but we declined their invitation. Instead we headed back to our room, still being on an “early-to-bed” schedule, and went straight to sleep.

THE ANDITES ALONG THE NILE

From the times of the terminal Andite migrations, culture declined in the Euphrates valley, and the immediate center of civilization shifted to the valley of the Nile. Egypt became the successor of Mesopotamia as the headquarters of the most advanced group on earth.

The Nile valley began to suffer from floods shortly before the Mesopotamian valleys but fared much better. This early setback was more than compensated by the continuing stream of Andite immigrants, so that the culture of Egypt, though really derived from the Euphrates region, seemed to forge ahead. But in 5000 B.C., during the flood period in Mesopotamia, there were seven distinct groups of human beings in Egypt; all of them, save one, came from Mesopotamia.

When the last exodus from the Euphrates valley occurred, Egypt was fortunate in gaining so many of the most skillful artists and artisans. These Andite artisans found themselves quite at home in that they were thoroughly familiar with river life, its floods, irrigations, and dry seasons. They enjoyed the sheltered position of the Nile valley; they were there much less subject to hostile raids and attacks than along the Euphrates. And they added greatly to the metalworking skill of the Egyptians. Here they worked iron ores coming from Mount Sinai instead of from the Black Sea regions.

The Egyptians very early assembled their municipal deities into an elaborate national system of gods. They developed an extensive theology and had an equally extensive but burdensome priesthood. Several different leaders sought to revive the remnants of the early religious teachings of the Sethites, but these endeavors were short-lived. [894]

For ten thousand years religion in Europe was at a low ebb as compared with the developments in India and Egypt. [891]

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