Cairo, Egypt - Enter the City and Cross The Nile

5/15/2012 We passed the Pyramids and turned east through Giza and into Cairo.  This was our first view of the city streets and buildings.

I could see apartment buildings in the distance. Construction was in all phases.

 This building appeared to be finished with a light blue exterior

 Some of the apartments were finished with glass doors.  Some interior work hadn't started yet.

 This was a really tall building with curved balconies. It should have a nice look when it is finished.  You see the concrete floor/walls with the bricks still unfinished.

 It looks like someone has moved in to an apartment in the center area.  The nice balconies are finished with railing, and the ceiling and windows are installed.

I saw this area peaking through the trees and was able to get a quick photo.  Some of the buildings are under construction and some are finished and painted.

 The fields are still being worked.  Interesting to have a food area in the middle of all of the apartments.

Some of the buildings have the finished stucco.

 There doesn't appear to be a "homeowner's association" here and one can paint what ever color suits.  The walls are mostly stuccoed, with a little bit of finishing needed.

This is a huge building and it looks like a lot of the corner units have finished the balconies.  My guess is that the interior is finished also. The building appeared to be full.  A lot of cars in the parking lot.

 This is the same building with a closer look.  Some of the balconies are glassed in and some aren't. There is a dark open window on the next to the top floor.  Notice that there are also satellite dishes on the roof top.

We saw a lot of buildings that looked like this.  Construction not finished and the cement structures and brick showing (no stucco or other covering).  I gathered that the taxes on unfinished construction are lower than on finished buildings.  I don't know what percentage of buildings started in the Phoenix metro area (my home town) are abandoned with the latest financial problems.  It looks like there was rapid growth that stopped just as suddenly.

This building had a lot of pottery on the outside. I don't know if this is a store or an art exhibit!

 Road layout had exit ramps. Good.  The exits on the highway system (dirt roads at right angles!) made me a bit nervous.  I can still see people walking on the roads.

 I don't know what was going on here. A van was pulled over and there seemed to be a congregation of people.

Our first view of the Nile River. There are islands in the middle and they seem to be used mainly as farmlands.

 A closer view shows animals, single story homes, and crops.

Billboards!! Somethings are universal.

 As we crossed the island we could see the high rise buildings in the background.  It is amazing to see such different landscapes all in one photo.

 One side of the river is covered with farmlands.

 And the other side shows very tall business and apartment buildings. The city streets are alive with the traffic.

 We came upon another group of apartments.  The seem to be build on the land rising from the river.

Unfinished, but there are a million satellite dishes.  I guess that this strikes me as odd because I don't own a satellite dish.  But I do have cable.  So maybe the general delivery systems are just different.

We finally made it to Cairo.  I'm so excited to get to see the pyramids up close and personal.