Recollections and writings on four holidays in Egypt in 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023. Exploring the ancient sites, and a doing a bit of meeting the locals, with my views on a few things.
I had allowed myself 4 days in Cairo to visit the new Grand Egyptian Museum, that isn't open yet. I was looking at 2 days, possibly 3, in the GEM which is only a short walk from my hotel, and then a day deciding what to do next. A visit to Alexandria is still on the cards to explore an old family connection there, but the weather in Alex in February is not good...
In any case I have two days to fill which is easy enough because I have not been to Saqqara since 2017, and since my last visit things have changed.
And I have also been told I should visit the New Museum of Egyptian Civilisation.
Saqqara is a little bit of a journey out from Giza, the time varies with how fast the taxi driver can go... But about 45 minutes is average...
The boss in my hotel is only too happy to sell me a car and guide for the morning, except I don't want the guide, which is going be either him or his father. (The father has lived in the The States I believe so his English is very good, the son's not so good).
He looks a bit disappointed but to be honest I find that guides get in the way, and want to rush you from one place to another too quickly, which is what happened on my last visit. As it turned out my driver was quite a good guide anyway and in exchange I bought him lunch.
The trip cost 60 USD, (I could have used LE but he preferred USD), which included my lunch and the basic entry ticket to Saqqara, I opted to buy the 'extras' ticket which cost a further 180 LE on top of the 200LE I had already paid via the driver. If you have the time an the inclination I would recommend going the whole hog and buying the 440 LE ticket which cover just about everything as it works out cheaper.
Arriving outside the actual site there were the usual souvenir sellers, but of course you are not obliged to buy anything! And anyway they charge far too much, but you are allowed to haggle to your heart's content, but i wouldn't bother because they don't have a very good range of stuff, better to reserve a day and go to proper shops. One of them spoke with a strong West Midlands accent,mainly because he had lived in Wolverhampton for a lot of his life.
Inside Saqqara I was not disappointed as I could now see the Step Pyramid properly, last time I was here it was covered in scaffolding,and also there were fewer visitors so it was quite uncrowded, and I managed to tag on to a group that had an English speaking guide... Always a plus! Somewhere along the line I completely lost my sense of direction during the short video clip, that's not Cairo in the distance at all! Some of the nobles tombs are included in the extras ticket others are not even included in the full ticket.
The Museum of Imhotep is not open as they are giving it a makeover, but all around Saqqara there is more digging going on...
I didn't get a chance to see this on my last visit because the guide was in a hurry...
Just a few pictures but not enough to spoil your visit!
And now we come to a bit about the dreaded mobile phone syndrome.
I don't know how we coped before we had them, 50 years ago if you went on holiday you contacted your family and friends by sending them a picture postcard, depending on where you had gone, and for how long, it was quite usual for you to get back home before the cards did.
These days we seem to have to be in almost constant communication with the rest of the world all of the time, why this should be i really don't know, but I suppose I am as bad as everyone else!
Apart from the normal landlines which is how the internet is still done in most countries, not even fibre optic in many places, Egypt has a fully developed mobile phone system with generally excellent coverage, unless you are in the desert of course because the camels don't use the internet..... The technology of the system is such that you can bring your own mobile with you and it will work.... Generally the coverage is on the 4G network, during my recent trip, over 8 weeks, there was only one occasion when the signal was less than 4G, and that was in a taxi in an underpass in Cairo...
There are 4 main operators, Vodafone, EtiSalat, Orange, and We (Telecom Egypt), to date on various visits I have used 3 of them and found the service overall to be very good, reliable, and economic. You can look them up on the internet to see what deals they are doing for visitors and then buy a SIM card at the airport.
I don't do this because there are always queues at the airport desks, and also I have found that if you find a mobile shop near to where you are staying you will often get a better deal than the standard tourist ones!
This time around I used We where the shop in Giza gave me 4 SIM cards, ideal if you a family or group, for 156LE which included 22.5 Gb of data and 1000 minutes of local calls, (useful because I have friends there I like to chat to), but only 30 SMS, certainly enough for me. Unless you are going to be streaming movies 22.5 Gb is a lot. Each SIM had its own account and could be recharged separately. the basic credit lasted a month but could be topped up which some tourist cards cannot.
Contrary to what you might hear, you can get access to Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp. I don't know why some people have the idea they are banned in Egypt, but what I can tell you is that some of the packages sold by the companies might not include some features, for instance I have friends there who can use WhatsApp for pictures movies and general messaging, even audio messages, but they cannot make an audio or video call. for that they use Messenger or Skype.
What is difficult is if for some strange reason you try to use a VPN because these are not allowed and they are blocked although there are a couple that the government haven't found out about yet so I was able to use those if I needed to appear as though I was in my home country.
So in a small nutshell there is a bit about mobiles and the internet!
Many hotels have a data cap, as do a lot of people in their homes, so although you might apparently have an internet connection nothing seems to happen. What happens here usually is that the staff manage to consume all the data watching videos on YouTube and there is nothing left for the guests!! A bit unfair but life rarely is fair.
A little note about mobiles if you are over 60 and can stay longer than 30 days...
Theoretically your SIM card should be cut off as you cannot get one without a valid visa, and if you are over 60 and staying for a longer period then your visa has expired so you cannot still have an active SIM card.
In practice I have found this doesn't happen because it seems it has to be cut off manually!
This post was originally published on 25th March 2020, and updated and re-dated in April 2020 and again in May 2020 While you might think that Egyptian archaeology is a completed book this is a long way from the truth and discoveries are still being made. During the course of 2019, a new tomb was discovered as Saqqara, and also at Saqqara the Bent Pyramid is now open to the public since 1965, similarly at Dashur a pyramid has been re-opened to the public. The Valley of The Kings has also revealed new secrets, and there have been new discoveries at Aswan, and also out at Fayoum and Abydos to name but a few. And now more is being discovered about the finds that have already been made such as the fact that Hatshepsut died of cancer and had diabetes! There is one tomb that would still be one of the greatest finds in Egyptian archaeology, and to the finder will go much fame, but probably little fortune... The whereabouts of the tomb of Cleopatra has yet to be discovered and while perhaps she is not the greatest of Egypt's rulers, she is certainly one of the most romantic! In October a performance of Verdi's Aida was given in Luxor in front of The Temple Of Hatshepsut, I would dearly loved to have been there as performance of Verdi's greatest (for me anyway), opera in the country where the story was set would be amazing. Many years ago there was a performance done at Giza, maybe some day there will be another and I will be lucky enough to go this time! The plan for spending my winters in Egypt depended a lot on being able to sell my winter house on Crete, which had in any case been up for sale for some time. So getting back to Crete I find that the new petrol station next to my house is now complete and indeed open for business. Exactly why anybody in the day and age would even consider building a brand new gas station is beyond me, particularly as there is one about 700 metres along the road. But this is Greece, and if you own a piece of land you can build on it. So much for town planning, or business planning come to that.... With the exception that this turns out to be the smelliest gas station ever built, mainly because they have leaking pipework and they do not seems to understand that it should not smell..... Having put up with the steadily worsening fume for 6 months I end up writing to BP in the UK to ask them to do something about it as their sign is outside and as they have licensed the petrol station it is their responsibility, or so I feel.... As it is now impossible to sell my house, any future plans have now been shelved!! In addition my 6 monthly check up at the hospital showed that the area of fibrosis on my left lung has got larger. My doctor tells me this is more than likely due to pollution or chemicals in the air. As there is only one thing that has changed in my environment....... Thank you #BP #BPInternational !!!!! By now we are in the throes of the coronavirus ''pandemic'' which has affected less people than the annual 'flu season but has involved people around the world being incarcerated in their homes, often against their wishes, for long periods of time. Welcome to 1984! George Orwell would love it! Up until March I was able to keep in touch with people I met in Egypt who told me that the situation was much as published on various web sites, and like other countries the measures were designed to prevent the spread so to avoid the fact that most countries have ''creaking'' healthcare systems, and there is quite a lot of political mileage in preventing healthcare systems from becoming overloaded..... The coronavirus outbreak has also caused a further delay in the opening of the New Egyptian Museum in Cairo, I don't think many people were actually holding their breath waiting for it to be opened as there have been so many delays in its construction and opening that we are now used to it not being open! Back in February WhatsApp announced that they would no longer be supporting my aged Samsung phone and in the process of upgrading to a newer version of Android I lost all my history and contacts on WhatsApp (in spite of having a back up, which like all back ups never actually works when you need it), as a result I am now no longer in contact with anybody for the latest news ''on the ground''. But I am not finished yet... I still have my blog to complete of my journey to the US and Canada in late 2018, which has never been published as I did not have any photographs... Until last month when finally my hard drive was reclaimed!
I just know this is going to make you laugh. I drive to the airport on the first leg of my journey to Cairo via Athens.... In a snow storm following the tracks of the car in front through slushy snow and water... Yes a snow storm on Crete. You see we do have a winter. There are no flights going from Heraklion because the incoming flights coming from Athens have been delayed by snow in Athens. Eventually two aircraft arrive, the 8am flight leaves 4 hours late, mine doesn't go anywhere because there is a problem with the aircraft as well as the snow. No problem as I had a four hour wait in Athens, three hours later it is clear that I will not be in Athens in time to get my onward flight. No problem they say, we will put you on the night flight from Athens to Istanbul, a good one hour flying time in the wrong direction, and from there you can pick a flight to Cairo and you will only be 12 hours late. No thanks.
So I am spending the first night of my hols in Athens, and then onward to Istanbul and then Cairo the following afternoon, except that at 7.30am they decide that the flight from Athens to Istanbul has been cancelled due to snow at Istanbul airport. Finally I am put on the direct flight from Athens to Cairo to get me there a day late. Which is well and good, but I have a hotel booked, and I have an airport transfer booked, fortunately the transfer company got the message in time to re-arrange the transfer, but I have lost the hotel booking because it is not refundable. (Notice there that I said I had booked an airport transfer? I almost always do that unless it is somewhere that I know. It just saves all the hassle of getting taxis, airport buses etc. after a day travelling, and in this case the transfer rep even meets you before you go through immigration and carries your bags. The Egyptians are wonderful). And at the airport is where your Egyptian Experience begins... The first job is to get an Entry Visa and you can buy this from any of the banks/exchange booths when you change some money into Egyptian Pounds (EL for short), and whatever you read on web sites to the contrary you are going to need cash to buy bottles of water, cups of coffee, and above all to pay tips to everyone that does something for you, and that includes the toilet attendant who gives you a bit of toilet roll to dry your hands on. And you might well need it for ''baksheesh'' which in a way is a bribe, for instance I managed to get photos of the inside of Abu Simbel for the small ''consideration'' of 5 EL (about 25 pence in English money). You might also read of beggars and children approaching you for money as well, although this is not as common as some web sites would have you believe, if you are approached then do remember that giving alms is one one of the tenets of Islam. More often the asker will actually be offering you something, a pack of tissues is not uncommon with children for instance. It is up to you whether you actually take them or not! This type of baksheesh is quite rare in my experience.
The biggest problem you will have here is having any coins to give! You just don't see them that much although they do exist, even 1 EL coins and notes are a rarity and you have to be really insistence with shop keepers (who want the odd 5 EL from you so that they can give you large notes for your change), that you do not have any small notes! Tour guides always seem to have quite a stock of coins which is a very good reason to take guided tours and you will often see them give odd coins to security guards at archaeological sites for no apparent reason. Having got your visa sticker and stuck it in your passport, you will then pass through immigration where they stamp it and take the boarding card you filled out on the aircraft and then it's time to get your baggage. After that you get your passport inspected once again as you leave baggage reclaim and you are out in the big wide world where you will be mobbed by taxi drivers and their helpers (who will want a tip for carrying your bags). Welcome to Egypt! On the way from Cairo airport into the city you will realise why you do not want to rent a car, if there are supposed to be two lanes on the highway, the Egyptians will make three, if there are three lanes they will make four. Indeed in many places there are no road markings at all and you need a pretty strong stomach to sit in the front passenger seat of a car! Surprisingly there seems to be very few accidents although a lot of cars seem to have rounded corners! On your way you will get your first sight of security measures as there are frequently check points manned by army and police, both armed, and that ''sentry box'' that looks empty probably isn't because there is the barrel of a machine gun sticking out of the window. Sometimes the inspection is cursory, sometimes the boot is opened and they will check who is in the car. And when you arrive in your hotel you get the second sight... Every hotel has an X Ray machine and the good old metal detector arch just like in the airport. My hotel receptionist is delighted to see me and finds it very amusing that I am a day late due to bad weather..... I ask about a refund for the first night as it was not my fault. ''No'' is the answer, ''but I have upgraded your room to a Nile view suite''! And quite right too, after all it is a Novotel, and they are part of Accor and they own Raffles in Singapore where I have stayed twice and paid a fortune for the pleasure! Early night called for after something to eat, and my tour guide for tomorrow has sent me an SMS to say he will be picking me up at 6.30am. Well actually he won't because I am on holiday and I tell him that it is going to be 8.30am and no earlier, but when I get downstairs for breakfast he is already there so I take him for breakfast.... And the Egyptians certainly know about breakfast, a buffet with virtually everything you could want (except bacon of course, but then they do do that wonderful smoked beef), and while we are at it we discuss the day's plan..... And we are not doing that either because there is not time for coffee anywhere in the schedule. Adjustments will need to be made!
Would you believe I am quite excited by all this? Well I am! Something about the very name ''Cairo'' is doing it. Somehow the remote and mysterious East is stirring within me.... And at my age that doesn't happen as often as I would like. There is almost something romantic about it all..... We have ahead of us 4 days of concentrated history ahead of us, and what I don't want is archaeological (and cultural) overload which is why I discussed the itinerary with my guide, (who is called Jesus by the way), and anyway it makes less work for him! Driving out of Cairo in daylight is a bit of a surprise, I think I am being taken by the prettiest route though, but what is surprising is the large number of unfinished apartment blocks. I live in Greece and we have a fair number of those
but nothing like the ones I am seeing here. They are vast condominiums, not just a block of half a dozen. And many of them are dull drab khaki colour, but that of course is just the colour of Egyptian concrete, in Greece it is darkish grey. Some are just skeletons while others are partially completed, and even partly occupied.
Getting out of Cairo is surprisingly quick and we are heading for Dahshur and my first taste of a pyramid in the flesh!
For many I guess that leaving Cairo for the country would be a bit of a culture shock, but this is the Egypt where donkeys are still an everyday mode of transport, and many buildings are a bit dilapidated to say the least, and there is a lot of dust, and a fair amount of rubbish blown into corners, and the infrastructure is variable to say the least, the roads are rough and there are speed humps every so often, (which means the drivers race a break neck speed from one hump to the next and brake heavily when they get there.
Most of the roads follow canals that bring water for irrigation from the Nile quite some distance away, the banks of the canals are obviously a good place for dumping rubbish...... You certainly would not want to go for a swim in them..... And there are date palms! Dahshur reached we have a bit of a problem getting past the security guard and the policeman at the gate. In spite of the fact that we already have tickets money changes hands but my guide remains unfazed by it all! Of course the first visit is to one of the most famous pyramids, The Bent Pyramid
of Sneferu about 4,600 years ago, one of the first attempts at a true pyramid it, still has its outer casing of limestone nearly intact. According to my guide there are various reasons why the outer casings on all other pyramids have disappeared, it seems some say erosion removed it, by my guide follows the theory that the outer skins were removed on purpose to be used elsewhere! Nobody was around at the time who can actually tell us.... Here also we find the Red Pyramid, which is made from red limestone, hence the name. It didn't look red to me which is why I asked, ''Why do they call it the Red Pyramid?'' Doh...... Built be Sneferu again it was the second bash at getting it right. If you are into a bit of engineering then you will appreciate the technology behind the construction, and how difficult it must have been for the ancient Egyptians to actually build these things. Which is why they had a few attempts and a couple of disasters before they got it right. Indeed building pyramids became something of a family hobby after this because his son, Khufu, built, or rather commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Tim's Tip of The Day. If you want to see pyramids then you have to go to Cairo because that is where they mostly are...... Dahshur is quite a spread out site and there are other things to see if you have the time and inclination, there is a fair amount of walking over not very good terrain so if you are not a ''walker'' you might find that you get
tired quickly, and that goes for nearly all Egyptian archaeological sites. But we are off to Saqqara, probably best known for the Step Pyramid, one of the first attempts at a true pyramid.... Unfortunately it was surrounded by scaffolding when we got there, which was a bit disappointing, but there is lots more to see, and some great opportunities for photographs once you have fought your way past the row of stalls selling some unbelievably tacky souvenirs.... (It's a common problem in any country so we will not single out Egypt as the worst case, I think Peru is the worst!).
My guide, and at this point I should say that I was his only tourist that day, has found somebody who is interested in what he has to say, and actually asks some astute questions, (well astute for me anyway), and is waxing lyrical about Old Kingdoms, Middle Kingdoms, First Dynasty, Third Dynasty, Fifth Dynasty.......... Indeed, even the not so humble average Nile boatman knows all about this stuff. You think his only talent is shinning up a felucca mast to take down the sails, well beware because if you start him off with an idle question you will get a potted history of Egypt. And hats off to them I say, they are proud of their history and have every right to be.
Saqqara is a big site, apart from Djoser's Step Pyramid there are another 15, (or was it 16?), pyramids built by various kings of Egypt, plus a vast amount of other nobles' tombs. Well every court has its ''hangers on'', I have a few myself. There is a bit of graffiti in one of the building too, you have to take a picture of it even though you do not know what it says. Strangely my guide seems a little disinclined to tell me. There is also a tomb that you can go down to and for many visitors if they are starting their tour in Cairo then this will be their first Egyptian tomb.... The way in and out is easy enough but if yu are a bit claustrophobic you might have a problem! (The Valley of The Kings is easier).
We missed lunch! So it is back to Cairo and something to eat. My guide is a bit surprised when I ask him to eat with me, but I am a sole traveller. Back in the hotel I collect my thoughts and go through my dozens of photos taken that day. Tomorrow is a big day......
The Pyramids at Giza has got to be one of the highlights of Egypt. Is there anybody in the World who has not seen a picture of them?? Just for a change I am up early because this is gong to be a busy day...... My hotel is not far from the Egyptian Museum so when Jesus comes to collect me we are going there first. He already has the entry tickets but I want to take my camera in with me so I have to pay a bit extra. The Egyptian Museum is not huge by European standards, and by those standards it is not the ''best'' museum either. Indeed it all seems a bit haphazard and not very well kept. Everybody apologises for it and says it will be so much better when they open the New Museum ''next year''. But this is Egypt and things
do seem to be a bit haphazard at the best of times so it does not come as a surprise. It has, nonetheless, some of the prime exhibits of Egyptian artifacts of any museum in the world, (except perhaps for The Louvre where a lot of Egyptian things seem to be housed). We walk around and I take photos, some of it is a bit gruesome as a do not really want to walk around a room full of mummified bodies. Persons of a nervous dispostition take note. But what did surprise me was the fact that they mummified animals as well. A favourite dog or cat to take with you into the afterlife perhaps, but a sheep or a goat?? What's going on there then??
And then finally we get to the Tutankhamen display, so many glass cabinets, and a small army of women armed with a bottle of Windex and a yellow duster, except that the dust is on the inside of the glass not the outside, but somehow it does not detract from what you are looking at. Up to this point my guide stays with me, and then we get to the holy of holies, the room where you are not allowed to take photos, and guides are not allowed because they take up to much space and make too much noise although he gives me some advice on the layout before I go in, except there is something I have not told him yet. Inside THE room we find King Tut's sarcophagus,
various bits of jewellery, and the ultimate piece, that death mask of solid gold although the Japanese couple taking selfies with a mobile phone rather detracts from the atmosphere, and the security guard is having problem with them because they do not speak English, (I bet they do), and they do not understand the sign with a large picture of a camera and a mobile phone with red lines through them....
But I am here in Egypt looking at King Tut's death mask in its rightful place... In Egypt.
Absolutely choked. I am having a moment. The last time I felt like this was walking into St Peter's in Rome, where I had to have a tall Italian to hold me up. I leave the room after a few minutes in deep thought, my guide meets me and starts to speak to me , and then asks if I am OK.
''No. I am fine but I want to go now....'' Sitting outside in the sun while we wait for the driver he asks me again what I thought of it all. Blase as ever, I reply ''Well I have seen it before but somehow it is completely different seeing it here, in Egypt'' ''You have seen it before?'' ''Yes. In London in 1972. I queued for hours.... But this is his home'' Lunchtime... And we go to a restaurant that has a view of The Sphinx. Not many restaurants can boast that. Somewhat surprised as I think the only pictures I have seen of The Sphinx it is miles from anywhere. But of course like any city Giza has grown and now borders right on to the Pyramids and Sphinx.
But first the Pyramids which are way over the other side of the hill..... You can see as many pictures as you like of something but seeing the real thing is completely different because you never quite get the scale of things right. And the Great Pyramid of Khufu, (it is the Greeks that called him Cheops), is indeed awe inspiring, and truly deserves its place as one of the 7 Wonders of The Ancient World, indeed it is the only
one left virtually complete! Which says quite a lot about the builders! I just know I am going to get the statistics any moment now.... As Jesus starts I complete the sentence..... ''built by Khufu who was the second Pharoah of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom''. Silence.... Then ''You have been doing some reading have you?'' ''Yes''...... ''And earlier we saw the only statue of him in the museum.''
The subject of slavery rears its ugly head. Hollywood would have us believe that everything in Egypt was built by slaves, probably with Charleton Heston leading them, but current thinking is that they did not use ''slaves'' in the way that we use the term. Indeed fairly recent research concludes that the workforce building the Great Pyramid were well treated and were probably peasants who were unable to farm their land during the Nile flood periods. Wherever they came from they had their work cut out building the Great Pyramid. We can but marvel at man's ingenuity.
Of course there are other pyramids at Giza and although we get time to look at them we have a timetable which includes a camel ride.... Tim's Tip of The Day... Never, under any circumstances, try riding a camel... But you are going to do it anyway so why am I wasting my breath? It is possibly the most uncomfortable and nerve wracking experience known to mankind, unless of course you are Arab in which case it is second nature to walking, and why walk when you have a camel? It is nothing like riding a horse, or even a donkey, and they can be a bit uncooperative at times. But on the plus side the camel will kneel down to let you mount it. And the best way that I can describe the ''ride'' is that it is a bit like a bicycle where the spokes have been adjusted so that the wheels are oval instead of round, except that the ''ovality'' seems to vary at random. All the time you're expecting to get used to the motion but it doesn't happen. The sole saving grace is that the camel driver has the most stunning eyes, which is the only bit of him that you can see because he is wearing the full ''Lawrence'' costume.
Returning to base after an interminable 30 minute trek around the Pyramids, Jesus is waiting for me. And he is smiling, but I am about to get my own back because as he approaches the camel which is sitting down to let me get off, the camel sticks its nose straight into his crotch. While we are trying to get a ''group photo'' the camel is constantly fascinated by him and his crotch. Jesus maintains that it's because he sometimes has food in his ''fanny bag''. When I start to say ''Well it is quite a good looking camel'' Jesus replies, ''Do not do any camel jokes.''
See, I told you they had a sense of humour. The last event for the daylight hours is, of course, the Sphinx, and the ultimate photo call that you only do once in a lifetime. The Sphinx is a mystery. It is carved directly out of of the bedrock, (which was also used to build the Pyramids), but some of it is now made from blocks of stone to replace the parts that have been eroded away, you can make up your own story if you wish. The buildings nearby are fascinating, the interlocking of the blocks of stone is incredible if you look closely enough. Time for a trip back to the hotel and a wash and brush up before the evenings activities. No piece for the wicked when you are in Egypt! On the schedule for the evening is a felucca ride on the Nile followed by an evening of entertainment on a cruise boat that doesn't go anywhere with ''a show''. Cairo in January is not the warmest place in the world, especially at night, and there is no way I am going sailing in the dark even though the lights of Cairo look very nice from my upgraded Nile view suite at the Novotel El Borg with the heating on. Jesus knows this so he is taking me from my hotel direct to the ''cabaret'' show, which will be a novelty in as much as they serve alcohol on the boat (that doesn't go anywhere). The entertainment is a ''whirling dervish'' and a belly dancer..... I ask Jesus to join me for dinner, (he gets his free anyway but usually eats apart from his guests, but as I point out, I am a sole traveller), it was a good move on my part because he is now thawing out a bit. I will not say too much about the cabaret except that the belly dancer is, apparently, world class, and comes from the USA... The whirling dervish is, well, a whirling dervish.... It is impressive in its own way, and of course very energetic..... But if, during your visit to Egypt, you manage to miss either show then I wouldn't worry to much!!
A final note on The Pyramids and The Sphinx.....
There is a ''sound and light show'' (used to be called Son et Lumiere when I was a boy, but it seems nobody can speak French anymore), done in front of the Sphinx. It is worth attending even if it a bit fanciful at times, the commentary is excellent and there is some excellent music played through a very good sound system. Somebody did make the comment that it made it look like Las Vegas, and in a way it did, but my dream would be to see Aida staged at the Pyramids. It has been done once but is unlikely to ever be done again! And there's me on that bloody camel again, in the middle of nowhere expecting any minute that Omar Sharif will arrive to rescue me from the clutches of white slave traders........
I think on reflection that a day off between what has gone before, and this day's sightseeing would have been a good idea..... Coptic Cairo is around about the original Cairo before the Nile moved west. The architecture here is a bit of a hotch potch as it was influenced by the Romans, Greeks, Ottomans.... You name it, and there are more Christian churches than you can poke a stick at, and a fair number of mosques as well. The churches date back to when Egypt was a majority Christian country. I am going to let the pictures do the talking here..... There are some interesting doorways, I like door ways because I always want to know what is on the other side of them... Possibly the most notable of the churches are The Hanging Church which is not hanging as much as it used, The Church of St. George, and a visit to Ben Ezra Synagogue is also a must... Nearby is the original ''Old Bazaar in Cairo'', and also The Citadel of Saladin who always seemed to be in TV programmes and films about the Crusades. This is a busy day and you are going to need a good strong cup of coffee.... There are a fair amount of Roman ruins around as well which are worth a picture or two. And I must be honest trying to do this amount in a day is difficult, depending on your level of interest I would say that two days might just about be enough, particularly if you wanted to visit a couple of the other mosques.
Sorry to say, but I would have liked to spend more time digging around in the souk and a bit less time in the churches, but there you go. There is also a Coptic Museum which I found out afterwards is also well worth a visit!!
I mentioned somewhere that there is a certain amount of dust and rubbish floating around, here is a typical side street in Cairo...... But finally we get to the souk and even the cats are having mid morning coffee...
And I get to go to just about the oldest cafe in Cairo, El Fishawy has been in business for 200 years, much frequented by famous people such as King Farouk and Roger Moore. The coffee is of course Turkish coffee, and throughout Egypt they call it that. A hangover from the Ottoman Rulers no doubt. (In Greece we call exactly the same thing Greek coffee)
The souk is a busy place with lots of things going on, and some interesting architecture to boot. During our coffee break there is a ''brochure'' sitting on the table detailing a new property development somewhere on the outskirts of Cairo, I forget the actual name of it, but thought it was a bit of an odd name considering the surrounding area is desert, but I ask Jesus about the vast unfinished complexes I have seen. It seems that many of them are developments by families, each member of which has a share in it, the number of shares depending on how much money they have put it into it. So one person may own more than one apartment in the building, and might complete their part of it before anybody else, which is why you see one finished apartment on the 10th floor when nothing else is finished. It seems there is also a tax reason as nobody pays tax until the who;e lot is finished but as usual the government is being mean about it and now passes laws to make people pay the tax before it is finished! Much like Greece except that I mention the legality of buildings, many of which in Greece are still not legal. The difference here is that the government insist they are pulled down and cannot be rebuilt. Now there's a good idea. We take a wander around the souk and I find some interesting things to take pictures of..... While my guide is getting a bit tetchy because we are running behind schedule, and there is me thinking I have got him trained!!
But we are off to the Citadel, which if nothing else, gives some fine, although slightly smoggy, views across Cairo. In the surrounding grounds of the Citadel the are some fine examples of Egyptian topiary which they seem to be very fond of, I am not sure where this originates but I am guessing they inherited it from the Ottomans...
The mosque is an imposing edifice, and well worth a look inside. There are a lot of mosques, nearly as many mosques in Egypt as there are churches in Greece, and the are still building more, the sound of the call to prayer in the evening is quite haunting, especially when you are hearing it from severl directions at once.
The photo outside the mosque makes me look fat........ A couple of months after this photo was taken I was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, initially they thought it might be a pulmonary infection but it wasn't, however it put paid to any flying for twelve months....
Tomorrow is a day off from sightseeing...... And I bid farewell to my guide for the last four days with the promise that I will give him a good review on TA and a handsome tip for him and the driver.....
