Egypt, Cairo
Wednesday 18th October
With a bumpy start to our trip and having trouble with our tickets at the UB airport we had three flights to catch to reach our destination, Cairo. They say "the adventure is in the journey", as we had about twelve hours between our first and second flights we decided once we reached Beijing we went to stay in a hotel near the airport. Paige was very happy as she was able to have a swim at the hotel. Our next flight from Beijing to Doha took around eight hours and once we reached Doha airport
we had a nice surprise as we where able to go into the first class lounge while we waited. It was our first time flying with Qatar Airlines and we found the staff very helpful and friendly.
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| Paige outside the first class lounge |
Thursday 19th October
Arrived at the the Cairo International airport and found getting a visa on arrival very easy. All we had to do was pay for a visa sticker from one of the bank booths and put it in our passport.
Waiting to go through immigration was a different story. A number of flights had arrived at the same time so the line that we were in took around one hour to go through the immigration. Once we had located our bags the craziness also continued. With only two spots to exit the baggage hall there were a number of lines that where converging on to the two check points so it was crazy.
Once out we where met by the hotel's driver and it only took around forty minutes to reach the Kempinski Nile Hotel where we were staying.
As the afternoon was fading and the jet lag was catching up with us we had an early evening to ready ourselves for our adventure.
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| Outside the Kempinski Nile hotel , Cairo |
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| Part of our room |
Friday 20th October
We woke up quite early and had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel.
We decided to go see the Liberation Square (Midan El-Tahreer) as this was apart of the Cairo history as the uprising had occurred in early 2012. There wasn't much to see at the square and the area was a circle not a square, some of the locals were gathering for the days activities as we were told they do in the afternoons on a Friday after preys. We didn't stay long and as our next destination wasn't far away, we headed to see the Egyptian Antiquities Museum.
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| Breakfast buffet |
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| Liberation Square (Midan El-Tahreer) |
The Egyptian Antiquities Museum is one of the must see places that any visitor needs to see. The museum built in 1902 and houses the world’s largest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts most of the information says there is more than 120,000 items on display featuring the famous Tutankhamun collection. That was what we really wanted to see.
Once the doors opened we headed straight to the Tutankhamun collection before the room was over run by people. The room it's self is painted black and on entering the temperature changes. The collection was very impressive with Tutankhamun beautiful gold death mask and sarcophagus. We were lucky that the other tourists were quite slow in reaching the room so we had the whole room to ourselves with one other lady so it felt like we had a private viewing.
We wondered through the museum and paid the extra cost to enter the royal Mummy room, which feature a number of mummies. The museum is very old and in need of restoration, it feels it hasn't had any maintenance on the place since its opening in 1902. Most of the displays where in glass wooden framed cabinets which adds to the overall historic feel to the place.
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| The Egyptian Antiquities Museum |
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| Rock carving on the grounds of the museum |
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| One of the floors in the museum |
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| One of Tutankhamun's viscera coffin |
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| Tutankhamun's death mask |
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| One of the jars the internal organs were stored from the king |
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| One of the mummies and coffins |
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| One of the many mummies inside the museum |
We headed back to the hotel for a swim and some lunch which Paige really wanted to do.
In the afternoon we adventured to the Khan Al-Kalili Market which was a short taxi ride from our hotel. There where locals everywhere as there was a very large mosque in the same area. The market is located in the heart of Islamic Cairo. The market was a colourful open-air bazaar which was filled with unique and exotic items from spices, perfumes to jewelry and souvenirs. We found at the time of our visit there wasn't many tourists and the locals were very friendly, "How can I take your money today" and "I have what you want, come inside" rang in our ears. We enjoyed wondering through the lanes and small streets of the market. Getting back to the hotel took a while as everyone wanted to catch the taxis which all you had to do was hail one from the road side.
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| One of the streets at the Khan Al-Kalili Market |
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| A couple of women on the street |
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| Man carrying bread |
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| One of the stalls at the Khan Al-Kalili Market |
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| Spices for sale |
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| Lamps for sale |
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| Some items |
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| Handmade toys |
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| Another section of the market |
Saturday 21st October
Paige decided that after breakfast she wanted to have a morning swim before we headed to the Gizeh Plateau.
We decided that we would take a private tour which I had pre booked to visit Giza before arriving in Cairo.
Gizeh Plateau
The plateau was home to the three great pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure as well as the Sphinx and numerous tombs, and mortuary temples. The Pyramids were built in the 4th Dynasty( circa 2550 B.C). The Pyramids of Ancient Egypt were built as tombs for Kings (and Queens).
It was amazing standing there looking up at the pyramids. We decided to enter the second pyramid which was an extra charge but worth going inside to see what the burial chamber was like. There wasn't anything displayed inside and it was very easy except you had to bend over to walk.
The tour guild arranged for us to have a Camel ride to venture to the desert side and look back over the area. For 120 Egyptian pounds each I think was well worth the cost. It was quite an interesting way to view the pyramids. We made our way to see the Sphinx which was a short drive away. Paige very much liked seeing the Sphinx as did Ben and I.
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| Pyramids from a distance |
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| Bernadette, Ben and Paige standing in front of one of the pyramids |
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| Ben, Paige and Bernadette standing at the base of the Great Pyramid |
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| Paige looking quite tall |
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| Bernadette, Paige and Ben on the camels around the pyramids |
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| View looking back to city from base of Great Pyramid |
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| On the other side looking back at the pyramids |
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| The Sphinx |
Our afternoon was spent looking for some local army uniforms for Ben but to no luck we didnt find any. We did meet some nice local people who where very helpful.
One thing we have found is the Egyptian people are very friendly even most taxi drivers. Everyone likes to give advice on pick pockets and where to go. I didnt know what to expect of the local people but turns out they have been one of the most friendly people we have met on our travels to date. We found getting around town was quite easy using the local taxis. We always check the price before jumping in a taxi to ensure we know how much the fare will cost.
We ventured out to a local Lebanese restaurant not far from our hotel call "Taboula" which was suggested but the hotel staff turns out it had a nice atmosphere and the food was quite pleasant.
Sunday 22nd October
Our last day in Cario before we where to fly out to Luxor. We started our day with another lovely breakfast and Paige wanted to take advantage of another morning swim. Sundays in Cairo is quite slow as many of the sites are closed to being a Sunday. We decided to go check out the Hilton Ramses Mall which was a disappointment especially being a Sunday and many of the stalls were closed. We head back to the hotel and sat by the pool for the rest of the afternoon before we headed off to catch our flight to Luxor.
To sum Cairo up without the history it has in Gizeh and some of the other historic sites there isn't much else on offer here. The people are very friendly and helpful. The city really needs a good clean and rubbish needs to be collected as its everywhere.
