Day 5 & 6 - Aswan to Cairo
Our fifth day was very laid back. We had some free time in the morning and caught a flight to Cairo in the afternoon. Patrick and I had a private cab into the city to our hotel, the Intercontinental Semiramis. When we got to the hotel we were pretty impressed, it was a beautiful hotel. And my favorite part was the food, of course. After living off of rice and pita bread on the ship (the food was definitely lacking), I was excited to go to a five star hotel with an 'international' buffet. We enjoyed breakfast and dinner here everyday. I was sad to go. Though the one thing that was awful was the cigarette smoke. There wasn't one man in Egypt that I saw that didn't smoke, and unfortunately they can still smoke inside, so the hotel (including our room) smelled like a big ashtray. Yuck.
On Day 6 our schedule had us going out to the Pyramids of Giza, but due to elections in the city the next day our guide thought that it would be better to do our tour within the city first. So our first stop was at the Mosque of Mohamed Ali and the Citadel. The citadel dates back to the 1100's, construction was started by Saladin to fortify Cairo against the Crusaders. Egypt's rulers had lived here for 700 years. The most famous building is the Mosque of Mohamed Ali, construction was began in 1830 and took 18 years to build. It was a replica of a Turkish mosque located in Istanbul.
Since the Citadel is located on a hill in Cairo it is rumored to have beautiful views of the city. I say rumored because I don't know that there are ever any days that are clear enough in Cairo to actually see anything. Cairo is located in a desert, a place that rarely (and I mean rarely) rains, it's certainly the biggest city I've ever been to. There are 20 million people living in Cairo, with 5 million more travelling to the city everyday. So needless to say it's a bit dirty and smoggy. Everything looks as though it has a thick layer of dust, and it's difficult to take a deep breath. While I very much enjoyed visiting the city, it did not captivate me like I'm sure that it has others.
After our short tour through the mosque we headed over to the Coptic Christian area of Cairo. The majority of Egypt's population is Islamic, but there are a few Christians and even fewer Jews. The Christians of Egypt have their own sect, known as Coptic. Apparently the differences in theology is quite difficult to explain, and though we visited the churches, our guide was Muslim and couldn't explain it to us. I do know that they have their own pope and the religion is from the family of Oriental Orthodox churches.
We visited two churches in the area. One is known as the Hanging Church, because it's actually hanging. In the main body of the church there is a section of the floor that is cut out with a thick piece of glass overlying it to show you that the church is hanging. Looking down the glass you can see that the church is suspended above the ground. The church was converted from an ancient Roman fortress, where the church is located was originally a gate into the fortress.
The next church we visited was the Church of St Sergius, the oldest church in the walls, constructed in the 3rd century. This church is most famous because it was built over the cave where Joseph, Mary, and Jesus dwelt when the fled to Egypt to escape the persecution of King Herod. The crypt of the church is reported to be where the cave was located.
Our next stop was one of my favorites, the Egyptian Museum. The biggest problem that I had while visiting Egypt was something that I was a part of, tourists. There are sooooo many people. In my life I've been very lucky and fortunate to travel to many places (thanks Mom and Dad!), but Egypt was by far the most overrun with tourists. I wish that I was a billionaire, then maybe I could rent out the pyramids and the Egyptian Museum for a day.
There are so many amazing artifacts in the Museum. I have to admit that walking through the facility I was a little concerned with the upkeep of the building. I find history so fascinating, and I think that it's so important for future generations to be able to have the experience of seeing these artifacts. As I looked around the museum I wondered where all the money for entrance fees went. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of people there (and we were only in the museum for about 2 hours). There are windows broken throughout the museum, dust, and debris. Typically at most museums I've been to you see devices that are meant to regulate heat and humidity. In some I've even seen seismic machines that chart movement within the museum. Here there was nothing, so I certainly hope that there is more conservation going on than I saw.
There is a ridiculous amount of things to see in the museum. Couple that with the crowds, and it's nearly impossible to see everything in one day. So we viewed the highlights, with the most important being the items found in King Tut's tomb, and the display truly is spectacular. You see the golden death mask (24 pounds of solid gold) and his sarcophagus (of course), but there is so much more. The Egyptians believed in life after death, and they believed that you needed what you had in life and more to be prosperous in the afterlife. Tombs were loaded with jewels, gold, oils, incense, beer, wine, food, beds, thrones, etc. On display are the canopic jars, jewelery, statues, couches, thrones, wardrobe, shrines, the list goes on. It was an amazing spectacle and one I'm so happy I was able to see.
What's amazing and sad to me, at the same time is that King Tut was not a Pharaoh for long, and he likely wasn't even a well loved Pharaoh. So I wonder what the other ancient tombs were like? For instance Ramses II lived to be 90 years old and ruled Egypt for 66 years. What might his tomb have held? Can you imagine? And unfortunately that's all we can do, imagine. Maybe sometime in my life another intact tomb might be found, and if that's the case I wonder if they'll need any volunteers?
On our way back to the hotel we stopped by the Bazaar Khan El Khalil, a very important souq in Cairo, dating back to the 14th century. A souq is an Arabic market. It's a labyrinth of shops and streets winding though the city. There are sections selling gold, semi-precious stones, perfume, perfume glass containers, carpets, etc. When we drove up to the bazaar our guide got out and was explaining to us about the bazaar and the best approach to navigating through it. A man dressed in a suit with an identity badge came up and informed our guide that he would be escorting us. She seemed a little put off, but we weren't sure why. The man escorted us through the market, pointing out some interesting sites and keeping the slingers at bay (perhaps because he had a machine gun at his hip.) Later we found out that he was a type of tourist police and that we couldn't have refused his services if we wanted to.
At the entrance of our hotel were some lovely candle holders. I instantly fell in love with them, they were very simply constructed, yet beautiful. I really wanted one. We hadn't purchased much this trip and I wanted to take a couple things home for souvenirs, and this was just the thing. However, I was so put off by the peddlers that when we found some in the bazaar we didn't even inquire about them. I thought that we would have more time, or that I might find some elsewhere, but I didn't. I know that it shouldn't bother me, it was just a 'thing' but dang it they were cool. I've found out that they are Egyptian chandeliers, so perhaps my wonderful hubby will find one online for me and surprise me (hint, hint).
On Day 6 our schedule had us going out to the Pyramids of Giza, but due to elections in the city the next day our guide thought that it would be better to do our tour within the city first. So our first stop was at the Mosque of Mohamed Ali and the Citadel. The citadel dates back to the 1100's, construction was started by Saladin to fortify Cairo against the Crusaders. Egypt's rulers had lived here for 700 years. The most famous building is the Mosque of Mohamed Ali, construction was began in 1830 and took 18 years to build. It was a replica of a Turkish mosque located in Istanbul.
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| My shorts weren't quite long enough. Luckily they supplied this lovely overdress, for a charge, of course. |
Since the Citadel is located on a hill in Cairo it is rumored to have beautiful views of the city. I say rumored because I don't know that there are ever any days that are clear enough in Cairo to actually see anything. Cairo is located in a desert, a place that rarely (and I mean rarely) rains, it's certainly the biggest city I've ever been to. There are 20 million people living in Cairo, with 5 million more travelling to the city everyday. So needless to say it's a bit dirty and smoggy. Everything looks as though it has a thick layer of dust, and it's difficult to take a deep breath. While I very much enjoyed visiting the city, it did not captivate me like I'm sure that it has others.
After our short tour through the mosque we headed over to the Coptic Christian area of Cairo. The majority of Egypt's population is Islamic, but there are a few Christians and even fewer Jews. The Christians of Egypt have their own sect, known as Coptic. Apparently the differences in theology is quite difficult to explain, and though we visited the churches, our guide was Muslim and couldn't explain it to us. I do know that they have their own pope and the religion is from the family of Oriental Orthodox churches.
We visited two churches in the area. One is known as the Hanging Church, because it's actually hanging. In the main body of the church there is a section of the floor that is cut out with a thick piece of glass overlying it to show you that the church is hanging. Looking down the glass you can see that the church is suspended above the ground. The church was converted from an ancient Roman fortress, where the church is located was originally a gate into the fortress.
 |
| Glass cutout in the floor, showing the 'hanging' church. |
The next church we visited was the Church of St Sergius, the oldest church in the walls, constructed in the 3rd century. This church is most famous because it was built over the cave where Joseph, Mary, and Jesus dwelt when the fled to Egypt to escape the persecution of King Herod. The crypt of the church is reported to be where the cave was located.
Our next stop was one of my favorites, the Egyptian Museum. The biggest problem that I had while visiting Egypt was something that I was a part of, tourists. There are sooooo many people. In my life I've been very lucky and fortunate to travel to many places (thanks Mom and Dad!), but Egypt was by far the most overrun with tourists. I wish that I was a billionaire, then maybe I could rent out the pyramids and the Egyptian Museum for a day.
There are so many amazing artifacts in the Museum. I have to admit that walking through the facility I was a little concerned with the upkeep of the building. I find history so fascinating, and I think that it's so important for future generations to be able to have the experience of seeing these artifacts. As I looked around the museum I wondered where all the money for entrance fees went. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of people there (and we were only in the museum for about 2 hours). There are windows broken throughout the museum, dust, and debris. Typically at most museums I've been to you see devices that are meant to regulate heat and humidity. In some I've even seen seismic machines that chart movement within the museum. Here there was nothing, so I certainly hope that there is more conservation going on than I saw.
There is a ridiculous amount of things to see in the museum. Couple that with the crowds, and it's nearly impossible to see everything in one day. So we viewed the highlights, with the most important being the items found in King Tut's tomb, and the display truly is spectacular. You see the golden death mask (24 pounds of solid gold) and his sarcophagus (of course), but there is so much more. The Egyptians believed in life after death, and they believed that you needed what you had in life and more to be prosperous in the afterlife. Tombs were loaded with jewels, gold, oils, incense, beer, wine, food, beds, thrones, etc. On display are the canopic jars, jewelery, statues, couches, thrones, wardrobe, shrines, the list goes on. It was an amazing spectacle and one I'm so happy I was able to see.
What's amazing and sad to me, at the same time is that King Tut was not a Pharaoh for long, and he likely wasn't even a well loved Pharaoh. So I wonder what the other ancient tombs were like? For instance Ramses II lived to be 90 years old and ruled Egypt for 66 years. What might his tomb have held? Can you imagine? And unfortunately that's all we can do, imagine. Maybe sometime in my life another intact tomb might be found, and if that's the case I wonder if they'll need any volunteers?
On our way back to the hotel we stopped by the Bazaar Khan El Khalil, a very important souq in Cairo, dating back to the 14th century. A souq is an Arabic market. It's a labyrinth of shops and streets winding though the city. There are sections selling gold, semi-precious stones, perfume, perfume glass containers, carpets, etc. When we drove up to the bazaar our guide got out and was explaining to us about the bazaar and the best approach to navigating through it. A man dressed in a suit with an identity badge came up and informed our guide that he would be escorting us. She seemed a little put off, but we weren't sure why. The man escorted us through the market, pointing out some interesting sites and keeping the slingers at bay (perhaps because he had a machine gun at his hip.) Later we found out that he was a type of tourist police and that we couldn't have refused his services if we wanted to.
At the entrance of our hotel were some lovely candle holders. I instantly fell in love with them, they were very simply constructed, yet beautiful. I really wanted one. We hadn't purchased much this trip and I wanted to take a couple things home for souvenirs, and this was just the thing. However, I was so put off by the peddlers that when we found some in the bazaar we didn't even inquire about them. I thought that we would have more time, or that I might find some elsewhere, but I didn't. I know that it shouldn't bother me, it was just a 'thing' but dang it they were cool. I've found out that they are Egyptian chandeliers, so perhaps my wonderful hubby will find one online for me and surprise me (hint, hint).
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| Egyptian chandeliers on the left. |
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