* Pictures noted are bottom to top - We left Jordan and our new friends, Eyad and Ashrif, with a sad heart. The flight to Cario was short (1.5 hours) and very comfortable. From the airport we were met by a car from our hotel, The Nile Hotel, Cario's second oldest. While the city was more modern and clean than we anticipated, the traffic was terrible - as is usually the case during the work week (Sunday through Thursday).
By late afternoon we finally arrived at the hotel, went through tight security (a common occurance in Egypt), and at check in were pleasantly surprised with an upgrade to a suite - a huge bedroom with large terrace, bathroom, living room with double terrace - all with amazing views of the Nile River (picture 1).
As luck would have it, we seized on a chance to take a bus from the hotel to Giza and meet up with our Napa friends, Helen and Elvon, who were in the Caio area as a part of their Middle Eastern trip (continuing on to Jordan and Israel after Egypt). Within 30 minutes of settling into our hotel room we were on the bus to the Sphinix/Pyramids sound and light show in Giza (picture 2) where we found our friends. After an intersting somewhat tedious show, we joined them on the tour bus back to their hotel, Mena House (oldest hotel in Cairo). Once there we enjoyed a nice dinner with less-than-terrific service (especially when the waiter dropped Richard's camera) which didn't stop our laughing and sharing travel stores, updates about Napa, and just having so much fun (picture 3). After dinner we got a taxi to take us back to our hotel in central Cairo (about 45 minutes in heavy traffic).
After a great night's sleep we contacted Ibraham, a driver used by the Swedish embassy and recommended to us by the person who helped coordinate our itinerary in Egypt (he lived in Egypt when his wife was with the Swedish Embassy). Again, we lucked out - not only was Ibraham available to drive us around Cairo on such short notice, but he was very reasonably priced. As it turned out he was just the most fabulous person and for the next day and a half, with his invaluable help we enjoyed a 'sampling' of all areas of Cairo. We so enjoyed his company as he drove us around and then literally took us by hand (even across busy freeways, picture 4) to places he felt we needed to see and experience in the short time we had available. His enthusiasum and pride in his city was contagious which gave us the unique opportunity to see the city of Cairo in another dimension.
Areas visited including (just to mention some) Islamic Cairo - the Citadel (picture 5) including the beautful Mohammad Ali Mosque (picture 6), Northern Cemetery (aka 'The City of Death') where people are buried and also live, Khan al-khalili (one of the biggest markets in the Middle East, picture 7), Mosque of al-Azhar (founded 970 AD, one of the oldest in the city, picture 8), Mosque of Sultan Hassan (finest example of Mamluk architecture, picture 9); Coptic Cairo - Church of St George (picture 10), Church of St Barbara (largest and finest church in Cairo), Ben Ezra Synagogue (Egypt's oldest synogogue); and Old Cairo - Mosque of Amr ibn al-Aas (first place of Islmaic worship in Egypt in 640 AD).
Besides these visits around the city of Cairo, Ibraham also brought us back to Giza where he negotiated a great deal for us to ride horses around the Sphinix and Pyramids (picture 11). With a walk down a side street to the back (animal) entrance (picture 12) we got off our horses to fight our way through the packed camels and horses (and all the 'mess' that goes with that) to a safe spot on the inside of the gates while our guide, Ali, brought our horses through to join us. For the next 1.5 hours in fall temperatures of 75 F we rode our horses and were completely awestruck by the grandeur and miracle of these massive structures (pictures 13, 14).
After our ride we visited a nearby perfume and papyrus factory where we learned the ancient Egyptian art of making papyrus for artwork and perfume from real flowers. We had a great time and the good perfume smells at the end were a nice relief from all the animal smells we inhaled previously.
With Ibraham's guidence we also enjoyed great Eyptian cuisine. On our first tour day we ate lunch at the Citadel View Restaurant located in a beautiful public park next to the Citadel. Our table offered us a wonderful panoramic views of the city below as we dined on delicious grilled pigeon and lamb chops. The second day, Ibraham joined us for lunch at one his favorite places located in the heart of Islamic Cairo which we never would have found on our own. While it was a dark place upstairs over the street, the grilled plates (lamb, chicken, kofe), hummus (3 kinds), tomato and cucumber salad were just outstanding (picture 15).
On our last day in Cairo we spent a few hours visiting the Egyptian Museum located just next door to our hotel (picture 16). What an amazing place just brimming with all kinds of ancient Egyptian artifacts (more than 120,000 items on exhibit and 150,000 items in storage - bigger facility to open in 2011). We saw the Tutankhamun Galleries including his death mask, 2 inner jeweled coffins, jewlery, and solid gold throne - more than 1,700 items in all. Also included in the museum were rooms dedicated to items from the Old Kingdom, New Kingdom, Ancient Egyptian Jewelry, Amarna Room, etc. So much to see and almost too overwhelming to absorb in just one visit (unfortunately no photos allowed).
By the time we finished the Museum it was late afternoon so we returned to the Hotel to catch up on emails and read before Mohammad (our contact) met us at 7 pm to review the itinerary and take us to the Giza train station for our 11 hour trip to Luxor.
No comments:
Post a Comment