Bursting with ancient history as well as present culture, Cairo eludes a magnetism which draws visitors from all over the globe. This mainstream city is sealed with so many charming entities, and personally, for us, the chaos thereof tends to fade into a back round noise.
We arrived three days ago, and have been entertained with so many activities, that we are left exhausted and sight satisfied every single night.
Cairo is a very user friendly city, and allows easy access to all there is to see and do via Metro Trains, taxis and local buses. Also, once you get more familiarized with the place, you come to realize that walking is another worthwhile possibility.
For the above mentioned reasons, we found the location of the Ismailia House Hotel at the Midan Tahrir an excellent choice on our behalf. This inexpensive Hotel/Hostel is situated on the eighth floor of an office building and provided us with a bright room overlooking the centre. Having plenty of rooms to choose from, all inclusive of breakfast as well as access to television and internet and very friendly and helpful staff, this hotel promised a pleasant stay.
As most of the budget accommodation is clustered around the Talaat Harb area, and within Talaat Harb Street, walking up and down between juice bars, little eateries and shops provides for easy evening entertainment. We also took a stroll to the Qasr el-Nil Bridge, which crosses the Nile and overlooked the city from a distance, enchanted by the lights of billboards and boats on the river, which lights up Cairo at nightfall.
Being forewarned of all the hassling of Cairo, we formulated strategies to tiptoe around, and avoid possible annoyances. Although it thoroughly lives up to it’s reputation of gawking openly at “fair skinned maidens” and sometimes dropping remarks, we played the “married” card and tended to be left in peace. I believe that our previous encounters with the Papasi of Africa had us growing thick skinned, so our tolerance levels were right up there.
We are within the Winter Season of Lower Egypt, which are Cairo and the North. The past few days have been chilly and somewhat overcast, with sunshine mostly at noon. It made sightseeing all the better because we weren’t sweaty from all the walking, and could enjoy hot cups of coffee at the little shops in between stops. Having a late start from sleeping in on our first day here, we decided to follow the map and visit sights and specialities within the city itself. That brought us to encounter the oldest part of Cairo, once known as Babylon, with the Coptic Museum and Hanging Church. From there we walked past the beautiful Abdeen Palace on our way to the touristy shops of Khan al-Khalili. With the vapours of perfumes, spices and food mixed together with bargaining for good prices and so many colourful cloths and clothes, this bazaar left our heads spinning, but not in a bad way!
We ended off with roadside seafood shwarma’s and a kilogram of strawberries before heading back to warm showers and beds.
Arising our second day in Cairo, we looked forward to visiting the last remaining wonder of their ancient world; The Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza.
Walking the uphill path towards these great wonders, we caught our breaths at first glimpse of the largest of the three. Known as the Great Pyramid of Khufu, this pyramid is also the oldest and at an additional fee we had the opportunity to climb to the heart of thereof.
The slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre also allowed for climbing inside and once we excited we were nearly out of breath, hot and sticky, but filled with great admiration for those responsible for such great monumental architecture. The Sphinx (Father of Terror) is seen as guarding the Pyramid of Khafre and this wondrous monument is also used throughout the “Sound and Light Show” to narrate history of the Pharaohs and their Pyramids. We returned to Giza for the evening show, and left there more informed of finer historical details, something which made our visit to the Egyptian Museum much rewarding. We spent nearly four hours wandering through the overwhelming number of artefacts, jewellery exhibitions and golden treasures found in tombs, as well as entering the Mummy Room to take a look at Kings displayed in glass cases.
After filling our tummies with yummy Felafel and kushari (Egyptian cuisine) we went ahead to plan further travels within Egypt, from here moving alongside the Nile to Luxor. We shall reach there by evening tomorrow, boarding the train at the Hosni Mubarak (Ramses) station at 7:30 tomorrow morning.
Salam!
Accommodation Rates: Ismailia House Hotel, 85 L.E per double room per night with shared WC, breakfast included.
Tip of the Day:
It is very advisable to have a student card, teacher’s card or youth travel card when travelling Egypt. Nearly everything calls for discounts if shown the above mentioned. You can easily apply for one in the city, provided that you have the appropriate supporting documentation.
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