أسبوعي الذي طال انتظاره في مصر (القاهرة فقط)

Today was an early start as it was a day trip to the pyramids. I organised this through the hostel and for the driver and guide it cost me £50. I thought this was a pretty good deal. Sadly it didn’t include the cost of entry to the sites or parking. That was to be expected though.

One of the workers from the hostel took me down to the meeting point for the driver and waited with me until he turned up. I thought that was pretty cool – other places would just tell you where it is and leave you to your own devices.

The car was AC and it was very much welcomed in the heat. The driver told me he would tell me as much or as little as I wanted to know about Egypt and Cairo and the pyramids. I was happy for him to tell me as much as he wanted. Truth be told though – a lot of it never sank in as I was too busy enjoying the sites along the drive.

The plan was as follows: Saqqara Complex, a traditional Egyptian carpet shop, Memphis open air museum, a traditional Egyptian papyrus shop, a traditional Egyptian jewellery shop, Giza Pyramid Complex, back to the hostel.

Today was absolutely the main reason for coming to Cairo. I’ve only ever seen the pyramids in books in school and on TV so it was going to be really surreal to see them in person. I wanted to see if they were really like they were in the books. You just never know.

DISCLAIMER: The stuff I put here is based on what the guide (who considers himself an Egyptologist) has told me. I am still in the process of reading about it.

We stopped first in Saqqara and went to the complex there. It cost E£200 for foreigners to enter here. I got my ticket and jumped back in the car and we drove to the car park and headed out to see the pyramid here. The pyramid here is a stepped one and there weren’t many of them built as the design wasn’t conducive for them staying upright. A lot of the stepped ones have collapsed.

Saqqara was an important part of the Egyptian funerary sites. It was here that a lot of the kings and queens were buried as it was considered sacred due to its proximity to the Nile and the capital. The guide told me that various different pyramid designs were once here. Only the stepped pyramid remains there. I was in awe just seeing it. I managed to get some good pics from here with hardly anybody in the shots.

It was nice to walk around and see how old everything was. I went to a vantage point and could see pyramids in the distance from Dashur. It was really cool to see them. From this point, the guide took me to a partially collapsed pyramid that you were able to go underground and see. It was really cool to do this (the one in Giza costs E£400 and you don’t see anything). I went down the tunnel – very claustrophobic – and into a chamber where you could see Hieroglyphs. That was really awesome to see. When the lights were turned off, you could see carvings on the wall. As soon as the lights went back on, you weren’t able to see them anymore. They had guides in there and you had to tip them. I tipped them E£10 (about 40p). They were reluctant to accept it but I made sure they did. It was worth it to go into the pyramid to see.

Once we were done here, we headed to the carpet shop so I could see how they were made. The guy in the shop told me that the higher the knot count, the more value it has. It was cool to see but it was definitely a place where they were wanting people to buy stuff and they constantly tried to get you to buy stuff (same with the papyrus and jewellery shops).

I found a carpet that I liked and they wanted £75 for it. I didn’t want to pay that much. The most I wanted to pay for one was £25 (around E£550). I managed to get it for that price and as soon as I had bought it, the interest in showing me stuff wasn’t there anymore.

We left here and went to Memphis open-air museum. This is where they had a Sphinx and statues of Rameses II. It was cool to see but definitely not one that is worth making a special trip for. It costs E£80 to get in and E£10 to park. We only stayed here for about 40 minutes. That was more than enough time for me.

As we were driving back to Giza to go to the pyramids there, I watched as TukTuk drivers were driving on the wrong side of the road. It was pretty scary but they didn’t care and would just weave in and out of traffic. It was mad. The motorcyclists would do the same. They weren’t even wearing protective gear – including helmets. They have a good outlook on life I guess.

Aside from the stops at the papyrus and jewellery shops, we got to Giza and the guide took me to see the options available for seeing the pyramids and sphinx. I saw a vantage point that would allow you to see the 9 pyramids at once but allegedly you could only go there with a guide – I can understand why though. It is the Sahara and you wouldn’t really want to walk there, especially in the heat.

The person that was offering tours had 3 options available (all 3 could be either a camel ride, a horse ride, or a carriage ride):

1. Short tour to the sphinx – about 30 minutes at a cost of E£600
2. Medium tour to the sphinx and great pyramid – about 60 minutes at a cost of E£1200
3. Long tour to the sphinx, the great pyramid, and the pyramid panorama – about 90 minutes at a cost of E£2200

I wanted to do the longer tour but I didn’t feel it was worth the price he was wanting to charge. I managed to get him down to E£1200 for this – which just goes to prove they are profiteering from the tourists. I love doing stuff like this but only if I feel it is good value.

I chose to do a carriage ride and it is something I will never do again. Hearing the whip hit the horse. It just made me feel sick. I wanted to take the whip and hit the guide I was with. The ride itself was a tad scary. I struggled to get into the carriage as it is so high off the ground. Going over bumps and rocks made it feel like the carriage was going to collapse at any point.

The guide took me to the vantage point first of all and it was really cool to see the pyramid panorama. I was in awe as it really was like the books I had seen as a kid (with the exception of a lot more tourists). I was there for about 20 minutes just looking and taking pics. They had police there and the guide gave him some money for the pictures we took.

The guide wanted me to get on a camel but I wasn’t down for that. He had me stand next to the camel and he took a pic of me next to it. That was good enough for me.

Once we were done there, we headed to one of the pyramids so he could take a picture of me next to it. We then headed towards the sphinx and great pyramid. On the way down, he saw someone he knew and he got out to say hello. After he did, the horse decided to start walking. I was slightly panicking and had to pull the reins to try and stop the horse. Luckily I did.

We got by the sphinx and got out to get some more pictures. He wanted me to make a kissing face so he could get a picture of me seemingly kissing the sphinx. Not for me. We got back to the meeting point for the car guide. It wasn’t 90 minutes but only an hour. It makes me even more glad I only paid what I did.

When we got back to the meeting point, I gave the guide E£50 and he said “You do know this is only about €2?” I wanted to snatch the money back from him. Ungrateful!

I went and got some drinks and we headed back to Cairo. The traffic was crazy. I was so tired by the time I got back to the hostel that I just wanted to sleep. I didn’t really do much else and just chilled at the hostel. I was trying to figure out what to do tomorrow and decided on going to the Coptic area and I was figuring out how to get there.

The pyramids are awesome and definitely worth a visit if you ever go to Egypt!

Total steps: 13,869

Total miles: 6.83

Below are some pics from today

Saqqara Pyramid Complex

Memphis Open Air Museum

Giza Pyramid Complex

I had a little bit of a lie-in today as the Coptic area was only about 15 minutes on the metro from where I was and I wasn’t in any hurry. We got a new guy in the room during the night and I had a quick chat with him and asked him where he was from. He said he was from England and I asked which bit and he told me from Bury St Edmunds but that he now lives in Australia. I told him I knew where Bury was and that I lived in Peterborough. The distance between the two is only about 56 miles.

I mentioned to him what I was doing that day and he said he had to go to another hostel as he only had this one due to a flight issue. I saw him again at breakfast and told him later that day I was doing a walking tour and he was welcome to join if he wanted to. He said he probably would.

I left and went to the Coptic area. It is a really cool area and has a number of churches there. I think 6 or 7. It also has a synagogue in the complex below street level.

The streets are really cool to walk around. I went to visit as many of the churches as possible. I visited the following:

1. St George’s Church
2. Church of Saint Menas
3. Saint Barba’s Church
4. St Serguis and St Bacchus Church
5. The Hanging Church

The complex that houses them all is really nice. It was such a nice day to walk around. I went to the Greek Orthodox cemetery that was there and the gravestones are so ornate. I tried to walk amongst them but was told I couldn’t. Oh well. I got some nice pictures of some of them. I decided that later in the trip I would come back and see more of it. They had a chapel in the middle that I wanted to see too.

There was a school group that went into St George’s Church before I did and I wanted to get some pictures but I didn’t want any of the school kids in them so I waited until they had gone so I could get some. Once I was done at this church, I went to The Hanging Church which was really cool. The church itself is one of the oldest in Egypt dating from the third century. The nave of the church is built over a passage and it has a number of steps to get up to it. The inside is really ornate and definitely worthy of a visit.

Once I had seen this, I hopped on the metro back to Sadat so I could get some lunch and just chill at the hostel before the walking tour started.

I got some videos of the metro at Mar Girgis station. You can see them below.

When it came time for the walking tour, I went to where I thought the guide wanted to meet. He said we would meet in the gardens of the American University there. I went to where I thought it was and it turns out it wasn’t the right place. I was on the grounds of the administration building of the government. I told him where I was and sent him my location but we seemed to not know where each other was. As I was waiting for him, a local started to talk to me and he told me of his meeting soldiers in the Gulf War in 1990/1991 and we had a chat. During this, the tour guide found me and we laughed about not being in the right place. He was fascinated that I was talking to this older gentleman about stuff.

As we started walking, the guy from the hostel turned up and it was lucky I met where I thought it was otherwise he wouldn’t have found us and we hadn’t gotten each other’s details to show him where we were.

The tour started by walking to the Qasr El Nil bridge and then to the riverside to pick up a Felucca so we could take a trip on the Nile. I love taking boat tours as well as walking tours. The guide got us a good price on it and it was just the three of us on it.

After we were done, we went and got some local food called Koshary. It is a rice and pasta dice with onions and some other veg and some sauces. It wasn’t for me but I tried it anyway. We then headed to a coffee shop to have some coffee and just watch the world go by. It wasn’t a traditional walking tour by any stretch of the imagination. It was like friends just hanging out. I didn’t really learn much from it.

After we were done, B and I headed to get some food and we decided on Hardees. When we were there, he added me on Instagram and we found out that we had a friend in common that is from Australia. It is the girl I talked about in the post about New York. Weird right. It was so strange. He tried to call her but she wasn’t answering. The travel world is such a small world it seems. What are the chances that B would have found me if I was in the right place for the walking tour?

It was time to head back to our hostels but we decided we would go to the Egyptian museum in the morning and Garbage City after that.

Total steps: 19,023

Total miles: 9.04

Below are some pics from today

Coptic Area

Today was a full day. B and I went to the Egyptian Museum. It cost E£200 for entry here also (do you get the theme of overcharging foreigners here?). B had met some people on his travels throughout Egypt and one of the guys said he spent 6 hours at the museum and that was considered a good time to see what they had there. I have to admit that 6 hours filled me with dread as I am not a huge museum fan and like to get in and see what I want and then leave. Thankfully B didn’t want to spend that long either.

As I was waiting for him I saw all the coaches come and drop people off at the entrance. Thankfully when we went there wasn’t a huge queue and we got in pretty quick – which works out well as the weather was scorching for so early in the morning.

The museum was really good. It had a lot of stuff in it. I couldn’t do it justice if I tried to explain it all. They had sarcophagi, mummies, animal sarcophagi, animal mummies, tombs, and a lot of Tutankhamun artefacts also. They were really cool to see. In history classes in school, they would focus on Tutankhamun when talking about Egypt and the pharaohs.

One thing they do when you leave the museum is to put you through airport-style security again to make sure that you haven’t taken anything that you shouldn’t have (looking at you British Museum :p).

Like I say, I cannot do it justice so you will definitely have to go see it when you are there. For now, just check out my pictures from the museum.

After we were done we went and grabbed some lunch and B mentioned a place called Garbage City that he wanted to go to and asked if I wanted to come along. I love seeing places off the beaten track that most tourists don’t go to. There is something special about seeing places not a lot of people have. I told him I was definitely up for it. We got an Uber and once we were in the middle of the area, we asked the driver to drop us off and we had a walk up to where there are a few churches. This area is one of the other Christian areas of Cairo.

I will say the smell was absolutely awful. It is to be expected though as it’s not called Garbage City for no reason. As we were walking up to the churches to meet a fellow traveller, I was overwhelmed by all the people just stopping us to say hello and ask us where we are from and what our names were. It was really heartwarming. What was also nice was seeing how little they had and how cheerful and happy they were and how super friendly they were. It was definitely time for quiet reflection on my own life. This is the kind of thing I love to see too. It really puts life into perspective – at least it did for me.

As we were walking up to meet the other guy, I was in awe of all these churches and how good they looked. We went to a church called The Cave Church, which is a church built into a rock. It was awesome to see the views from the top. B and I had a walk around whilst we were waiting for the other guy. I had to slip off and powder my nose and when I came back the other guy was there. We got chatting and he said there was another church we could see just across the road.

We went to the other church and went inside and this one had carvings in the rock inside and they were really cool to see. I saw there was a doorway that led out to the back of the church and I went out. The views here were amazing too. I told the others and they both came out and looked. B decided to walk up the gravel and rocks a bit further to try and get some views of the Muhammad Ali mosque (which I didn’t know the name of at the time). I decided I would follow them because, you know, pics for the Gram. I knew it was against my better judgement that I follow them but I did anyway. I was really nervous because there was a steep drop on the other side and a wrong step would see me writing this from the grave.

I got to the top with them and the views were incredible. Definitely worth it for the views. We tried to find our way out but the only normal way out (other than going back down the rocks and gravel – no thanks) was a gate but it was locked and there was nobody there to let us out. We saw a fence that was missing and we decided that would be the way we would get out. The guy we were with got down just fine. It was now my turn. Yeah… I should have listened to my instincts. I was walking along the wall and went to get down and as I was I fell and fell backwards into the road. I was so lucky I didn’t hit my head otherwise this could have been from the grave for that reason too. The locals came over to check that I was ok and that was really cool. Here in Peterborough they probably would have checked to see if I had valuables on me first. I was so dusty from the fall and I was more concerned that I didn’t look neat and tidy. I dusted myself off and got up and we went on our merry way. It was totally worth it for the views and the pictures and I would totally do it again.

I went to get some water and the guys went up to the roof of the building where the shop was. B had told me about some graffiti and there was a point where you could see it whole across the buildings it was put on. If not at that vantage point, you could only see parts of it. I joined them on the roof and they had the point where you could see it all and it was really awesome to see. We headed back down and then we decided we would walk towards the edge of the area so we could get an Uber back to the city. As we were walking, my leg started to hurt and my stomach was hurting too. I told them I was just going to powder my nose and head back to the hostel. They carried on walking and I did my stuff. I messaged B to ask him to send me his location and I would walk down and find them.

I didn’t want to have the people here stop me so I kept my head down and carried on walking so I could catch up with them. I still stopped for a few pics (only natural, right?) and then I managed to catch them up. As we were walking down some more, some kids stopped us and asked us to take their pics. B had a really good DSLR and I’m sure they must have thought we were journalists or the like. They walked with us and kept asking us to take pictures. It was really cool that they were so friendly.

We got to the road and decided to walk a bit further down and the area we were in was called The City of the Dead. It is a massive area that is a huge cemetery interspersed with houses and places of worship. People were inviting us in to have tea with them and to sit and talk with them. We didn’t really have time otherwise we definitely would have done that. I just love how friendly the people are in this part of Cairo.

We booked ourselves an Uber and the other guy mentioned there was a museum that was good and that we could go to. We went with him and the museum was only in Arabic and we could have had a private guide but that would have been costly. B and I decided against it and that we would just go and find some dinner. I did manage to find a flag and it only cost me E£50.

We decided that tomorrow we wanted to go see the Muhammad Ali mosque and also the Ibn Toloon mosque. It was bedtime by this point and I was shattered.

Total steps: 17,715

Total miles: 8.67

Below are some pics from today

Egyptian Museum

Garbage City/City of the Dead

Last night B and I decided that we would go to Pizza Hut and get some pizza (against my better judgement but since other things were too yesterday I thought why the hell not. What’s the worst that could happen!) and I woke up in the middle of the night with a really bad bout of IBS and it knocked me for six. I also had a fever which was unexpected. I’m wondering if the fever was because of the grazed knee and something getting in it.

Because of these two things I didn’t do very much today. I slept most of it – well, the times I wasn’t powdering my nose.

I went out in the late afternoon to get some Sprite and to get some fresh air but I wasn’t really feeling up to it so I got what I needed and hot-footed it back to the hostel so I could go back to sleep.

The workers at the hostel constantly checked to make sure I was ok and I thought that was really nice. They weren’t used to me staying in the whole day.

I was just happy that I had somewhere to sleep and relax and try to make myself get feeling better. I didn’t really take any pictures today which is why there is no gallery here.

Total steps: 2,961

Total miles: 1.52

B messaged me last night and said that he was going to see one of the oldest mosques in Cairo and asked if I wanted to go along. I definitely wanted to do that so we went and grabbed some breakfast. B had made friends with a Russian and he wanted to come along too so we all had breakfast and then got an Uber to Ibn Toloon mosque.

We couldn’t find where to go in so we just decided to walk around until we found the entrance. The area around the mosque was pretty cool. It was very much a poor area but the people were friendly towards us and that made it all the better.

We found our way in and we were told we needed to pay for the shoe coverings. It was about E£10. The mosque itself was very minimalistic but that added to its authenticity of it. In the middle, they had an old water fountain. You could see where the water would have flowed and where it would have drained. We saw a lady there guiding some people around and she told us this would have been last used a couple of hundred years ago.

At the hostel, one of the workers told me about the mosque. She had a picture of herself up on the minaret and she said this would be a good place to visit and offered some good views.

We all decided that we would climb it. We went to the first level which overlooked the courtyard of the mosque. B is a really good photographer and he wanted some shots of me by the edge, I was hesitant but did it anyway. I could feel my legs shaking the closer I got to the edge. It was cool to do though.

We then climbed up the minaret and when we were up there we called the girl we both knew in Australia. It was cool to see her and talk to her again. It’s still so crazy and cool that we both knew her. I think the Russian guy felt left out though. Oh well. It’s not every day you meet someone who knows someone you met on one side of the world that lives on the other side (if that even makes sense).

Once we got our pictures we wanted to go to the Muhammad Ali mosque as it looked really cool in the views from Ibn Toloon and from Garbage City. We couldn’t decide on an Uber or a TukTuk so we went for a TukTuk. It was my first time in one and they are so flipping cool. The three of us fit in the back of it and chunky here was squashed in the middle. I loved being in it and riding in it and feeling that we might tip over at any point. Below are some videos I took of the trip to the mosque.

We got to the mosque in one piece and we headed to the entrance. It cost E£200 to get in and I think this is because it is on the site of several museums also. There is no way to just see the mosque and for them to believe that is all you will see.

The mosque from the outside is something to behold. From the inside, it wasn’t as grandiose as you would have thought judging by the exterior. That’s cool though. It was all part of the experience. I wouldn’t change it. B hopped up on a ledge and got some pictures for himself so I thought it would be rude for him not to put his skills to good use for pics for me. He took some good pics and a cool video (which you can see below). The mosque in the video is the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan.

We walked around some more and found a place for some good views across the city and from the mosque here you could see the Giza Pyramids. Mind you, there was so much pollution that you could only see the tops of them. We also saw a little bit of a sandstorm in the distance.

We headed to find some snacks and then got an Uber to the entrance to Garbage City. I don’t think the Russian was too impressed here. He kept walking ahead of us and would grunt and groan sometimes. I think the smell and sight of the rubbish weren’t too appealing to him. I said to B that the guy could always go back to the hostel or go do some other things if he wanted.

We rounded a corner and were approached by some friendly kids who wanted us to climb up a tower to see the birds they had. I wish I had done it (I stayed behind with the Russian so he wouldn’t moan too much). B said the views were incredible. The Russian didn’t like the place so much that he kept saying he needed to shower once he was out of there and that he wouldn’t get any drinks from there as he didn’t think they would be safe.

An interesting – and sad – bit of info about this place: It doesn’t always have running water and there aren’t any proper schools here. The locals sort the rubbish to recycle and repurpose it to make things to sell. It’s a primitive life but they seem really happy with it.

It was time to leave and we headed to the top of Zamalek to find some food. We ended up in a burger joint and I got the plainest thing on the menu as I didn’t want an IBS flare-up. We decided to walk back to the hostels and part way there I had to book us an uber as I couldn’t make it as my stomach was super painful. I got back to the hostel and just lay down as the cramping wasn’t good for me. Despite this, it was a really good day. B and I planned to have breakfast in the morning before he headed out to see some more of Egypt. I still can’t believe I met someone I have never spoken to before that is from close to where I live and now lives on the other side of the world and he also knows a girl that I met in a hostel in New York in October. I don’t think in any other world this would happen.

Total steps: 17,170

Total miles: 8.39

Below are some pics from today

Today I was still feeling a little rough – though much better than I was a couple of days ago. I went and had breakfast with B and sent him on his merry way and then I headed back to the hostel to pick up my bag and some water and I decided I would go back to the Greek Orthodox cemetery near Mar Girgis metro station.

I got there and headed to walk around the cemetery and was guided to where I was able to walk. Some of it was blocked off. I went into the chapel that was there and sat there for a little bit and then headed back towards the metro so I could go back to the hostel and just relax some more. I had nothing else planned so wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere. I sat and chatted with some of the workers and another Russian that was there. He showed me a video from his Insta and it is from the top of the Cairo Tower BUT outside. Grrr. I was cheated when I went as they didn’t make it known I could go outside.

I was telling Ken about this and how much it cost and he told me I should just do it anyway if I wanted the pictures. He was right. I decided that I didn’t want to go that day and that since I had one full day left I would do it then.

As I was only out for a short time and had been somewhere I was earlier in the week I didn’t really get any pictures from today.

Total steps: 7,211

Total miles: 3.54

Today was my last full day in Cairo and thankfully I was pretty much back to full strength. After I had eaten breakfast I went back to the room to pick up my bag and some water so I could head out. A French guy had arrived and I got chatting with him and asked him what he was doing for the day and he said that he didn’t have any plans and I said we could go to the tower if he wanted. He said he would and that he had met some Brazilian guys and asked them if they wanted to come along too.

We headed out and met up with the Brazilian guys and took a slow walk to the tower. It was cool to have someone else to hang out with. A and I decided we wanted to go up the tower but the two Brazilians didn’t as they didn’t want to spend the money to do it. We left them to their own devices and headed up the tower. This time I went outside and the views were even better without a blue-tinted pane of glass in the way. We did feel a little rushed because of the others but we still spent enough time there to get some good pictures. You could see the top of the Giza Pyramids from up here and I was awe-struck being able to see them. I’m pretty sure I walked around the top of the tower five or six times just taking in all the eye could see. I suggested to A that we should go walk through the grounds of the Opera House once we got back down.

We went to the grounds and I made sure I went in the right entrance this time so I could actually see in there. They were setting up for a concert later in the week so I didn’t really get to see much. What I did see was really cool though. They even had a small mosque on the grounds.

We headed out of the grounds as the Brazilians wanted to go to Khan el-Halili market. I wasn’t really feeling it and told them I would just go back to the hostel. They wanted to get an Uber and I told them the place we were trying to get one we wouldn’t because there really wasn’t anywhere for them to stop from there until just after Tahrir Square. What do I know though!!!

A taxi pulled up and one of the guys asked him if he would do the same price as an Uber and he said yes. We jumped in and went to the market. We had someone approach us and take us to his papyrus shop and try the hard sell. I wasn’t feeling it but went anyway – why the hell not. All part of the experience. We crossed the street and went to an entrance to the market and had to go through airport-style security before we could go in.

Khan el-Khalili is a huge open-air bazaar with shops upon shops selling all sorts. A wanted a Mo Salah football top so we tried to see if we could find one and we left the Brazilians to do what they wanted to do. I could sense A was getting frustrated at having to wait around for them so we just looked in the shops and waited for them to catch up.

As I was walking around I counted 4 mosques in the market. I thought it was pretty cool that there were mosques in every conceivable place in Cairo.

We finally left the market and headed for some food – one of the Brazilians was looking for bubble wrap so we had to go slow for him to check and he was telling us he would direct us to a restaurant called Akram Gad. The food was ok. I just ordered fries and had some bread that was given to the table. I didn’t really feel like eating much. I was flying home tomorrow and didn’t want anything that would hurt my stomach that would make flying way more uncomfortable than it already is.

Below are some videos of the walking and weaving in and out of the traffic heading back from the market. It’s so crazy.

A and I left the other guys to head to their accommodation and we headed back to the hostel to have a relaxing night.

I sat outside and chilled and chatted with the workers here and it was cool to sit and do that. I would never do that usually so this was a new thing for me. I quite liked it. I decided I was tired enough that I wanted to go to bed but I went out and got some mozzarella sticks first and had them and went to bed. I didn’t have to be up super early thankfully. I wanted to be up early enough so that I could check out and I would also be able to leave my stuff there and go out in the morning if I wanted to.

Total steps: 15,658

Total miles: 7.73

Below are some pics from today