I kept a journal while I was on my trip to Egypt and I spent the evenings writing as much as I could about all of sights, sounds, and even the smells I’d experienced each day.

The first day of my tour in Egypt had been so unbelievable, I could hardly wait for the next day’s activities. Seeing the pyramids and the Sphinx would be pretty difficult to beat. My dad and I had both gone to bed early so we would be fresh for Day 2 of our tour.

After another long night of my lovely father’s melodious snoring, I managed to get myself together and join my dad for another round of the intriguing complimentary breakfast that the Hotel Salma offered. We had some great coffee and wonderful bread, then waited in the lobby for our tour guide to pick us up. The plans for the day were to see the Egyptian Antiquities Museum, the Citadel, the Mohammed Ali Mosque, the Papyrus Institute, and the Khan el Khalili Bazaar.

Our guide from the previous day, Ashraf, picked us up at 9:00 AM and told us that we would have a someone else as our guide for the day. En route to the Egyptian Museum, we dropped off Ashraf at the travel office and picked up our new guide, Abdullah. Abdullah was an archaeology student at Cairo University and spoke English extremely well.

I watched the traffic as we drove through the city. I consider myself a very laid back, relaxed person and normally, I don’t get nervous in heavy traffic. Normally being the key word! The drive was very different from the previous day where we’d driven away from the city and had an enjoyable ride into the countryside. Driving in the heart of Cairo’s traffic was an experience that turned me, the calm driver/passenger, to a white-knuckled, almost panic-stricken baby!

Apparently the goal of all drivers in Egypt is to drive as fast as possible, in whatever lane available and if there is no lane open, they make one! The constant pedal-to-the-metal, then screeching to a halt, or swerving to into whatever tiny open space in traffic had me grabbing the arms of the seat and holding on for dear life! I had to actually close my eyes a few times. Especially when we nearly side swiped a car and almost drove over a donkey-driven cart! From what I had read in my trusty guide book on Egypt, the cab drivers were the worst drivers. The cabs were black and white and called "flying coffins!" Talk about an ominous nick-name! What person would ever want to get in a cab after reading that?

I was so happy when we arrived safely at the museum! The building was surrounded by a wrought iron and stone fence. The security measures at the entrance were extreme to say the very least. There were armed soldiers and guards that searched us after we went through metal detectors. With the priceless items housed inside the museum, the building had better be well protected! I certainly felt safe!

We walked through the entrance gates and into a huge, beautiful garden that surrounded the museum. It was more like a park than grounds surrounding a museum. Strategically placed throughout the grounds were amazing Egyptian statues. It was very tranquil and I spent some time taking pictures before we went into the building. I wanted to use up the 200 speed outdoor film so that I could load 400 speed film so I could take some good shots inside.

The building itself was architecturally beautiful, but the treasures inside were so spectacular! Unfortunately, we were on a tight schedule so we only had three hours to spend in the museum. This is mere blink in time when there is so much to see. We would only have time to see the most important and popular exhibits. Abdullah told us that if you spent one minute looking at every item in the building, it would take nine months to see everything!

In the main gallery, there were two enormous carved granite statues of Ramses II. Here was another instance where the room had to be constructed around the statues due to the size and weight of the artifacts. The staggering size of these statues made you stop and stare in amazement.

The sheer numbers of artifacts, sculptures, statues, mummies, and sarcophagi we saw were nearly overwhelming. Everything, and I mean everything, was amazing, however, nothing could top seeing the treasures of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The sarcophagus has so much gold, it is almost blinding. I had a difficult time getting pictures of it because it rested inside a glass case that caused a glare. Plus, some tourists kept getting into my shots and jostling me. I took a ton of pictures. I wanted to capture as much of the jewelry, furniture, household items, statues, and ceremonial items as I could. Sadly, several of them came out blurry due to the clumsy tourists and some user error!

The incredibly intricate and delicate workmanship on all of the items was so beautiful. I had to laugh at the pair of solid gold sandals that were on display. How anyone could have worn those things is beyond me! All I could think of was that the gold metal would burn your feet when you walked on the hot sand! And, those neck rests that were used instead of our modern day pillows? How on earth was that comfortable? Supposedly, the neck rest helped to align your back, but I don’t buy that!

All too soon, we had to leave the museum. I could have easily spent days, or the nine months it’s supposed to take to see everything.

The next stop of the day was the Citadel and the Mohammed Ali mosque. The Citadel is a fortress that was built by Saladin in 1176. For almost 700 years after that, nearly all of Egypt’s rulers lived in the Citadel. It is located in the old part of the city, appropriately called Old Cairo, on a hill that overlooks the city. The Mohammed Ali mosque is adjacent to the Citadel on the same property. When we arrived there, we had to go to the back entrance because the president of Egypt was visiting.

The fortress was a huge, impressive stone structure and the view of Cairo from the courtyard was really pretty. A giant stone arched gateway led to the mosque. The Mohammed Ali mosque is also known as the alabaster mosque because it is made almost entirely of alabaster. It is stunning. We had to squint as we walked through the courtyard of the mosque because the alabaster reflected the sun so brightly. Before we could go inside, we had to remove our shoes. Abdullah told us that we could either hang onto our shoes ourselves, or we could pay two Egyptian pounds for a guy to watch them for us. However, Abdullah warned us, there was no guarantee we would get our own shoes back! It wasn’t a tough choice to make!

When we went into the mosque, I was surprised to see a gorgeous stained glass domed ceiling as well as stained glass windows everywhere. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t stained glass! The room was enormous and almost completely empty except for the rugs covering the floor. The walls were painted gold and were very decorative. Round glass balls that hung in a big circle from the towering ceiling provided the lighting. There was a section in the back of the room near the entrance that was sectioned off with green fabric. Abdullah explained that the women had to sit behind the those screens when they came into the mosque. There are no chairs as the Muslims kneel on the floor to pray. The mosque was amazingly church-like. It just goes to show you that no matter what your religion is, there is always some sort of common thread between them all.

When we left the mosque, we went to the Papyrus Institute. The institute is part of the Cairo University and it is dedicated to preserving the ancient Egyptian art of making papyrus paper. It contains a museum and the staff actually demonstrates each phase in the process of making papyrus. It was interesting to see how a plant was turned into paper. The institute sold pictures of ancient Egyptian figures painted on the papyrus. Apparently, most of their income comes from selling the artwork. Abdullah got a little pushy with my dad and I trying to make a sale. Although I saw a few things I liked, there wasn’t anything I wanted to purchase. We made a donation to the Institute and left it at that.

Our last stop of the day was the Khan el Khalili spice bazaar to shop. Cairo’s wealth was built on tourism and trade. Caravans came from all over Africa and Asia to sell their cargoes at numerous bazaars that make up Khan el Khalili. There is still a medieval atmosphere in the narrow covered passageways where thousands of people bargain for spices, silver and gold jewelry, clothing, perfume oils, leather goods, and fabrics.

Abdullah left us for an hour to browse through the bazaar by ourselves. I love to people watch and the bazaar was a prime place for that little hobby of mine! There were a lot of local women at the bazaar and I was surprised to see that the majority of them were dressed in modern clothing. I didn’t see one woman that was swathed in fabric from head to toe with only their eyes showing as I’d imagined I would. Instead, they wore long sleeved blouses with skirts. The older women wore scarves on their heads, but the younger women did not. I suppose like everything else, customs change and relax as time goes on. Frankly, I was happy to see that women had a lot more equality now than they used to have, although it is still very definitely ‘a man’s world’. There were also a lot of children running around playing or working at the bazaar with their families. Every shop owner was hawking their wares trying to make a living. Although the vendors were friendly, they were aggressive. Dad and I weren’t looking to buy anything so I’m sure we frustrated the shop keepers. The only thing I was tempted to buy were some great spices, but I didn’t want to hassle carrying them through customs.

At 5:30, my dad and I made our way back to Abdullah at our pre-arranged meeting place for another harrowing drive back to our hotel. We were glad to get back in our room because we were so tired from all the walking we’d done. We decided to rest for an hour before we went down to dinner, so I immediately got out my travel journal to document everything while it was still fresh in my mind. It had been another fascinating day in Cairo!

Please join me here next issue, for the next stop in the tour, Abu Simbel and Aswan!

"Sterling Moon is my favorite specialty coffee!" David E. Brown,
[Billy Joel's former lead guitarist for 11 years] Gloucester, MA

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