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Published: November 13th 2006
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On my second day in Cairo, I awoke early to check off the Egyptian Museum (sorry, no cameras allowed) from my tourist “list de-jour”. . I arrived promptly at 8:30am, just ahead of the tour bus masses that descended on the museum grounds right behind me. An “official” museum guide named Mohammed was nice enough to separate me from two-hundred Egyptian Dollars (about $40 U.S.) and provided me with an informative if robotic like tour of the major highlights. Touristy sites are not really my gig, but the Egyptian Museum did not disappoint and was well worth the time and money spent. The Museum, built in 1902 is on par with the Louvre. It is perhaps half the size and not as shiny, but crammed with four times as many relics and antiquities from almost every period of ancient Egyptian history. For me, the highlight was the King Tutankhamen Galleries. His death mask, made of 25 pounds of solid gold is something I vividly remember seeing and reading about in National Geographic when I was a kid. Now here it was in front of me. For me, the experience was sort of like seeing the Mona Lisa in person for the
first time. ”Wow, I can’t believe I’m actually looking at the real deal here,…okay now get out of my way you pushy Asian tourists”. Also on display and no less amazing are Tut’s two golden sarcophagi. His remains were discovered in the inner most of these coffins which was cast in an amazing 400 pounds of solid gold. Moving on, the Royal Mummy display was also pretty neat. Within the quiet, cool room lie remains of eleven of the most celebrated Pharaoh’s and Queens from the 17th to 21st dynasties, including Ramses II. Also chilling out in there were Amonhotep I, Tuthmosis II, IV and Ramses V. Boy have these guys aged; after taking a look at these Mummies’s, I’ve decided cremation is definitely the way to go for me.
Being a tourist can be exhausting, so I started walking across town and back to the hotel for a few hours of R & R. Crossing the busy streets in Cairo is sort of like playing that old video game “Frogger”. These are big 8 lane streets with cars all shapes and sizes going all different speeds and directions. Hop forward, slide left, jump, pause slightly, slide right, scoot
forward and hope you make it to the other side. There is also a lot of leaning and twisting involved so you don’t get picked off by a side view mirror. The Egyptians seems to have perfected this dangerous dance of car and crosser because so far i've seen no accidents.
Later in the day, I made my way over to Islamic Cairo which is like stepping into another world. This section of the city is no more or less Islamic than other areas of Cairo, but the name pays homage to the many impressive mosques and important sacred shrines scattered throughout the area. My taxi dropped me right in front of the Al-Azhar Mosque, one of the earliest examples built in Cairo. I removed my shoes and headed inside for a better look. It felt a little bit strange wandering around snapping pictures as people answered the call to prayer, but no one seemed to mind. Leaving the Mosque, I headed deeper into the maze of alleys..."dirka dirka, Mohammed Jihad" (inside joke for some of you). The neighborhood is a jumble of narrow alleys and passageways, rich in history, donkeys, stray cats, dirt, trash heaps, spices, vegetable
Al-Azhar Mosque
Preparing to enter the Mosque carts, blacksmiths, kebabs on a stick, garments makers, earthquake ruins, and whatever else you can imagine up. The area is one of the most fascinating places I have ever been- a place where it is easy to not only to lose your sense of direction, but a sense of time.
During my wandering around, a little man named Fathi spotted my nose buried in the Lonely Planet guidebook and started chatting me up. He spoke pretty good English so I was quick to listen. All of the signs in Cairo are in Arabic, so finding your way around without any help can be frustrating. Before I knew it, we were zipping in and out of the tight alleyways and he pointed out something of historical significance at every turn, in every nook and cranny. I followed him deeper into the neighborhood, and the alleys got darker and more remote. At one point I felt a little unsafe being so far removed from the tourist fray but I just had to keep reminding myself, “this guy is small and old, I can take him”. Around one corner he brandished a key which opened an old wooden door to what he
Fathi
The Proud Mr. Fathi in his "museum" called his own “museum”. “Please, go inside take a look”, he said. I stepped inside and he showed me fifty years of history; pictures, memorabilia and stories from people he had met-tourists from all over the world just like me. The small 5x5ft room had just enough room for the two of us to sit down where we shared some tea, exchanged stories and he showed off his most prized piece of memorabilia, a 1987 torn and tattered copy of Lonely Planet-Egypt. Apparently, back in 86’ he met a writer from Lonely Planet the same way he met me and they ended up including him in the next issue. (In the photo I uploaded here, his copy on Lonely Planet is on the Left, and mine on the right…see if you can find him). The guy was actually pretty suave looking in his younger years, and he likes to point this out. Anyway, his generous hospitality was not without a catch. The “museum” also contained lots of his family’s handmade jewelry boxes, and I ended up buying my fair share to thank him for a most authentic "free" tour. If you ever come to Egypt, let me know and I’ll
hook you up with Mr. Fathi Abd Al-Zahir,…a little piece of living history in Old Islamic Cairo.
Today I'm viewing sites in Saqqara and Memphis, then catching a plane down to Aswan for the second leg of the trip. A two day Nile river cruise, Luxor and the Red Sea to follow.
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Tasha
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Thank you so much for sharing you adventuress stories and amazingly beautufl pictures of your travels. A humbling experience I'm sure. Excited to hear and see more.