Egypt Day 3 - Egyptian Museum & Tahrir Square

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I hoped today was not going to be a repeat of yesterday. I again, arranged things with Tareq, this time to visit the Egyptian Museum. We hoped that the entrance fee was the only thing we were going to have to pay

Tareq came to get me from my hostel at midday. We set for a walking journey across the city. The museum was no more than a ten minute walk away, and crossing the streets and dodging the traffic proved to be fun. We got to the entrance of the museum, and prepared ourselves for any suspicious movement. Needless to say, there were indeed people approaching us, offering to be our tour guides. Our tactic; ignore. Simply ignore them. Don’t even say “no”, as that can bring the opportunity for them to harass you. Just keep walking. It worked.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take cameras into the building – we had to deposit them in the security safe box. Nothing my iPhone couldn’t solve though – I was able to bring that in, and I took pictures of whatever appeared interesting to me, while making sure that no one was around to see me.

I must say the museum was quite interesting. I am generally not a museum person, as I don’t have much patience for them; they take too long to walk around and see everything. So the visit was in a way rushed, but at the same time relaxed. We were satisfied with what we saw. Many egyptian tombs, burial chambers and stones carved with heiroglyphics, which is what attracted me the most. We also saw mummies behind some of the glass cases. Overall, it was an interesting visit, walking up and down, not missing a room, getting a quick glimpse of most things. I spent most of my time appreciating the heiroglyphic writings on stones.

After our visit, we got our cameras back, to no additional safekeeping charge, what a surprise, and headed out through the exit. There were vendors trying to show and sell us some paintings – I knew what this could have led to, so Tareq and I were quick to walk away, making sure we wouldn’t even touch the paintings. They were pretty persistent though – they followed us halfway up the road shouting “Sir! Sir!” while we continued on our merry way, not even looking back, before they finally stopped following us. It felt good.

We were back into the safe zone. We walked down the road to Tahrir square, where the protests and demonstrations are currently taking place. There’s been a lot of civil unrest over the course of one year, and we thought we’d check it out. There were tents pitched up, but nothing violent was going on. It’s probably not the smartest place to be, but at least I had a companion with me. I looked out for him, and he looked out for me.

We then walked along the Nile River back towards my hostel, where we laid back and chilled out. I was going to board my sleeper train to Luxor at 8pm, so until that time, I had my things packed, I talked with Tareq, and tried to make the best of the lack of internet connection; the wi-fi was pretty horrid, as has been so common on my travels. It grinds my gears.

We said goodbye shortly after; it was great to hang out with a new friend, and as with all my friends I've met, I hope to see him again in the future. I was off to Giza train station as we parted ways. Here I would wait for my train to Luxor. To kill time, I found a tourist sitting nearby and striked up a conversation. We soon boarded the luxury train - after seeing a bunch of horrible ones. I felt uneasy after seeing them.

I met another tourist in my cabin berth, and we chatted away until we were served dinner, and the beds were made. I would be arriving in Luxor at 5am, but of course, as you can expect, I got little sleep.

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