You Spin Me Right Round

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12-4-08

Another early start and it is our trip back to Cairo. This was mostly done on our own bus, but we had to swap to the Metro once we were in Cairo, due to the car licence. We managed to escape having an escort on this part of the trip with some persuasive arguing. Sure did beat our desert trip in which we had an escort who snored really loudly and kept me awake.

We got into Cairo at about 5pm, back to the hotel from which we started. It was great to have a shower after so much time covered in grime. I could finally get rid of some of the “fake tan” from a stop at a sulphur pool earlier that day. Unfortunately it had been too long and some had stained, but this was to be remedied in the following week.

We went out to dinner that night, completing a full circle and eating at the same place that we did the first night. Thank goodness I was feeling better then I was last time and for the first time in the trip actually indulged in dessert, honey, cream and coconut pancakes. YUM!

After dinner we went to see Whirling Dervishes. They were incredible, and it was great to hear some live traditional music. The first Whirling Dervish was impressive spinning continuously in the same direction for 25 minutes!

When the show was over, there was more looking around the Khan al-K market. This was only a browse session as most of the shops were closing. We then finished up with a sheesha session at the markets. A fitting ending to our last night in Cairo.

13-4-08

This morning we had our farewell breakfast and saw most of the people in our group off.

Lucy and I decided to head to the Cairo Museum this morning, being the only two yet to see it. It was actually good that we did it this way I thought, as we had more context to what we were seeing. Most of the museum hasn’t been curated, so you don’t have much of an idea of what you are looking at without a background.

I was impressed still with what I saw. Of course Ol’ Mate Ramses had plenty of stuff again. Tutankhamun’s belongings, as you would imagine, were something else though. The kid had a lot of jewels and gold on him for a dead person. I don’t know if it would be physically possible for a living person to be able to stand up with all the bling he had on. He also had a sandal fetish. And of course it was totally necessary for him to take it all with him to the after life.

We decided to go into the mummy section as well. We actually got to see Ramses II ol’ mate in the flesh, or what was left of it. It was pretty fascinating. It was kind of weird to see the people who have been dead for thousands of years and we have heard so much about over the last two weeks.

For lunch we decided to Westernise it up and went to the Hard Rock Café. Sadly enough, as much as I loved the food we were eating in Egypt, it was good to get a burger and chips.

After lunch we ventured up to the market again to get in some shopping, where we met up with Megan and Sam. We didn’t have long there before it was time for Megan and me to pack our bags and catch the bus to Dahab.

The bus ride to Dahab was interesting. About two hours into the bus ride, and the man behind us cat (yes, you read that right) decided to do a crap in its cage. With only SEVEN HOURS to go, Megan and I thought we just might be sick, and took no sympathy on it when it decided to start meow, because it was in such close compound with it smelly business. Luckily the man and cat got off the bus about an hour later. Looking around to bus though, it looked as if Megan and I were the only females, and Westerners on the bus. Fun…

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Photos

Whirling
This is the guy who went for 25mins