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Some people claim that it is the most important museum in the world - but if the Egyptian Museum isn't number one, it must rank in the top five. I spent many hours wandering around the gloomy halls trying to absorb this mass of material. The undoubted highlight of the Museum are the items found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The items of Tutankhamun are to treasure hunting what Versailles in France is to palaces - both are exceptionally opulent and ostentatious. The death mask was just spectacular, but the inner coffin, made out of 110kg of solid gold, was even more breathtaking. The wealth and creativity of the ancient Egyptians is just staggering, but it also makes one quite reflective. When Howard Carter first saw Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 he commented "Time, measured by the brevity of human life, seemed to lose its common perspectives before a spectacle so vividly recalling the solemn religious rites of a vanished civilisation." Couldn't agree more...
I was quite lucky to be in Cairo at this time, as the Museum celebrated its centenary this week. When I left the museum I managed to meet Dr Zahi Hawass, who is Egypt’s most famous Egyptologist.
He was completing yet another TV interview about the Museum's centenary celebrations. After the interview he was swamped by admiring locals. Thankfully, a security guard, seeing me look on in admiration, pushed me to the front of the queue where Dr Hawass signed my Museum Ticket for me. It is one of my most treasured souvenirs from these holidays.
But what about the world of Cairo outside the Museum? 16 million people live in Cairo - and after a day of walking around the city, you feel like you have walked past every one! The city is a constant buzz of activity - a flood of people flow down every street, every alley and every shop. This flow reaches it zenith at the markets in the Islamic section of the city. Whilst walking down the narrow uneven streets, you would be sharing the area with a bicyclist carrying a load of freshly baked bread on his head, a cart laden with goods being pulled by two donkeys and the occasional motor scooter trying to weave its way through the throng of humanity. This area stocks an incredible selection of items - clothes (including a great fez maker), spices, jewellery, souvenirs, food and the list goes on.
The pedestrian traffic may be fairly hectic, but the road system reaches new heights of anarchy. There is only one road rule in Cairo - there are no road rules. Firstly, there is no necessity to submit to red lights, pedestrian crossings, or lane markings - why use a road marked with three lanes of traffic, when you can squeeze in five. Apart from the engine, the only thing that appears to work on the cars is the horn - indicators and headlights are rarely used. However, a horn is used on every occasion - to attract attention, to announce you are passing someone - so the streets are transformed into this cacophony of beeps and sirens, which does make it a trifle difficult to sleep at night. Crossing the street is a life threatening and exhilarating event. The only method to diagonally cross the road at a 45 degree angle (following the flow of numerous little black and white Fiat taxis) and to maintain a steady pace. If you keep at a steady pace, the drivers will drive to miss you - but if you suddenly stop or go faster, their timing in avoiding you by centimetres is disrupted and a most unfortunate incident could result. So far, I have only been side-swiped by two cars whilst crossing the roads - quite a skilful effort for a novice.
However, the most famous part of the Cairo region is the pyramids located at Giza, the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World. From a distance they look huge - yet close up (and depending on the angle) they look anything from moderate size to monstrous. The sphinx is actually smaller than I imagined, its nose-less face and elongated leonine-body looked most worn indeed. I spent all day crawling around the Giza plateau vainly trying to remove the annoying hawkers from my presence who pester you even more than the flies.
The most exciting part of visiting Giza was entering the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops). In order to get a ticket (limited to 300) I waited an hour, and being first in line, was inside the massive monument in an instant. The climb was extremely steep and the journey up the huge vaulted corridor (the Great Gallery) at an incline of virtually 70 degrees was amazing. Once at the top, you had to crawl through into the King's Burial Chamber - an oppressive room of dark basalt. It was so dark and quiet - well, until the other ticket holders managed to also reach the top. I patiently sat there and waited as the streams of tourists came and went, and in the meantime absorbed the incredible ambience of the place. A group of Mexicans were also sitting with me, and one of them was a healer - who, when only the four Mexicans, two intrigued Egyptians and myself remained - conducting a healing session which involved some deep throaty chants which echoed off the wall - the acoustics were incredible. It was a very unusual experience to say the least. I remember my legs trembling for no apparent reason at one stage (an occurrence shared by one of the other observers) and it was an experience that I will need to consider some more in order to fully appreciate it.
Despite the chaos of Cairo, I have found a tranquil haven in this city. At the top of the Nile Hilton is the Pyramids Bar - an outdoor setting with comfortable chairs and a glorious view across the city. From here, the sound of car horns and mosques calling the faithful to prayer is a fainter echo. The Nile stretches out beneath you with it myriad of boats festooned with decorations and lights. From here, complete with an orange juice in hand, you can watch the glowing disc of the sun sink slowly behind the city, as the silhouette of the pyramids spreads its inky colour across the sky - just a wonderful way to end some truly exciting days.
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