Day 8: Egyptian Museum and aggressive haggling

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Woke up and realized it was the last full day of the tour. Today we would be visiting the Egyptian museum followed by a mosque and church and ending with a market visit. After breakfast we gathered in the lobby and boarded the bus for one final ride. First stop was the Egyptian museum and the first thing you noticed was the level of security. There were soldiers, machine gun posts and tanks protecting the building. Zizo did explain there had been a few successful break ins at the museum including one where the thief was trapped by the police on a bridge and proceeded to throw the artifacts into the Nile where they were subsequently lost in the water 😞.

We paid the final fee 85 EGP to enter the museum. Security was also heavy outside of the building and Zizo advised me to not take pictures of security personnel as they would be offended. We went into the museum and Zizo took us on a tour using a wireless headphones so that he didn't have to outshout the other tour guides. All of Egyptian history was represented in this museum. Prior to this all the sites we visited showed the leaders of Egypt. Here there were items that were used by everyday Egyptians and the nobles and the Pharaohs as well. Tutankhamen exhibit was the best because so much of his treasures are still intact and we learned about the effort it took to find his tomb. His coffin was hidden behind a false wall and his body was covered by layers of precious material. I spent a lot of time just staring at the golden mask of Tutankhamen. I am sure the mask is priceless but it must be worth millions upon millions. Beyond the extravagant golden treasures there were mundane items such as combs.

We had about an hour by ourselves at the museum after Zizo's tour before we headed out. I was near the entrance when there was a medical emergency. A gentleman starting throwing up before hitting the ground. We shouted at the staff for a doctor but they seemed non chalant about it. They did not even get off their chairs and just spoke into their radios. It took a few minutes but a man with gurney took him away and I hope he was ok.

Anyway we left the museum and made our way to the mosque. We were rushing to the mosque because it was close to the noon prayer. When we got to the entrance we split into men/women entrance. The ladies had to cover up and wear some very cool green robes. I must say they looked like either fashionable Jedi Knights or members of House Slytherin from Harry Potter. I honestly was jealous they got to wear them. We sat on the floor and our muslim tour leader Zizo told us about Islam and answered our questions. It was nice learning about a religion from an insider rather than the news. While we were discussing things the call to prayer occurred at noon and we had to clear out. Next stop was the oldest Coptic church in Egypt. Coptic means Egyptian so the term Coptic Christian refers to Egyptian Christians. Coptics represent 15 percent of Egypt's population and they go all the way back to shortly after Jesus walked the Earth. The ladies had to cover up here as well but not so extensively. We sat in the front pews and we learned about the history of Christianity in Egypt. I found myself transported back to my Catholic high school as I still remember sitting in the chapel back at Assumption College School. I was reciting the Lord's prayer at the front of church. We than spent some time exploring the church which had some interesting architecture.

We than went to our final lunch. It was a buffet lunch and we had to compete with some other tour groups for the food. It was chicken, fish, pasta and rice with excellent sampling of desserts. After lunch we had our final stop for the day which was the Cairo market. Bus ride to the market was through the center of Cairo which has so many cars and very few people who pay attention to the rules of the road. I will rank the traffic situation right up there with Bangkok in terms of density. Thankfully our bus driver Mohammed was an excellent driver. We were given an hour to explore the market and test our bargaining skills. Zizo gave us some advice on bargaining and we would put it to the test in the markets. Everywhere you go shopkeepers try to get you into their store and drink some tea with them. One of the ladies was invited upstairs but she smartly declined. I was looking for a nice scarf for my German friend I would be visiting later on. I went to 3 separate stores for the scarf and the first 2 wouldn't meet my price so I walked away. The 3rd one offered a very nice scarf at 80 EGP. I countered with 15 EGP and he asked if I was joking. I am assured him I was not joking and started to walk away. He than dropped it to 40 EGP. I offered 20 EGP and he went to 30 EGP. We argued back and forth for awhile and I finally said 25 EGP final offer. He didn't want to meet my price so I walked away. I was 20 meters down the market when some kid tugged on my arm and said for me to come back. I went back to the store and he grudgingly agreed to my price. I was quite happy I got the price I wanted. The final 5 EGP didn't really matter a lot but I wanted to tell Vera (German friend) I fought for her on this gift. After that I collected various other souvenirs including camels, keychains, magnets etc. After all that I went back to our meeting spot. Not everyone had bought something but we all enjoyed the experience. We actually had a security guard following the largest group of us but apparently he got bored and he went back to the meeting spot at a tea shop and pulled some people back with him even before the end of the hour. As we waited at the tea shop people would come up to us and try to sell things. So you don't even have wander around to buy things. So that was Cairo and we went back on the bus and drove through the crowded market and back to the hotel. Before we left the bus we gathered all of our tips in one bundle and gave it to Zizo our tour guide. Standard tip (Baksheesh) is 20 EGP per person per day.

With that the tour was mostly we done. Tomorrow we would all be going to the airport and heading back to our lives. With nothing more to be done we hung out by the pool for awhile. This hotel has a good outdoor pool and this would be the first chance we actually had the spare time to enjoy it. Some of us took some last minute pictures with Zizo before he left and returned to his family. After a few hours of drinking and laying by the pool it was approaching sunset when someone suggested we go on the roof to see the pyramids. We got to the room and climbed up on the dome. Once you get up there the sun perfectly highlights the pyramids in the distance. We shouted at the few members of our tour who were not there to get up here to see this. The best way to view it is to not look at the pyramids until you are on top of the dome and than turn. It is such a beautiful view and I am glad I stayed at this hotel instead of a hostel in the city.

That evening we had one last dinner together following by drinks and shisha. Than it was time to say goodbyes as some of us would be leaving very early tomorrow morning and we wouldn't have a chance tomorrow. That is always the hardest part of tours, the goodbyes. Ashleigh had 2 friends visiting her during this time as well. They would be on a different tour starting tomorrow. I am sure they would have a wonderful time on that tour. A group of us hung out until early morning before heading to bed. Tomorrow we would take one last ride to airport and back to our regular lives.

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Photos

Ladies in the green robes
I actually wanted to try on these robes. They looked so cool.