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Published: December 29th 2008
Egyptian Museum
Four hours at the Egyptian Museum and only saw a fraction of the amazing collection of Egyptian antiquities. On the Road to Cairo
December 23, 2008 Our drive to Cairo followed the same route we travelled to Siwa from Alexandria, except that we veered onto the desert route to Cairo about 100km west of Alexandria. After enduring a non-stop 8.5 hour long drive across the barren desert, we arrived on the outskirts of Cairo at 5:30pm after leaving Siwa Oasis at 9am, to find ourselves in gridlock for almost 2 hours. The traffic in Cairo lived up to its reputation as there are over 2 million cars that drive around the city with few rules and restrictions. Traffic jams are the norm! It felt as if we would never set foot in our hotel, one of Cairo’s most beautiful hotels that offers exclusive window shopping at the First Residence Mall. We finally arrived after travelling the long road to Cairo to a lovely appointed room overlooking the Nile.
Christmas Eve
It was a bright and sunny day in Cairo on Christmas Eve. Although we planned to meet our guide at 8am, we waited 1.5 hours in the lobby. After emailing our guide, we hopped into a cab and independently toured the Egyptian Museum, which is
considered one of the most prominent museums in the world. It was built during the reign of Khedive Abbass Helmi II in 1897, and opened on November 15, 1902. It has 107 halls divided into seven sections, each section devoted to one era in Egypt's history.
The museum's most significant showpiece is the Tutankhamen collection. We marveled at King Tut's treasures and the Royal Mummies Room, although we have visited many museums with Ancient Egyptian collections.
While we spent the first 2 hours independently visiting the Tutankhamen exhibits, which were fabulous, we spent 2 hours with Marwa, dispatched by our guide to provide a tour of the museum’s other masterpieces. Marwa is a well-educated and well-spoken Egyptian woman with impeccable English and a real pleasure to tour around with. With apologies, a scented bouquet of roses and delicious pastries, all was forgotten as we enjoyed a lovely day being guided around Cairo.
If you’re used to visiting the top museums in the world, like the British Museum in London or the Louvre in Paris, this museum’s exhibits lack labeling and the treasures are crowded and subject to temperature fluctuations in this non-air conditioned old building. Nevertheless, the
riches of its collection are so impressive that it doesn’t matter especially when one has visited other collections and has the knowledge to know what you are looking at! There are plans to replace it eventually with a modern museum near the Giza pyramids, expected to open in 2012.
Although we spent 4 hours at the museum, we hope to make a second visit when we return to Cairo at the end of our trip to spend a couple more hours marveling at all the Egyptian antiquities.
Around 2pm, our guide, Nibal Gouda, joined us to guide us around the Citadel of Salah el Din and visited Mohamed Ali's Mosque.There are amazing views of Cairo from the citadel which fortunately could be seen as the skies were clear for Cairo! It was a great way to get your bearings in the biggest city in the Arab world with over 23 million in population.
We drove through the downtown area and visited the Khan el Khalili area, which not only is a market place but also has some beautiful architectural sights and mosques. Papa Canuck was impressed when we stopped for tea at El Fishawi's, the oldest café
in Cairo dating back to the 1800’s. Canuck Junior discovered strawberry juice, which will definitely be on our list of things not to be missed when in Cairo.
After a rough start to the day, we enjoyed an amazing Christmas Eve dinner at the Seasons Restaurant at our hotel before hitting our pillows!
Christmas Day
After grabbing a coffee on the run, we met up with our guide and driver at 8:00am. We took a trip to the countryside to visit the Saqqara , Dahshur and Giza pyramids. The rural areas around Cairo provided some interesting views. We stopped at a market fruit stand and enjoyed Egyptian grown Christmas oranges.
We visited the Funeral Complex of King Zoser including his Step-Pyramid and visited the Nobles' tombs and Teti’s tomb at Sakkara. Before the Egyptians mastered the art of pyramids, they had some failures, so we saw the view of the Pyramid of Amenemhet III, otherwise known as the Collapsed Pyramid, and King Senefru's Bent Pyramid from afar.
In contrast to the pyramids at Giza, the Dahshur pyramids have very few visitors so we decided to go down into the burial chamber of the Red Pyramid, which
is just slightly smaller than the pyramid of Khufu at Giza (it was built by Khufu’s father), and is the first successful attempt at building a true smooth sided pyramid - the model used at Giza.
Although we all felt thigh muscles we forgot we had from going down into the Red Pyramid, it was well worth it! The descent is quite steep and narrow with wooden braces to get to the first chamber. It was amazing to see the corbelled (step) ceiling which has a height of about 40 feet, but the smell of ammonia was almost unbearable. It took 2 days for Papa Canuck to walk normally again!
We then drove back to Giza to have lunch at Felfela, an Egyptian restaurant near the pyramids. After enjoying a great selection of Egyptian specialties, we had a guided tour of the three famous pyramids of the Giza Plateau and the smaller pyramids of the Princess and Queens, the Sphinx and the Solar Boat Museum.
The Great Pyramid, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was constructed for King Cheops around 2650 B.C. We chose not to go down into the pyramid here, since we had
Bizarre Khan el-Khalili Bazaar
Lots of hustle, bustle and hassle, but it is worth the experience and a great place to hone your bargaining skills. Go Mama Canuck! entered the Red Pyramid, which is much less crowded and a shorter climb. Mama and Papa Canuck would never have made it out of Cheops! Close to the eastern flank of the Pyramid of Cheops are three small pyramids dedicated to either his wives or family members.
We marveled at the eternal resting places of the pharaohs of the fourth dynasty. The second pyramid, built for Kephren, son of Cheops, southwest of his father's pyramid, has a simple interior with two entrances on the north side. The third one was built for Mycerinus (Menkaure), Cheops' grandson, lies southwest of the others and is the smallest of the three.
The Museum of the Solar Boat, south of the Great Pyramid, is built over the rectangular pit that preserved the barque, a wooden boat for the king's journey with the sun god, Ra, to the afterworld. Discovered in 1954, in a completely dismantled state, the 43-metre (140-foot) cedar boat was subsequently restored. It was an impressive sight since it was like a Lebanese cedar jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are joined by twine.
Before we set eyes on the Sphinx, we drove to the plateau to take panoramic photos located
Egyptian Coffee House
El Fishawis at Khan el-Khalili. Strawberry juice is the best! next to the camel lot. The statue of the Great Sphinx of Giza, one of the most famous monuments in the world, is a legendary figure with the body of a lion and the face of a man. Even though we could only see it from a distance, it was an amazing sight!
Staying at Four Seasons Cairo at First Residence Four Seasons Cairo at First Residence proved to be a very beautiful and relaxing hotel offering a calm oasis in Cairo to retreat to after spending time touring the pyramid fields and chaotic Cairo. We had a wonderful view of the Nile River from our 9th Floor deluxe room. The hotel staff were very friendly and service oriented; although, the concierge services were not up to the standard set by the exceptional services provided by the concierge at the Four Seasons Alexandria at San Stefano.
However, the restaurants were excellent. The first night we ate delicious Thai cuisine at Lai Thai and on our last night we ate Italian cuisine at Seasons Restaurant. Because Christmas Eve fell on a Wednesday, we enjoyed a seafood buffet complemented by Egyptian cuisine and a Christmas turkey dinner with all
the trimmings. First Christmas that Papa Canuck ate sushi instead of turkey!
We leave chaotic Cairo early Friday morning, December 26th, for Aswan, where we will board the Sonesta St George for a 3 night Nile cruise. There is so much more to see and experience in Cairo, so we look forward to returning to Cairo in the New Year! Upper Egypt Here We Come!
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