Egypt, the cradle of civilization with over 7,000 years of history. There is no way to see it all in such a short visit, but the Egyptian Museum gives an informative overview.

The building is impressive with a beautiful lily pad filled water feature leading to the entrance flanked with small sphinx statues.  To the right of the museum lies the governement complex that was burned during the revolution, and to the left is Tahrir Square, also called Revolution Square.

There is a lovely garden area between the Museum and government building with a prominent statue of the museums founder, Auguste Mariette.

And there ends the photo opp!  Camera’s are confiscated and stored until you leave the museum.  It is recommended you buy a book if you want photo rememberances.  We did.  Mahmoud toured us through the sections that he thought the most important, explaining every element and it’s historical significance, then left us to view the mummy room and roam about the rest of the museum on our own.  I wonder if those mummified people ever imagined they would be on display centuries later!  We had coffee and gathered our things while we waited for Mohamad to come drive us to the Citadel.

Even with all of the interesting places Mahmoud had perfectly planned for us to visit, I found Mohamad’s skillful navigation of the traffic to be exciting and looked forward to each driving experience.  “There are a million stories in the city”, and I think we passed by them all and many more!  Again through the traffic, 2 lanes become as many as cars, motorcylcles, wagons and camels will fit!

It comes from every direction in every shape and form imaginable.  I had thought nothing could compare to the traffic in Doha, but I was wrong, this made Doha look like a cake walk, and I was truly thankful for Mohamad making it all seem so easy.

We passed by the City of The Dead, a four mile long cemetery inhabited by living poor and impoverished as well as their dead ancestors.  As we climbed the hill we could see the walls of the Citadel high atop a cliff, strategically built by Saladin during the end of the 12th century to protect the city from attacks, in particular the crusaders carrying military campaigns against the Middle East during this time in history.  The Citadel houses four museums and 3 mosque’s, including the famous Muhammad Ali Mosque that we visited.

This was my first visit inside a Mosque and it was a stunning and impressive piece of architecture, dimly lit by chandeliers that at one time would have been filled with candles instead of today’s electric lighting.  Beautifully ornamented ceilings and carved marble columns.  When visiting any religious architecture, I always feel struck by the beauty of what humanity can create when inspired to do so.  I also feel a little bit imposing on the people there to worship, but they seem to take no notice of us and were very kind to offer print information upon our departure.

The view of Cairo below is a testament as to the wise positioning of a fortress intended to protect it’s city.

After our Citadel tour we headed back down into the city to have yet another outstanding Egyptian supper, then visit the Royal Perfumes Palace.

Mona Lisa was our hostess at the perfumery, describing the different flowers and plants that the oils were made of and how then they were used in the international perfumes that were available for sale, and or on their own.  We selected four oils: first, the Yellow Mint oil which smells much like Vicks Vaporub, then we were told is one of their ingredients and should be used for colds, congestion and to stop snoring…who could not want to stop snoring!  Next we selected a Sandalwood oil, not the fragrant type we are used to, but a light oil that when rubbed heats the body and is used for massaging sore muscles.  Then two more selections for fragrance only, the Papyrus Flower oil, a light lovely daytime fragrance, and Secret of the Desert oil, an intoxicating gorgeous evening fragrance.

Smelling great, it was time for Christmas phone calls to my Mom and Nichole, then down to the Nile to watch the sun go down and a 2 hour dinner cruise.

I enjoyed seeing the felucca boats and a sail maker mending sails and wished we’d had more time to stay and sail the Nile.  Maybe next time…

Special thanks to Mahmoud and Mohamad for making our visit amazing!

To contact Mahmoud Ahmed for Tours
Please call +2 010 1 555 212
or Email hoka_wisefirm@yahoo.com

 

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