Our first stop of the morning was at the Allah Al Din citadel built in 1183. When we got there, it wasn't open yet and it was still a little chilly outside so Rob gave his report on Mamluks (a caste of soldiers who had been kidnapped as children, brought up as slaves, and then granted freedom) in the bus.
Within the citadel was a mosque. In order to enter, we had to take off our shoes. Because of the lighting, I wasn't ever able to get a very good picture.
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| Exterior of the mosque |
We could see another mosque from the citadel.
Then it was on to downtown Cairo so we could go to the Egyptian Museum. We passed Tahrir Square where the major political protests have been leading up to and during the course of the revolution. People whose family members died during the protests live there now in tents.
From a traffic light post hangs an effigy of former president Mubarak.
And this administration building burned during the revolution still stands as a reminder of the violence that occurred here.
No photography is allowed inside the museum and we only had a short time inside to visit this giant place filled with really cool stuff. I hated to have to hurry through. Some of the highlights included the treasures from King Tuthankhamun's tomb, like the famous gold death mask.
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| Picture taken from Wikipedia |
We had lunch at an authentic Egyptian restaurant,
and then headed out to the pyramids.
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| Taken on the bus |
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| Guard on camel back (who charge you a couple Euro if they catch you taking their picture!) |
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| Sliding down a pyramid |
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| The little pyramids |
We went inside the middle pyramid but there wasn't much to see. The walls were all white and there was nothing at the end of the long tunnel but a square space.
Next we visited the Solar Boat Museum (located just beside the pyramids) which houses a completely preserved wooden boat which had been discovered in pieces and has since been sewn back together. We had to put cotton covers over our feet, I suppose to prevent from tracking sand into the museum.
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| The pyramids are just outside the window of the museum |
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| Model of the boat |
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| The boat! |
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| Under the boat |
We then took a quick look at the Sphinx. We couldn't get as close as we had hoped but we did get close enough to see how much damage pollution and environmental factors have done to the face.
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| I really like the back legs and tail |
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| What the Sphinx has to look at all day (there's a Pizza Hut across the street) |
Now it was time for our much anticipated camel rides!
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| Self-portrait mid-ride |
On the way back to the hotel, our guide offered to take us to a papyrus shop to see a demonstration on how papyrus is made.
The tour company owns this shop, so it was all part of a gimmick to get us to buy souvenir painted papyri but it was still cool. And it worked. I bought a painting for my parents and here's the lady adding my name to the bottom in Egyptian hieroglyphs.
On the drive back to the hotel, I happened to notice this, which made me laugh. I wonder what the Arabic is for "Pizza!Pizza!"
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