2010.10.5In the morning, we felt we hadn’t seen the Pyramids enough, so we decided to go to Giza again. Learnt the lesson from yesterday, we set off at 7AM. It took us more than an hour because of the traffic jam, but we were still earlier than those tour buses. We entered Giza Plateau from the entrance near Sphinx. There were only one small group there, we got at least 20-minute time of our own to take pictures and appreciate her majesty.

The Great Sphinx, Giza

Valley Temple of Khafre, Giza

We didn’t go to the place with panorama view, but we did get chance to take pictures with a camel.

Giza pyramid

Camel man and his camel posed in front of Khafre’s pyramid, Giza

The inside of the Great Pyramid only opens at afternoon. We couldn’t wait that long. Had we seen the documentary about how pyramids were build, the chambers, pathways and possible internal ramps, we probably would make a different decision, but our plan for the afternoon was to to see Islamic Cairo. The first stop was the area around Khan al-Khalili. It’s so coincident that the taxi driver to took us there was the same one who took us to Giza in the first day.

Just next to Khan al-Khalili, Mosque of al-Azhar is one of the oldest mosque of the city and the highest authority of Islamic study. My wife had to wear scarf to get in. Mosques have more restrictions on what to wear for women – all the body parts have to be covered.

Mosque of al-Azhar

Mosque of al-Azhar

Mosque of al-Azhar

Mosque of al-Azhar

The world famous Khan al-Khalili bazaar contains only a handful alleys. They are so narrow that the goods placed outside the stores, clothes, carpet, brass, spices and souvenirs, almost block the pathway.

Khan al-Khalili

Leaving Khan al-Khalili behind, Fatimid Cairo is like a living museum of medieval architecture. It has many mosques and palaces that were originally built in Fatimid dynasty, but reconstructed by later dynasties. Wandering around its narrow streets, I was particularly amazed by those intriguing and delicate carvings on the wall and window. Arabic inscriptions also become part of decoration of buildings as they are always engraved in such artistic styles.

Fatimid Cairo

Fatimid Cairo

Fatimid Cairo

Fatimid Cairo

Fatimid Cairo

Fatimid Cairo

Fatimid Cairo

We spent about 2 hour in Islamic Cairo. After that, we made a right decision not to eat McDonalds but went to Al-Azhar Park and had a lunch at Citadel View Restaurant. Al-Azhar Park makes a distinct contrast to its surroundings – it’s like a small oasis among all the gray tones. The restaurant is quite high-end with nice food, good service, and especially, wonderful view. In the front, you can clearly see the Citadel erecting on top of the highland; at the back, it provides panoramic views of Islamic Cairo.

Citadel View Restaurant in Al-Azhar Park

Overlook the Citadel from Al-Azhar Park

Overlook Islamic Cairo from Al-Azhar Park

When we arrived at Mosque of Ibn Tulun, the sun was already low in the sky. There was only one tour group there and they soon left. The inner courtyard were all empty, I felt I was looking at a Star Wars scene. The spiral minaret can be accessed from outer courtyard. You can reach the very top with an easy climb, rewarded by an excellent view of the city.

Fountain and Minret of Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Overlook the surrounding city on top of the wall of Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Again, it’s too late to enter Citadel. It’s a regret because this was our last day in Cairo.

2010.10.4When you are first time in Cairo, the first thing you want to do is – to see the pyramids.

We left the hotel at 8AM. On our way to Giza, one man who just jumped into our car at the traffic light and started asking us to take the pyramid tour with him. He spoke very good English and were good at talking by telling us travel tips, local customs together with his sales pitch. However, he wasted us at least half an hour by taking us to his village near Giza. What we learnt is, we should made up our mind early, stick to the plan and be firm to refuse any distraction.

Pyramids, Sphinx, Giza Plateau, Pharaoah’s Tomb, merely mentioning these names can get us excited, now we stand beside them. Somehow, we didn’t feel the mysteriousness anymore. However, we were still awed by their sheer size, and thinking how old they are even made me “confused”. “Have they really been standing there for five thousand years?” Five thousand years ago, Egyptian could already build these enormous structures with this level of accuracy. Amazing, overwhelming, and …, confusing!

The Pyramid

The Pyramid of Khufu

For a while, we couldn’t find the Sphinx, then we saw a round-shaped structure at the distance. That must be it. It’s the Sphinx’ back of the head.

The back of the Sphinx

The Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Sphinx of Giza

We left Giza Plateau at about noon. After a short break at the hotel, we went to the Egyptian Museum. It’s not in my original plan, but it seemed to be a good destination after talking to Hotel’s personnel. We hired a guide for a 2-hour tour. For first-time visitors who are not familiar with Egyptology, a guide can be really helpful to lead you through more than 120,000 items in display and let you focus on the most interesting pieces, but sometimes the guide just halfheartedly recited what he had to say.

Egyptian Museum

Storied building next to Tahrir Square

Our next stop was Coptic Cairo. Coptic Cairo is a district where many Christian churches are located at. It’s also called Old Cairo because it is where the city was found when Egypt was a predominantly Christian country. We didn’t get into the district because the ticket office closes at 4PM everyday. Had we visited Coptic Cairo first, we would still have time to see the museum, because we would be able to get to the museum before 4PM and the museum closes at 6PM.

Coptic Cairo

Coptic Cairo

Coptic Cairo

2010.10.2~3In hindsight, the trip plan was a bit aggressive – in total we flew 13 times in 16 days. We went to two continents, camped in the desert, strolled along the Nile River and lodged on the clifftop by the Aegean Sea. Maybe the only thing I wanted to see but had to skip is Meteora in Greece. Other than that, we felt pleased and, in fact, honored to see all the wonders in these two countries of the longest human history and the greatest civilizations.

The trip started on Oct. 2nd. We left San Francisco at noon. It’s Lufthansa Airline but operated by United. Because it’s an international flight. United “generously” provided one meal and one snack on the 10-hour flight. There were 5-hour connection time at Frankfurt so we had a lunch in the airport. The food was nice, but the exchange rate was outrageous, €1 = $1.68.

Lunch at Frankfurt Airport

Lunch at Frankfurt Airport

Lunch at Frankfurt Airport

When we arrived in Cairo, it’s already Sunday night. Before we stepped out of the airport, we already started experiencing Egyptian’s “hospitality”. A man in the official(?) airport booth offered us the price of 150 Egyptian pounds to the hotel, which should only cost 50 pounds. Out of the airport, we were approached by a young man who claimed he had a taxi. With no white or black taxi in sight, we decided to go with him. We ended up paying him more because he told us an extra 10-pound was needed to use the toll road, which he didn’t take. Any way, it’s late night and we arrived in hotel safely.

The hotel we stay is Safir Hotel at Zamalek. Zamalek is an island in the Nile River. Many foreign embassies resides in this district. It’s a quieter area but by no means up-scale. We got a smaller room in a suite, but we did have a nice view of the Nile.

Night view of the Nile

The best feature of the hotel is its pool. It’s an open area by the river, which offers breezy atmosphere that make you think the tumultuous Cairo is a different world. Every Sunday night, live music is played with traditional instruments, such as Oud.

Traditional music play by the pool at Safir Hotel at Zamalek