A Guided Tour Of Cairo

Port Said In The Early Hours
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Cairo (or Al-Qahirah which is the official name for the city) is as breathtaking, as it is magnificent in history and architecture. I went to Cyprus as part of a two week holiday intent on taking the two/three day excursion to Egypt which was advertised at the travel agents (there was the option of going by aeroplane or travelling by Cruise Ship which is what my friends and I had opted for). Arriving in Port Said from Limassol in Cyprus, my friends And I were driven by coach accompanied by a guide who stayed with us the whole day (escorted by armed guard for protection as it was around the time when terrorism had interrupted the country) and taken to the Cairo museum first which was about two hours down the road across farmland and desert (best known museum in the world today for it's architectural history although cameras were not allowed in so I have no photos of anything inside to write a review with). The museum was a fantastic experience in itself with its own devoted section to Egyptian history such as the Tutankhamen mask (in cased in glass as protection) and also many tools and mummies that luckily don't jump out their coffins! The only problem we had in the museum was that there was no air conditioning so I recommend drinking lots of fluids considering the temperature is usually quite high in Cairo. To finish off our trip, we then went for a cruise along the Nile for lunch and entertainment and up to the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx to finish off in style (you can see the heights of the pyramids from miles away!).

Khandkar & One Of The Locals Outside The Pyramids
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Just Prior to our arrival at the museum as we were travelling into Cairo, we were given the opportunity to order cartouches which were small items of jewellery with hieroglyphs on (old ancient Egyptian writing dating back thousands of years) but had the choice what we wanted to be written in hieroglyphs and what type of jewellery we wanted it on. For a souvenir gift, these were wonderful ideas! While making the way back from the pyramids, we went into the city to pick them up and buy a few other things such as gold or silver chains to put them on. Gold in Egypt however, is a nice choice because it's a big export of Egypt and much cheaper to buy. Next door to the Jewellers was a small place where Papyrus Paper was made (an early form of thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant which Ancient Egyptians often used). We were given a teaching as to how it was made many years ago as Egypt's answer to writing paper and were then allowed to look around and purchase any of the beautiful pieces that contained pictures and writings (some copies of what would be written on the walls of the pyramids) that were painted on top after the paper was ready to use. These opted in size and price but again, made a fantastic souvenir to take back with you.

To finish off, we then went for a cruise along the Nile for lunch and entertainment and up to the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx to finish off in style

Going For Lunch On The Nile River
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As far as Egypt was concerned, many items in Egypt were often cheap to buy and there were many vendors in Egypt, especially around the pyramids, who were selling small items for next to nothing. There were many poor parts of Cairo that we noticed while travelling on the coach and a lot of it was more noticeable as we got towards the pyramids where there were many houses without windows, doors or even basic sanitation. Driving near the museum in the main town, you could see the City Of The Dead which is four miles long and is populated by over a million people who were forced out of the ghetto due to heavy crowding. This place derived its name because of all the tombs and graves that were there. As we got nearer to the Nile, you could see the more urban side of Egypt with its huge tall city buildings and hotels where the 'richer' people lived. It is easy to make the comparison and makes you feel sorry for those that were more harshly affected by it. I was honoured by the experience of being able to experience both cultures and added to the overall experience of the whole excursion which I enjoyed until the end.