Cairo - March 12th

On the 12th of March I arranged for a day tour and drop off at the new hotel where I would then meet my group in the evening. I didn’t want to waste another day at hotel by myself.

I got picked up early in the morning and fortunately three members of my group joined in – Mary, Ron and Sue. It was nice to meet a few people I’d be spending time with over the next few weeks.

Mena was our tour guide, a very nice and knowledgeable man who, before becoming a tour guide, was in to restoration. He gave us all Egyptian names. I was Hatshepsut, Mary was Nefertiti, Ron was Ramses, and Sue was Cleopatra.

Our first stop was ancient Islamic Cairo, which was founded in 969 as the royal city of the Fatimid dynasty. There are only two entrances to this part of the city as it is all gated. The gate we entered through was called Bab Zuwayla and is the southern entrance of the second wall, built in1092. Thank God I take pictures of all the signs...

The city was beautiful with it’s narrow, winding streets. We saw many sabils, which is where anyone can come and get free water. We also visited the Madrasa of Sultan Al-Muiayyad mosque, the Al-Azhar Mosque, and the Church of St. Virgin Mary the Relief (Coptic Christian Church).

After Islamic Cairo we went for a traditional meal at a nearby restaurant where most university students go for a quick bite. The dish was called Kushari and it is a mix of many ingredients such as chickpeas, pasta, tomato sauce, etc. One of the best meals I tasted while in Egypt. Cheap, delicious, and filling.

Our next stop was Al-Azhar Park, which was built by the Aga Khan so I was very excited to go there. The area which the park was built used to be a landfill so this park is really important for the Cairo landscape. It is also where you can go to the highest point in Cairo and get a great view of both the ‘city of death’ and the ‘city of life’. The city of death is an enormous cemetery and the city of life is, well, the rest of Cairo. Al-Azhar park is in the middle.

We were then dropped off to the Santana hotel. We had a group meeting at 6 where we met our group guide, Saad, and the rest of the group. After our meeting we said goodnight to our guide and most of us headed to the King’s Hotel nearby to grab a bite to eat and have a drink. It was nice that the group hit it off right away.