Egypt - More Cairo

 

At the Bazaar

We’re on our own today, and in Egypt I’m a huge fan of Uber.  No negotiating rates, tip is through the app, you know exactly where you’re going and when, and some safety features built in.  All way better than getting in a random dodgy car and hoping for the best.  Current uber driver is playing English playlist that’s like 60s lounge music lol.  

And our hotel has extra security that confirms it’s the right uber before we even get in - doesn't help for any other starting place but mildly amused me.  Since the app also shows the car literally driving up, that helps clarify.  Keep in mind, here we can't read the license plates - and it would take longer than plausible in traffic to sit and compare what's on my screen to what's on the car.  So the app showing the car actually appearing, and the driver having my first name on his app, is also helpful.

Random museum artefacts

We started our day at The Egyptian Museum of Civilization, which our Cairo guide strongly recommended And while small, it was extremely well worth it.  Unfortunately no cameras allowed in the interesting section which houses the royal mummies, their coffins, and good descriptions of their lives - all extremely well displayed.   

This is in the middle, taken from the upper floor;
Down below, you walk around the circle to access the royal mummies

They only allow 20 people in the mummy area at one time (we were the only ones there today lol) so if you go in high season, go early!   The upper area did permit photos and had more normal museum artefacts.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Next up we visited The Egyptian Museum in Cairo (not to be confused with the Grand Egyptian Museum - also in Cairo) because Chris really wanted to see a silver sarcophagi, which are rare and one was here.  And his mask was impressive.   

One of many silver artefacts in the Tanis exhibit

This museum is being reimagined, and as such is mildly chaotic at times - lots of things have no descriptions, some have descriptions but not in English (Google Translate win here!), the flow doesn’t entirely make sense, this one isn’t air conditioned (fair enough), several of their items are wrapped for shipping while others are missing.  There are entire rooms and hallways of stacked coffins. It’s learning its new identity with the GEM now being the star attraction.   So often little to no signage, way finding, identification, etc.   However - we found what we were looking for and more, so it was worth it.  And in this museum C videoed a YouTuber filming an educational bit lol - minor interlude to the day.

Certainly has potential to be impressive once more

After a short and yummy lunch we hit up the Khan el-Khalili bazaar.  Was that ever an experience - esp as we started on the local’s side 😆 but eventually found our way to where tourists should be.  People, cats, dogs, motorcycles, tuk tuks, even at one point a bus, all navigate the Cairo Bazaar in whatever way suits them.  There were places that were overwhelmingly chaotic and mildly terrifying, while others, sometimes found just by turning a corner, were oasises of calm - almost eerily quiet.  The vendors actually were not nearly as aggressive as I’d feared (don’t get me wrong, they’re pushy and will try endlessly to convince you to go in their shop or keep you there if you do, but not actually as aggressive as other places we’ve been on this trip).  

Chaos.  Supreme chaos.

The vehicles add an extra layer to the chaos - at one point I was walking balanced on a curb, just wide enough for one foot, with a fence on one side of me and a very slow moving car on the other, and had a moment of “and this is how people get die in crowds”.   Like I actually chose to step in front of said slow-moving car to get away from being trapped between it and the fence.   

But also moments of calm.  And animals.
People leave water out for the cats.

Similarly (and there’s a pic of this in that collection) a bus went right where we were walking to try to turn a corner - just about squished a number of people; C and I stepped into the closest - thankfully empty - booth to wait till it moved on.   I’m reasonably certain it brushed the display, but it took me too long to get my jaw off the floor and remember to capture it on camera.

Market shots - calm and chaos - all it takes is turning a corner.

We found the book section first, and while we didn’t go in any there were SO many of these stores. Not sure if writing books, reading books, or both - but they all seemed to have v similar stock.

One of *many* book shops

Also - it’s Friday, which is their Saturday, so the local’s day for the market as well.   It was definitely an adventure.  Our last uber of the day picked us up on a random, extremely chaotic, corner and got us safely back to our hotel.   We went out again to our standard street to find food and then went back to pack up for a 3:30am start tomorrow and the first leg of our journey home.

More random photos from today:

A calm oasis outside the Egyptian Museum of Civilization

Silver Sarcophagus

You can't be shocked this caught my attention ;)
There was an entire section dedicated to scroll writing in the Cairo Museum.

I enjoy that scribes are often shown with belly roles.  Also love that they have statues that show people aging, and in various degrees of fitness. It may still not be reality (see any woman choosing to be represented as a man to support her power), but their modifications are different from the ones we would do today.

Cutting it a *little* close to the booth I stepped into to avoid being run over ;)

You can't be shocked by now that I took any of these three photos ;-P

There were many sarcophagus displays throughout the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Outside the museum

So many nooks and crannies, and fascinating architecture
throughout the streets of Cairo
That part, I loved.  Entirely.