Cruising on the Nile and Dubai here we come

Cruising on the Nile and Dubai here we come

Monday evening 7 July 

We had a couple of hours rest, did most of our packing and showered, changed and were ready to be chauffeured to our boat for the dinner cruise.  David wasn't feeling 100%, but thought he'd be ok.

We met Mohammed in the lobby at 6.45 and Steve was back with the van and it's bright yellow faux fur seat covers!  

Another trip along the highway besides the Nile 

and Steve dropped the three of us off by the dock.  

There was a huge boat tied up there, for a moment I thought...... but no we walked through this boat as a passage to our more appropriate boat.  

We were one of the first there and Mohammed introduced us to the Captain and crew and we were shown to our table, Mohammed didn't join us but he wasn't far away.  The whole of the deck was the dining area, tables were set up and there was a space for the music to be played in the centre.  At the far end the buffet was laid out with all the food for three courses.  We had drinks already sitting on the table, one a murky brown colour and one bright pink.  They both tasted nice and we were told what they were, but I can't remember, quite different to any other drink I have tasted.

Gradually more people came in, many families and couples, apparently after the sun goes down the first meal is a celebration.  We had already been asked if we would like to go up to the buffet and start our meal, but we said we'd wait, can you imagine how awkward it would have been to select our food and walk back to our table and start eating it while all around us people are waiting for sundown!  While we were waiting we were listening to a direct feed from the mosque of a call to prayer from the Mullah, it was a bit of a change from what we were used to, and it was rather long and loud, but we respected their customs and once it was over there was a bell and it was time to eat.

It would have been so helpful if we had had a menu of some sort, or even a description of the food in the heated trays, but it all looked appetising and I just followed the person in front of me and had a bit of everything!  It all tasted very nice, some of it was quite spicy, which I like, but not too hot.  I could taste cumin and garlic in most dishes, but there were a lot more spices than that which I couldn't pick.  There was plenty of rice and salads, also macaroni cheese.  There were two types of soup, they seem to be keen on soup, and of course delicious looking small cakes, which were like syrup cakes and a dish like bread and butter pudding.  I tried a bit of this and that and enjoyed it all.  We had another glass of the pink and brown stuff, no alcohol of course.  We probably could have ordered some, but it seemed disrespectful.

It was only after I had finished my meal that I spotted Mohammed and he took me around the buffet and told me what I had eaten. 

We had started sailing up the Nile during our meal, so when we finished we went outside to take a look at the lights on the buildings on the banks of the river.  The Nile is such a huge river.

Wikipedia: "The Nile is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world.  It is 6,853 km long. 

The Nile is an "international" river as its water resources are shared by eleven countries, namely, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.  In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and the northern Sudan."

When we returned there was a trio playing Arabic music, they had an electronic harp, a mandolin and a bongo.  Mohammed told us on the way back that they were very good musicians and the music they were playing was very traditional and popular with Arabs young and old.  

The boat docked at about 10.00pm and we wandered back up to the street and Steve was there to pick us up and take us back to our hotel.  

We had an early start in the morning, we were being picked up at 7.00am. 

Tuesday 8 July - Cairo to Dubai

We got up at 5.30am, had a shower and went down to breakfast.  We organised for our cases to be brought down, settled the bill and met Mohammed and were off in the van to the airport.  With Steve's formula 1 driving skills we arrived ahead of time.

Saying goodbye to Steve and Mohammed 

Mohammed helped us with our luggage and we went to find where we checked in only to discover that the flight had been put back 2 hours to 12.40!  Surprise... thanks Egypt Air.  Fortunately Mohammed was able to use a bit of influence and we were allowed to check in early, we said our goodbyes to Mohammed.  He had been very attentive and we had been chaperoned the whole time, we never felt anxious or threatened at all and we would useTempo Tours again.

Ready for take off, this is what the grass looks like in a desert airport.

The flight went well, just over three hours long, the crew were so much better than the last lot, more mature and everything went to plan.  

We arrived on time, went through customs and immigration 

and headed out to find someone with a board with 'Lonsdale' on it.  By this time we knew just how much two tall obviously European people stand out in a crowd like this, so it was only minutes before we were claimed. 

We were taken to a shiny black limousine, the driver put the luggage in the boot and we stepped out of the 40deg heat into air conditioned luxury, along with two bottles of  water.  We drove sedately out of the airport and onto the smooth and manicured motorway where the other cars kept in lane and presented no challenge!  

The contrast with Cairo was almost too much to handle!  Already on the drive to the hotel we were taking in the wonderful high rises, each building looked so different from the rest, no ordinary blocks here, in fact it was almost de rigueur to have a straight side.  

We were staying at the Fairmont Palms, the same hotel chain as in Cairo, by this time we were both feeling a bit under the weather, so when the receptionist suggested we upgrade to a room overlooking the ocean, we agreed.  The room was wonderful, very large, big bed and a great balcony overlooking the beach, the ocean and the skyline of Dubai.

Wikipedia: "The Palm Jumeirah consists of a tree trunk, a crown with 16 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11 kilometer-long breakwater. The island itself is five kilometers by five kilometers. It adds 78 kilometers to the Dubai coastline.

The Palm Jumeirah seen from the International Space Station.

Residents began moving into Palm Jumeirah properties at the end of 2006, five years after land reclamation began.

A Monorail opened in 2009, but is not connected to other public transport."

The hotel reception lounge

It took a while to absorb all the info from the hotel book, they had about four restaurants, but only one was open for breakfast and lunch through the month of Ramadan.  David needed a rest anyway, and later we went to find somewhere for dinner, one of the concierge crew showed us around and told us about dining in the hotel, but David couldn't really face a big meal so we ended up in our room with a room service sandwich!  It was nice going out on the balcony to look at the beach, but could only stay for a few minutes because it was so hot!

By this time I was also feeling a bit crook, so we had an early night and had fingers crossed we would feel better by the morning.  Why did we drink tap water in Cairo.... you'd think we were travel rookies!!

Cairo day two

Cairo day 2

Monday 7 July

Oh dear, Cairo Crap taking hold - David struggling but ok.

Another lovely day, hot and a little hazy this morning, I took some more photos out of our bedroom window.

There were a couple of boats out fishing close to the hotel, obviously having an early morning catch up.

We dined in style, again at breakfast - a later start today.  We met Mohammed and Fouad at 8.30 and drove off to the Egyptian Museum.  Another colourful ride, in a car this time - Steve was unavailable.  

David and Mohammed (he's the one in the white shirt)

"With a population of 6.76 million spread over 453 square kilometers, Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt. With an additional 10 million inhabitants just outside the city, Cairo resides at the center of the largest metropolitan area in Africa and the Arab World as well as the tenth-largest urban area in the world. Cairo, like many other mega-cities, suffers from high levels of pollution and traffic. Cairo's metro, one of only two metros on the African continent, ranks among the fifteen busiest in the world, with over 1 billion annual passenger rides."

We drove along the motorway for quite a while and then went through what Fouad called the 'slum area' but people here earned a living by trading anything and everything,

 and he went on to tell us a story about his father driving through this area when he became ill and stopped the car.  

He was given immediate help by these people who got him some water and made him as comfortable as they could until help came, not something he thought that would happen in the business area of town.  

The roads were unmade, sandy and quite rutted, there were many horse drawn carts pulling all manner of things, but I could not time it right to take a photo, it will have to be my quest before we leave.  

These pictures were all taken with my iPhone, in a rush as we manoeuvred our way around - my excuse for the poor quality, but at least they give an accurate impression of conditions.

We stopped a little way from the Egyptian Museum, it was not easy to park closer, there had been a bit of a car accident up ahead, as we past it was just a nose to tail.  We arrived to heavy security with a strong presence of armed army personnel, there was a riot across the square recently so they were prepared in case protesters started to gather.  We had to put our bags through the scanner in the usual way, but I wonder how serious they are as there is a lot of beeping going on and not too much action.

Wikipedia:"The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, is home to the most extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world.

'Behind every great man.....' many Egyptian art works depicting kings and queens show the queens in a strongly supportive role.

This statue is in honour of Auguste Mariette who was the founder of the museum

It has 136,000 items on display, with many more hundreds of thousands in its basement storerooms. Among its most famous collections on display are the finds from the Tomb of Tutankhamun."

We were not allowed to take pictures in the museum so I have taken a few of my favourites from the web.

Fouad was in his element, he made it live for us, there is so much to see, and he just took us to see his favourite pieces and explained the dynasties and what pieces meant and how they were used, how old they were.  

Part of the museum is taken up by a special area with royal mummies, all air conditioned which was a welcome relief!  The first room displays eleven royal mummies from the Empire Age that began in the late 17th Dynasty and continued through the 19th Dynasty. Kings of this period led the liberation war against the Hyksos. I thought it was morbidly fascinating to see these corpses, some still had hair and teeth, some had well crafted eyes to make them more real, but they were all thousands of years old, truly amazing embalming skills.  Only their heads were uncovered. 

The second room is designed like a royal tomb with a vaulted ceiling and indirect, low lighting. It displays 11 mummies that are exhibited inside special showcases, each supplied with a small electronic device to observe and control the humidity level around the mummy minute by minute. The mummies belong to royal individuals of the 20th Dynasty like King Ramses III and priests of Amun who succeeded in ruling the southern half of Egypt as priest king.

We then left the air conditioning and moved on to the second floor which was full of all the treasures contained in Tutankhamun's  tomb, showcase after showcase of incredible riches, big things like horse drawn chariots richly decorated, the golden throne beautifully engraved with hieroglyphs (and many Cartouches which now seem to stand out!), his small chair when he was young, wonderful alabaster vases, cups, ornaments, such an amazing assortment, no wonder there was such excitement when his tomb was discovered.

A pectoral belonging to Tutankhamun, representing his Prenomen.

Wikipedia:"The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter and George Herbert of Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb received worldwide press coverage. It sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's burial mask, now in Cairo Museum, remains the popular symbol. Exhibits of artifacts from his tomb have toured the world. In February 2010, the results of DNA tests confirmed that he was the son of Akhenaten (mummy KV55) and Akhenaten's sister and wife (mummy KV35YL), whose name is unknown but whose remains are positively identified as "The Younger Lady" mummy found in KV35.

The gilded bier from the base of Tutankhamun's Sarcophagus.

Tutankhamun seems to have faded from public consciousness in Ancient Egypt within a short time after his death, and remained virtually unknown until the 1920s. His tomb was robbed at least twice in antiquity, but based on the items taken (including perishable oils and perfumes) and the evidence of restoration of the tomb after the intrusions, it seems clear that these robberies took place within several months at most of the initial burial. Eventually the location of the tomb was lost because it had come to be buried by stone chips from subsequent tombs, either dumped there or washed there by floods. In the years that followed, some huts for workers were built over the tomb entrance, clearly not knowing what lay beneath. When at the end of the 20th Dynasty the Valley of the Kings burials were systematically dismantled, the burial of Tutankhamun was overlooked, presumably because knowledge of it had been lost and his name may have been forgotten."

The Pièce de résistance was in a small side room, we start walking around the exhibits looking at the amazing jewellery, the necklaces, the amulets, the arm bands, gold, jewels, moving on to the sarcophagus, all three, and then I saw the golden mask that we are all familiar with.  How many times have I seen images of that and thought about embroidering it at some time.  But this was for real, I walked round and round the glass cabinet trying to soak it all in, the back of the mask is just as magnificent as the front, and it is perfect, just perfect.  I am still in awe.

"The Gold Mask of Tutankhamun, composed of 11 kg of solid gold, is on display at the Egyptian Museum"

We were 'museumed out' by this time, and our tour included lunch and later on, a boat trip on the Nile including dinner.  So we made our way back to the taxi and tried to take a few photos of Tahrir Square where the riots happen, but with so much traffic and hubbub it was difficult!  

Another interesting ride into the outskirts of Cairo to a restaurant which looked like someone's apartment from the outside but upstairs it opened up and it seemed like a family gathering, a few tables were set and there was another couple there having lunch.  But of course Ramadan time meant that the family were in fact the waiters and cooks and were not allowed to eat or drink.  There was a large buffet set up with covered trays of food with heaters under, a couple of bowls of salad and dishes of hummus type dips and breads.  There were also two types of soup and a large variety of cakes, jellies and a chocolate mouse.  So 'Mum' showed us to our table and David and I did our best to sample a good many of the dishes, we both politely refused the soup (which didn't really go down too well with 'Dad') and son number 1 took our order for mango juice and a beer for David - non alcoholic of course!  We sat and tried to make polite conversation with each other, all the time the family leaned against the counter chatting, watching our every move.  It felt really uncomfortable, and to be honest the food wasn't that great, and they weren't that friendly, it may have something to do with watching westerners eat when you are starving!

This was actually taken on my way out!  Nice mural though. 

Feeling somewhat refreshed and cooler we met up with Fouad and the taxi once more and were off to see some churches in Old Cairo. 

Part of an ancient Roman wall going through Coptic Cairo.

 It's fortunate that most of the old and interesting churches are close together in the one street as we were getting pretty tired by now.

Nearly got it!

"Coptic Cairo is a part of Old Cairo which encompasses the Babylon Fortress, the Coptic Museum, the Hanging Church, the Greek Church of St. George 

The Greek Church of St George being renovated.

and many other Coptic churches and historical sites. It is believed that the Holy Family visited this area and stayed at the site of Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga). Coptic Cairo was a stronghold for Christianity in Egypt until the Islamic era, though most of the current buildings of the churches in Coptic Cairo were built after the Muslim conquest of Egypt."

Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church also known as the Hanging Church (El Muallaqa) is one of the oldest churches in Egypt and the history of a church on this site dates to the 3rd century AD.

Along the steps were these lovely mosaics

"The Hanging (The Suspended) Church is named for its location above a gatehouse of Babylon Fortress, the Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo); its nave is suspended over a passage. The church is approached by twenty nine steps; early travelers to Cairo dubbed it "the Staircase Church." 

The land surface has risen by some six metres since the Roman period so that the Roman tower is mostly buried below ground, reducing the visual impact of the church's elevated position. The entrance from the street is through iron gates under a pointed stone arch. The nineteenth-century facade with twin bell towers is then seen beyond a narrow courtyard decorated with modern art biblical designs. Up the steps and through the entrance is a further small courtyard leading to the eleventh-century outer porch."

Babylon Fortress

The interior, with Fouad

The pulpit built on 12 columns to represent the 12 disciples, the black one thought to be Judas. 

The Coptic Museum behind closed gates

David and I were a bit reluctant at first to go to a Souq as we weren't sure what to expect, however Fouad was going to go with us and I really wanted the experience.  So back in the car and another interesting ride to Khan el-Khalili Souq.

"The Khan el-Khalili today is mainly occupied by Egyptian rather than foreign merchants and shopholders, but is significantly geared towards tourists. Shops typically sell souvenirs, antiques and jewellery, but many traditional workshops continue to operate in the surrounding area and the goldsmiths' souq, for example, is still important for locals."

It was such a fun place, the small shops were packed full of souvenirs of one sort or another, just as you would imagine, and the stall holders were all calling out as we passed through "I've got your size M'am", "just take a look", "I'll give you the best deal in Egypt" etc, etc, 

so I stopped and looked at a few things, I was really looking for the Jackal that is one of the Egyptian gods, and the cat as well, they all had the same stuff, so how could you choose one from the other?  

So this guy shows me a scarf - I don't want a scarf, and before I know it I am in the back of the shop and he is unfurling scarf after scarf to display the fineness of them, so ok I quite like this one, how much..... he carries on unfurling scarves and starts on the tunic type dresses, .... I like this scarf, how much, ... more unfurling, if you don't tell me how much I am walking out right now, immediately he comes back with 100 so I come down to 60 and he appeals to Fouad, who isn't giving him any measure at all, so I knew I wasn't the one cheating!  

"Tell me how much, or I am walking straight out of here".

So we agreed, all smiles, until I asked him if he had change of 200!  Fouad's face looked at me horrified ..  I learned quickly that NO ONE has change a a Souq!  David had disappeared, so Fouad lent me the money and we left happy - it's a really nice scarf too.  Now to find something I really do want.  And so we went on, I found my jackal, and my cat, 

fortunately David had enough small change, and we finished the afternoon having a soft drink of fizzy pineapple, while Fouad watched - we suggested we get a drink back at the hotel rather than drink in front of him, but he told us not to worry about him as the more tempted he gets, the more he resists and the more 'brownie points' he gets!

Wikipedia: "In addition to shops, there are several coffeehouses (مقهى maqha ), restaurants, and street food vendors distributed throughout the market. The coffeeshops are generally small and quite traditional, serving Arabic coffee and usually offering shisha. One of the oldest and most famous coffehouses is Fishawi's, established in 1773"

Back in the taxi for the last time, hair raising stuff on the way home, but you have to take it with a bit of a light hearted shrug,

Weaving in and out of traffic, they thought it was a huge joke!

Dent, what dent?  It goes doesn't it?

We arrived back at our hotel just after 4pm, so had a couple of hours to rest up before our dinner cruise on the Nile.