Cairo (Egypt Part 2)

The second day in Cairo started early in the morning, as we were going to visit the Old Town of Cairo and the Egyptian Museum.

Our tour guide Ahmed picked us up from the hotel at 8.15 am with a minibus, and we hit the road again through the dense traffic of Cairo.

Horns honked, cars squeezed, and every red light was ignored.

Eventually, we reached the Citadel, where the Mohammed Ali Mosque (also known as Alabaster Mosque) dominated the scene. The 52 meters high dome crowning the whole building was impressive.

When entering the mosque, we all had to take off our shoes (or wear plastic covers over them). As women, we were assisted by our tour guide Ahmed in wearing headscarves beforehand. :)

Tour guide 'Baba Ahmed'

At that time of day, there were relatively few foreign tourists around. However, we encountered some school classes who looked at us foreigners with interest and sometimes wanted to take a selfie with one of the vacationers.

The journey continued to the Old Town of Cairo, where we strolled through the Bazaar and were provided with delicious falafel in bread by 'Baba Ahmed'.

As a finale, we had tea or coffee at a café to energize ourselves before heading to the Egyptian Museum.

First, we had a guided tour by Ahmed, during which we could admire many important exhibits and the treasure of Tutankhamun.

Instead of going to the mummy chamber, we explored the exhibition with sarcophagi and statues from Ancient Egypt in the subsequent free time.

The exhibits were very impressive and surprisingly well-preserved, but unfortunately, most of them were unlabeled or commented on.

As a conclusion, we had a shared meal in a former cruise ship on the Nile, which now only serves as a restaurant.