Back to Cairo

Today a short post, on one hand because we mostly drove and ate and saw little, and on the other hand because tomorrow we continue at 3.00 am!

Today we are driving back to Cairo and visiting the An Bishoy Monastery, a monastery of the Copts, which was built in the name of St. Bishoy. The monastery is actually a small city, the monks are completely independent from the 'outside world'. They provide all kinds of services, from carpenters to doctors to lawyers, and so on. Even all the decorations in the cathedral were made by monks.

I don't really like the monastery, we hardly get any insight into the history or present of the monastery. At least we receive blessed oil as a farewell gift, which can be used for all kinds of ailments. We can use that well, because the whole group is sick, everyone is sniffing, coughing, sneezing. Maybe the blessed oil will help?

We take a lunch break and eat Fettari, a kind of Egyptian pizza. There is a salty version or a sweet one. Although I don't usually like sweets, I definitely prefer the sweet version. With a delicious coffee, there is hardly anything better. Another 2 hours drive to Cairo. It's not really worth unpacking at the hotel, because after about 1.5 hours we go out again and find out that we have a flight to Luxor tomorrow at 6 am. That means getting up at 3 o'clock, and at 4 o'clock we're off to the airport. Aaaaaah!
That's why we have an early dinner, and where do we go: exactly, to eat Koshari at Abou Tarek, where I already ate alone on Friday. In between, a few small snacks from street vendors, like dried sugar cane and Physalis, and for dessert, Baklava and other sweets.

Most of the people in the group stock up on the pharmacy. Hopefully we'll all be fit tomorrow, because then come two intense days: the flight to Luxor with a visit to the Karnak Temple and the Luxor Museum, and the day after, the long-awaited visit to the Valley of the Kings!

Good night...