Today was another extremely early morning. Our flight left Luxor at 5:30am. We landed by 6:30 and then had the lovely pleasure of waiting for our luggage for over an hour and a half. We were all a bit cranky.
That was, of course, until we walked out the doors of the airport and was immediately greeted by Sherif and Ali, our guide and our driver we had when we were in Cairo before! It was smiles and hugs all around, then off to the van to pack us in and take us to the Muhammad Ali Mosque. He was a very important man for Egypt. He’s considered one of the most famous Muslim leaders, and was known for advocating for religious freedom and other humanitarian causes. This was a big deal at the time, and now all religions are practiced in egypt, with Christians and Muslims living as neighbors without any issues.
Sherif took us all around and inside this beautiful place, explaining the architecture and the rituals/customs. It’s pretty fascinating.. and the detail! My goodness! I think the three major religions of the world are all closely related, and they all seem to have huge gorgeous places to worship-and they deck those mosques, churches, and synagogues out with all the inlaid marble, ivory, and carved wood and stone. This mosque was just beautiful. It also has the tomb of Mohammad Ali in the corner, which isn’t traditionally done.
After seeing the inside, we got to see the panorama views of Cairo from the outside. This city is absolutely MASSIVE.. I believe Sherif said over 33 million people live in this area.. Cairo and Giza and I believe one other suburb of the city. It’s easy to see why it would look and feel a bit chaotic-there’s a lot of people living their daily lives, then you add tourists from all over the world too. It’s a busy place! The big domes of the mosque are covered in alabaster, so it’s also known as the alabaster mosque. The long spindle things, called minarets, that jut up into the sky are the highest of any mosque in Egypt, at 275 feet tall.
We left the mosque and headed to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. Y’all. Sherif is a brilliant man for bringing us to this museum last. IT. HAD. AIR. CONDITIONING!! Like-that south atlanta good air conditioning! It was awesome for that fact alone-and then you add in all the cool artifacts and treasures in there-WHEW. And then: the MUMMIES! Y’all. I was having the time of my life nerding out in there!
We saw carpets handwoven for ceremonies and weddings, intricate wooden boxes engraved with gold to hold the Quran, traditional dress of the Nubian and the Beduin people, and so many statues, jewelry, and trinkets. It’s so well preserved and the displays were magnificent. I was in awe at every head turn.
There were lots of school children there, too. The little girls in their hijabs were the absolute cutest, running up to Andrea and I asking for pictures of us and with us. Sherif got them giggling at one point, and then he must have said something like, “ok, that’s enough now,” in Arabic-because they all smiled and nodded, then left us alone for a bit. The group of tween boys were staring pretty hard, and he startled them and got them into a fit of giggles and red cheeks, too. He wouldn’t tell us what he said, but those boys seemed a little embarrassed. Ha, it was super sweet.
From the top, we went down the stairs into the rooms where they keep the Royal mummies. There were 20 of them, including Queen Hatshepsut and Queen Tiye, and 18 Kings, like Ramses II, Tutmoses III, and so many more. They still had hair and teeth, fingers and toes. One looked like he had a Charlie horse in his calf or foot-because it was wrenched sideways. Ramses II had an arm lifted, it’s so crazy. These people lived and ruled THOUSANDS of years ago.. and here they lie-for the most part intact. Absolutely insane.
I truly loved the mummies. Mom got the heebeegeebees around them, but she enjoyed looking at their sarcophaguses.. which were obviously stunning. These ancient Egyptians knew a thing or two about sustaining beauty, that’s for sure.
After the museum, Sherif took us to the markets. We were beyond grateful to have him with us. He helped corral us through the busy (and really freaking hot) streets of Cairo. I told him I wanted to find a local artist that paints to buy a painting from.. he of course knew a guy. He took us strait through the insanity right to a little shop.. Farid is the artist and he pulled out painting after painting-no two the same, all clearly made by him.
I found the one I loved, a beautiful camel in the desert with a Beduin man riding on top. Beduins are the people of the desert, apparently not just in Egypt-but any people of any desert. I need to fact check this.. anyway-I adored it. Andrea found her one, too. We happily paid the sweet man and then I got a picture of us together 🙂 it’s one of my favorite things to do! Get a piece of art hand created on my travels. I have a wall that will be slap full before I know it!
Anyway-we carried on, found some souvenirs to take home with us, and when we looked completely zonked-Sherif took us to lunch. We didn’t even realize how hungry we were until we sat down at the restaurant. The restaurant is called Abu Tarek Koshary-which is a type of pasta dish made specifically here. It was served with a little show of preparation. It was awesome-and absolutely delicious! I took our leftovers back to the hotel with us!
We checked into our hotel, another gorgeous one with city views. We showered and laid down to relax after that early morning and a jam packed day. Mom fell asleep pretty early, I ordered room service and watched tv. I was tired but not able to sleep yet. That’s fine.. I’m sure I’ll pass out here soon either way. I’m too tired to go anywhere, that’s for sure. Tomorrow we leave at 6:30am to head to the black and white deserts with the tour guide I booked this trip through. It’ll be our first time meeting him in person, so that’ll be nice.. he’s planned us a great trip so far. Goodnight.
