Here is part 2 of our time in Giza/Cairo, with this post being about our city tour in Cairo. To read about Part 1, click here.
Day 3
Day 3 in Egypt, we woke up early to get a good start on our busy day! From Giza, we drove to Cairo to see the Egyptian Museum. The ticket price for general admission is 120 Egyptian pounds (about $7) per person and if you want to see the Royal Mummy room, the tickets for that are 100 Egyptian pounds (about $6). Photography is only allowed if you purchase a pass, which costs 50 Egyptian pounds (about $3). Once you get that pass, keep it handy because you will most likely be asked to show it when taking pictures. You can take pictures everywhere in the museum except for either the Tutankhamun room, which houses King Tut’s tomb artifacts or the Royal Mummy Room, which houses the mummies of many Royals.
Since we had only a few hours to spend at the Museum, we chose to forego seeing the Mummy Room and focus on seeing as many artifacts as possible. The way the Museum was laid out, the artifacts were separated by the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom. These were all on display on the bottom level. The objects on the top floor are organized according to tomb or category.
Since there are over 160,000 artifacts in this Museum, you could spend all day here admiring everything and taking thousands of pictures! It was really good to have our guide, Hisham, explain all of the important artifacts that we didn’t want to miss. This kept us from getting overwhelmed and lost in the sea of objects.
Even if history and/or museums are not really your thing, you will absolutely not want to miss seeing the Egyptian Museum. It is a miraculous thing that all of these artifacts survived from so long ago and it gives you a glimpse into what life would have been like for the Egyptians back in that age.
After we were finished seeing all we could in the Museum, we got back in the car and headed over to the Hanging Church, one of the oldest places of Christian worship in Egypt. It is also referred to as the Suspended Church or Al-Moallaqa (in Arabic, ‘the suspended’). Why is it called the Hanging Church? The reason for the name is because it was built on the southern gate of the Roman Fortress, using only Palm tree trunks and stone to hold it up on top of the Fortress. This leaves the nave of the church suspended over the passageway of the Fortress and gives it the impression of hanging in mid-air. Another unique thing about this church is the wooden roof is in the shape of Noah’s ark.
Admission to the church is free and you can spend as much time as you like inside. The church is divided into 3 main aisles, with three sanctuaries located on the eastern end. From left to right, they are dedicated to St. George, the Virgin Mary, and St. John the Baptist. Photography is not allowed inside the building, but you can take as many pictures as you like outside. Since it is not a Mosque, you do not have to cover your head.
Once we were done visiting the church, we walked down to the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, the first Mosque to be built in Egypt and the continent of Africa. Due to the fact that it is still a very busy Mosque, it is only open to visitors when there are no prayer services taking place.
Admission is free. You will want to dress appropriately and modestly. For men, wearing pants and either a loose shirt or t-shirt. For women, the more skin you have covered, the better. Loose pants or a floor length skirt, with a loose fitting shirt that either covers mid-way down your arms or all the way down. You will also want to cover your hair with a scarf.
After all of this exploring, we were getting quite hungry, so we decided to stop by a restaurant for some delicious falafel. Falafel is a traditional Middle-Eastern food, that originated in Egypt. It is a deep fried ball or patty made with ground fava beans. It is then stuffed inside a pita, that acts like a pocket, to eat. There are also other things that they put into the pita bread, such as a mixture of cucumber, tomatoes, and cheese for one option and beans in another. All of it was very tasty, by far one of our favorite meals in Egypt!
Once we were finished eating our lunch, we headed back to Giza to stop by an oil shop to see how the ancient oils were made. The Golden Eagle Crystal offers a multitude of quality essential oils, such as lavender, almond, rose, mint, lilac, etc. They all are supposed to treat/improve different things. We did purchase some mint oil and it does a very good job of clearing out your sinuses. Just one drop in hot water, breath it in you will be feeling much better. We both got colds a short while after coming back from Egypt and this stuff really helped! The best part was it wasn’t full of chemicals.
Once we were done purchasing the oil, we headed back to our hotel to get a good night’s sleep before our trip to Alexandria the following day. Another fun filled, packed day spent in Egypt!
**If exploring Ancient Egypt interests you please check out The Traveling Kings Egypt Tour partnered with Egypt Holiday Tour! You can call yourself an adventurer and immerse yourself with the great people and culture. You can find the link to our page here.
