Day 10 Cairo Revisited

Tuesday March 29^th

The train arrived in Cairo about 9:00 and got picked up and taken to our hotel, same one as last time. Dropped off our bags and then back on the van for a tour of the Coptic section of Cairo. Sam had arranged for us to have a different guide for this trip. Her name was Dalia (that's her with me in the photo). The Coptic region is in the old part of Cairo. We saw the remains of the old fortress that was built here. It's also of religious significance because it's a very Christian area. The area is sealed off from traffic and the streets are narrow. We visited a mosque, a Christian church called the Hanging Church (because it's built on top of the remains of the fortress) and a Jewish synagogue. All three are quite close to each other, they are all very old dating back to the 5^th or 6^th century and all three have been rebuilt several times because of damage caused by earthquakes and fires. The synagogue is now a museum because there are almost no Jews living in Cairo, and you can't take pictures in it.

She gave us good information about Islam and then I asked her if western media and movies are changing women's attitudes towards wearing the head scarves and long gowns. She didn't think so. She said that women wear them because they like wearing them and they are tradition. Where she did express frustration was the fact that single women have to sleep at their family home every night, which excludes her from travelling. She was very envious of our travels in her country and around the world.

Then we had an hour to walk around the bazaar. I spent my time trying to take photos of people, as I wasn't really interested in shopping and they were very in your face and very pushy. The girls enjoyed it and wanted to say there longer. So we grabbed a quick shwarma and then I headed back to the hotel with the guide and van.

I had told Sam how much I enjoyed Turkish rice pudding and he told me Egyptian pudding was excellent. In order to prove his point he ordered two for us to have at the hotel. It was really good, maybe a bit less rich and came with ice cream on top.

This evening Sara, Claire and I hired a cab and went to Giza to see the Sound and Light Show on the pyramids. The drive there was amazing. Traffic here is chaotic and there are cars, pedestrians and horse or donkey carts all competing for lanes or crossing in front of you. I would never drive my bike here! Sam says you need three things to drive here: good brakes, a good horn and good luck!

The show was hokey, but it was good to see the pyramids at night and lit up. Then back to the hotel for another early night.