Guest post by thadeus_d3
Map tips: each color represents a different day. Click a marker to learn more about the spot, and click the star in the map header to save the entire map under Your Places in Google Maps.
Day 1
After our flight arrived, we went straight to the Andrea Maadi Restaurant for a Nile River dinner cruise. We enjoyed the dinner buffet and entertainment. The entertainment consisted of a singer, belly dancer and tanoura.
Day 2
- The Great Pyramid of Giza
- Sphinx
- Egypt Papyrus Institute
- Memphis
- Saqqarah
Our tour guide and driver met us in the morning to visit the Giza Pyramids. They are much larger than I expected and the Giza plateau was not overly crowded. It was surreal just being there. After taking several pictures, we decided to do a camel ride near the pyramids. Next, we moved onto the Sphinx. The Sphinx was very crowded and we were disappointed that we couldn’t take pictures directly in front of it because it’s setup for a nightly sound and light show. After snapping a few pictures and visiting a nearby tomb, we visited the Egypt papyrus institute and learned how the ancient Egyptians made papyrus. We even with through the process ourselves, hammering the papyrus plant into thin, interwoven pieces and pressing them. The institute doubled as an art gallery, so we bought a painting and headed to the ancient capital of Memphis.
In Memphis, we visited the local museum that had several artifacts including the 2nd largest sphinx and massive statues of Ramses II. Once we were finished, we headed to Saqqara to visit the step pyramid of Djoser, the very first pyramid ever built. Nearby, there were 10+ other pyramids and you could see the Giza pyramids in the distance. It’s the perfect place for a panoramic photo. There are also several tombs on near the step pyramid, but they are blocked off to the public. If you pay a few bucks to the security guards, they will let you enter the tombs and look around. We couldn’t believe that we were able to view and touch ancient hieroglyphics that were over 4000 years old.
Day 3
- The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities
- Citadel Plaza
- Mosque of Muhammad Ali
The Egyptian Museum was well worth the cost of entrance. It has a lot of great artifacts and we could’ve spent the entire day here. Our guide went over the most historically important artifacts and allowed us some time to roam and take pictures. Our favorite part is the floor filled with artifacts that were recovered from King Tut’s tomb. In the afternoon, we left the museum and headed to the citadel. The citadel is over 700 years old and features a Turkish-style mosque. There are huge crowds, but it’s definitely worth a visit. The citadel offer panoramic views of the Cairo skyline.
Day 4
- Coptic Cairo
- Khan el-Khalili
- El Fishawi
Our flight left in the evening, so we had a half day to visit the sights. We started off with Coptic Cairo, which is a fortress in Old Cairo with several important churches. We spent the morning learning about the history of the churches and exploring the narrow alleyways. Next, we visited El Khalili market to purchase some souvenirs. There were vendors everywhere, selling everything from incense to high end jewelery. Once we bought our souvenirs, we visited the 200 year old El Fishawy cafe for some coffee, shisha and people watching. Despite vendors constantly trying to sell us items as we enjoyed our coffee and shisha, it was the perfect way to end our trip.
Traveled in February 2016
Leave a reply