Pa Lu Bin Cheng: Cairo, Egypt

Spending 5 days in Cairo was abit too much, Sadly we didn't planned to make a trip to Alexandria which is about 2 hours drive or by train from Cairo. Walking in Down town Cairo can be quite challenging, every corner there seem to be someone trying to sell us something. Well who can blame them, they are poor, most of the jobs revolves around tourism and the numbers of tourist aren't like what they used to be.

After the 1st day of the Pyramid trail we decided to take it slow, enjoy the city both old and new, do what the Egyptians do and just blend in

Egyptians are very simple people in my opinion :), enjoying his day sitting down with a Shisha pipe, a glass of Hibiscus tea, a simple sandwich and people watching....ahhh life. Most of their local food are very simple also

During our 5 days in Cairo we spend quite a numbers of meals in a chain restaurant called Felfela! I would totally recommend this place if you want to try their local food

The price is reasonable as they put up all the prices up on a sign, so no hidden charges or ridiculousness prices

this is yummy, Riso rice with spicy crispy chicken for EGP9.50...but it's very small

another local restaurant(Abou Tarek) that many locals says they make the best Koshary.

For me i think it was ok, Koshary is a high carbs dish with macaroni, noodles, rice, beans, chick peas, fried onion and also their spicy sauces. This restaurant is only 5 minutes walk away from our hostel :) Price EGP10

but you can get in Felfela for EGP5

ok enough of food talk...let's walk

from down town we took the metro to Old Cairo (Mar Girgis station) which is so convenient and cheap only EGP1 each way though during rush hour it can get very crowded but fortunately the train run every few minutes. And for female traveler not to worry they have special cabin for only female...less crowded

In Old Cairo there are so much to see we spend 1 whole there here

1st stop was the Coptic Museum which is just opposite the Metro station...how convenient is that right?

Price: EGP25 for student and 50 for normal ticket

the museum was really beautiful and really worth the visit

next to the Hanging Church which is just beside the Coptic Museum, built in 690 one of the oldest churches in Egypt

a small courtyard

the interior of the church

the church's interior details are different from European churches

wood details

the church is located above a gatehouse of Babylon Fortress, the Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo, hence the name of the church

front entrance of the Hanging Church

spotted Aladdin's magic lamp :)

interesting shops around the area

3rd stop on the other side of the Coptic Museum is Church of St. George

i love this place everything is just around the corner :)

ding dooong

interior of St. George

this church is the Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Georgios

old and new structure

there is also Greek Orthodox cemetery

a small street link to the Ben Ezra Synagogue(Egypt's oldest surviving synagogue), the Church of Abu Serga(to see the Crypt or more like to see the steps to the Crypt, where the Holy family Josept, Mary and the infant Christ rested at the end of their journey in Egypt) and many other small churches

this is the well where infant Moses was found, according to an unknown "tour guide" out of no where and asked for a tip

the well is just behind the Ben Ezra Synagogue

after a tiring walk time to go back Down town.....luckily this metro station not much crowd

we decided that we had to check out Tahrir Square from a safe distance (plus there is a KFC just that corner ;P), luckily we managed to leave Cairo 1 day earlier before another bad riot....thank god!

after a nice crispy and juicy Chicken headed back to our hostel for a rest from the hectic noise and people

the view from the hostel

imagine everyday the traffic is crazy. As you can see behind the overhead bridge most of the buildings are built half way...those are the illegal houses according to our driver Ruby...so dangerous

Talat Harb Square

mosque and church standing peacefully next to each other

around the Talat Harb Square it's quite happening, you can find almost anything here, clothes, shoes, food, watches. Here is where the local come to shop

most of the higher standard buildings, shops, hotels or tourist spot there will be a security check

oh i feel much better

some butcher shop nearby...

i wonder if they sell camel meat here.. I heard they like camel meat and it's good for man power ;P hehe

even almost midnight the sound of car hons goes on and on it's like 2 hons/sec...I'm serious

tip:bring ear plugs

next morning we visited the Egyptian museum, which was also a 5 minutes walk from our hostel. Price:EGP30 for student and 60 for normal ticket

It's huge, interesting and so much to see. no photo inside though. There are also a Royal Mummy Room, containing 27 royal mummies but you'll need to pay extra EGP60(if I'm not mistaken)

from down town we then took a cab to Citadel of Saladin, which cost us around EGP10-20 depends on the traffic though.

Taking the cab can be also alittleCairo

oh ya MAKE SURE the meters is switched on ;)

Entrance fee for the Citadel is EGP25 for student and 50 for normal ticket

there are 2 mosque in the Citadel, this is one of it The Mosque of EL- Nasser Mohamed ( The Mosque with the green dome)

Saladin and Family?? hehe

within the Citadel, the Mosque of Muhammed Ali is the most impressive, the courtyard looks beautiful

this mosque was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali's eldest son, who die in 1816

interior

the cupola of the mosque

the mosque of Muhammed Ali

because the mosque, situated on the summit of the citadel, we saw pretty much whole of Cairo

marvelous view

another attraction within the Citadel, the Museum

due to lack of time and not too interested in military stuff we skip the museum

overall of the Citadel. According to history, Saladin built this fortress to protect the old city of Cairo. It mainly consists of enclosure walls and watchtowers, as well as many, many gates! The architectural plan of the fortress resembles many of the ones that were built in Syria and Palestine at the time of the Crusades. Later on, the Citadel became a major training centre for the Egyptian army

view of the opposite hill

on our way back we stop by the famous old market Khan El-Khalili.

The area is quite big

We had a great time there, bought some souvenir as usual!!

street vendor by the road side

during our last day, had nowhere else better to visit, started to walked toward the famous Nile river and visited the small Island(Gezira) in the Nile River.

Panorama view of the Gezira island with 2 major bridges connecting

Nile River

Boon @ The Cairo Tower (a free-standing concrete TV tower) This building here is at 187meters, it is 43 meters higher that the Great Pyramid of Giza. The weather was quite foggy so we skipped going up

in the evening, we took the Metro again from Downtown to Giza station and then took a cab(EGP21) to see the Great Pyramids of Giza for one last look. We were frustrated with the cab driver, we told him Giza Pyramids instead he took us to a camel ride area....GOSH! and he speaks no English. luckily we told the vendor we had already rides and was rushing to see the light show. Wasted few bucks for the detour....grrr

anyway we were lucky to reach our destination safely. We had our dinner at the Pizza Hut which is just right infront of the Pyramids and from the rooftop we can see the whole Pyramids light show for Free. oh well if you minus the baksheesh the waiter asked for after the show.

Thank god after the show we share our cab back to Down Town with an Indian couple for EGP30, we got a good bargain but the car was pretty old but every car in Egypt is almost the same