After a week of rehearsal and music video filming of Men Kol Makan for the opening for the World Youth Forum in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, a group of new friends and I quickly made plans to take a last-minute trip to Cairo (read more about my invitation to sing at the opening of the World Youth Forum 2018, here).
Within an hour we had decided on taking an overnight bus (around 6-or-7 hours) from Sharm El Sheik to Cairo for a full day of sightseeing and then to come back again the same way. Tickets couldn’t be bought online, and we organized for the hotel concierge to drop us at the bus station with ample time to buy one beforehand. The bus ticket cost the equivalent of around R300 (super cheap!) for first, first class. As a rule of thumb, don’t take any other class if traveling by bus in Egypt.
We were a group of foreigners (South Africans & Indonesians) except for a friend who was Lebanese, which was probably the single most thing I was grateful for. He spoke Arabic and we trusted him. Something that made our 24-hour-trip filled with haggling and rushing from sight-to-sight, just that much easier.
TOUCH DOWN
Our Lebanese friend had called ahead to Cairo to organize a tour vehicle for the day through an old friend of his who did tours in Cairo. Our lift was only arriving at 7 am and we arrived in Cairo at 6 am, so we used the time to clean up, and then wait around tables in a dilapidated building that acted as the bus stop before being picked up for our first order of business…
THE GIZA NECROPOLIS
After leaving the bus stop, we bundled into the tour van and made our way to the Giza Necropolis. Our Arabic speaking Lebanese friend bartered the heck out of the tour owner and very soon our group of 7 left for a 3-hour camel & horseback tour to the Pyramids of Giza (2 of them) and the Sphinx for around $30 – 50 a pop (an amount I felt was a worthy investment for such a sight).
LUNCH ON THE NILE
Ravenous from our 3-hour expedition in the sun and sand, we made our way to lunch on the Nile, Egyptian buffet style. While we went on Fish Boat Abouzeid, there are a number of cruises/boats one can choose to board to do the same, all of which I think might be just as enjoyable.
A PERFUME HOUSE
Perfume-making, aromatherapy, and cosmetics were founded by ancient Egyptians as early as 3000BC, and the tradition is still being followed today. We waddled out of the buffet and were taken to a perfume house to explore this next.
Coffee, pomegranate juice, or sweet tea was offered to us while waiting to engage with the seller of these perfumes. He presented us with trays of natural scents worth hundreds and thousands of dollars and my friends bought it up, literally. I wasn’t too phased, but, enjoyed the show.
Read more about this interesting and age-old tradition, here.
THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM
It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by a museum that holds over 5,000 years of ancient history inside its doors. Armed with a pack and earphones we were guided through rooms and rooms of Egyptian antiquities (around 120,000 of them) and for only 120 Egyptian Dollars (around 7 USD) we got to see them all. Expect to see mummies, sarcophagi, pottery, jewelry, and of course King Tutankhamen’s treasures. The boy-king’s death-mask – discovered in its tomb – is made of solid gold and it has been described as the most beautiful object ever made (you have to pay an extra fee to enter into his exhibition). We were here for about 3-hours before making our way to the next stop.
KHAN EL-KHALILI, THE BAZAAR
We left The Egyptian Museum at late afternoon with the intent to visit just one more stop before our bus back to Sharm El Sheik. Established as the center of trade in the Mamluk area, this souq is a historical landmark in Cairo. In the evening it is set alight by hundreds of lamp shops and inhabited by vendors selling souvenirs, antiques, jewelry, and more.
Other than the haggling (which I’m not a fan of), it was a delightful experience to watch Egyptian culture taking place right before our eyes, for example, people pouring out of Al-Fishawy the oldest cafe in Khan El-Khalili, where they serve Arabic coffee and tea.
BACK TO SHARM
We had 2-quick hours at the bazaar before having to rush off in the evening traffic back to the bus stop to repeat the previous night’s events. Just like that, we left Cairo full — of dust, food, and memories!
If I were ever to go back to Egypt, I would take the time to visit places like Alexandria, Luxor, Memphis, and Aswan — each stunning in their own right and holding a host of history and secrets within their walls.
Love,
Eden
#The GoodSis
#TravelLight
