Another supposedly quick flight from Aswan back to Cairo. Let me clarify. All these Egyptian Airline flights are hailed to be one to one and a half hours but they never leave on time, they circle for a half hour before landing and this time the luggage took 45 minutes. Ultimately not so quick.
Yes, we too freaked out about checking our luggage but Egyptian Airlines is a stickler about the weight of carry on bags so we’ve had to check our “carry-on” suitcases. Thank goodness nothing was lost.
The plane was supposed to land at 9:20 pm and it wasn’t until 11:45 that we were in bumper to bumper traffic heading to our hotel. It was in both directions. We assumed there was an accident but learned that it was normal. The only times there wasn’t traffic was from 4:00-6:00 am.
We had a day to hit the areas missed on the first visit weeks ago.
Cairo- named the city of a thousand minarets and for a good reason. They are everywhere. The country’s population is approximately 75% Muslim and 25% Christian (referred by the name Coptic Christian which means Egyptian Christian). We’ve been told many times that they all live together peacefully.
We hired a great driver who spoke very little English but it was his mission to get us safely to all the correct places. He was so happy because he was recently divorced and didn’t have to listen to blah, blah, blah anymore. He even mocked her tone and mentioned his new found freedom many times. I wonder if his wife is singing the same song?
This time Saints Serguis Bacchus Church (one of the oldest churches in Egypt – 4th century) was open. Famous because the Holy Family (Joseph, Mary and Jesus) stayed at this site during the reign of King Herod.
The Cave Church – carved out of the side of the Mokattam mountain seats 20,000 people.
The church goers and inhabitants are Zabbaleen people and reside in the adjoining area referred to as Garbage City. 30,000 inhabitants live and work there. The community, approximately 90% Christians, are trash collectors. It’s crazy – they collect and sort trash! It is everywhere – loose on the streets, down the alleys, in the buildings, in the back of trucks – everywhere. The driver freaked out a bit when I asked him to stop so I could get out the take a photo. It’s fascinating. Click HERE to read a quick article about them.
More photos from Cairo:
The following day we drove 10 hours to Siwa, an oasis in the western desert and which gives true meaning to the term BFE. We made a short stop in Marsa Matrouh to see the stunning colors of the Mediterranean Sea and where the Egyptians are building hundreds of thousands of homes and resorts from west of Alexandria all the way to Libya. It’s called Al Alamain. Someone remarked that it will be like Dubai. Dubai doesn’t have a trash problem and unfortunately Egypt does. They’ll have to work on that one.
We had four military stops and saw a missile site on the way. Apparently Egypt doesn’t trust its neighbor to the west.
Siwa is 30 miles east of Libya. They have 230 underground springs, too many date palms to count and Siwa Salt Lake but more like individual ponds with a salt destiny 95% compared to the Dead Sea which is 34%.
Siwa mines and sells salt to the world. The salt trucks command the road to and from town and the sides of the highway glisten with what looks like broken glass but in fact it is the spillage from the trucks.
Already famous, Alexander the Great visited the Oracle of Siwa and thus began his legendary story. It’s worth a quick read by clicking HERE.
From sunsets to the Dead Mountain, from the oracle to floating in the salt lake, this trip was really worth the long drive.
It took seven hours to drive to Alexandria, our last city to tour in Egypt. I think after being here for just shy of a month we were Egypted-out. We caught some of the highlights and after a night here we headed back an airport hotel in Cairo to head to the next country. Along the way at a rest stop this lion cub (six months old)was sitting on a man’s lap and after petting him for a bit he asked if I wanted to hold him – all 66 pounds.
Some tidbits we picked up along our Egyptian journey:
When the call to prayer starts it’s like Row Row Row Your Boat. Each Mosque starts about a second or two apart.
Muslim men can have four wives. They divorce and can marry a girl as young as 16.
When a plot of land is purchased a building permit is bought and depending on the lot size the house can range from four to nine floors. The first generation builds the first floor and then their children build the next floors making a family compound.
Women can drive but it’s unusual. In Siwa women do not drive.
Donkey carts are still a form of transportation. Tuk-tuks – either the kind that carry people or the ones that have a truck bed are widely used. You see both in the cities but lots in the countryside.
The people are over the top kind and friendly. Their customer service and concern for our welfare was immense. At first we thought it was fake but learned it’s their way.
There are lots of road police check points out of the cities. Being American seemed to create a small fuss. Many drivers told us that they paid more attention to Americans because they worried about our government’s retribution if something should happen to us. At one check point the driver told the police we were from England so we could drive on by. It felt more like they didn’t trust us. Who knows?
All monuments, temples, museums, etc. are guarded by police, military and/or undercover (not so much as their weapons revealed) agents and were armed with pistols and/or AK 47.
Shopkeepers, taxi drivers, and hawkers are relentless.
It was interesting the response we got from people when we told them we were from either America or Canada.
Young Chinese tourist flock here and seem more interested in taking photos of themselves than seeing the sites. The girls are beautiful (their outfits a bit revealing). They pose for photos and then look at their images in the camera and pose again. I asked Grok about it and in China they have two apps similar to Instagram and it has become a thing to travel to foreign places to take photos and post them to their social media accounts. They were oblivious to everyone around them.
It seems like every man is named Mohammed and if not it’s Ahmed followed by Saed.
If a home/land owner digs on their property and finds ruins it’s a nightmare as the government would seize their property. So putting in a swimming pool might be risky.
There are plenty of explanations for how all the pyramids and temples were built but regardless it is hard to wrap our heads around it. It’s beyond what we can imagine. There is so much more to discover.
Heading East to go West…
