Cairo, Egypt

We started off at the Citadel, the old fort surrounding the Mohamed Ali Mosque. Located on top of a mount on the east side of the city, the views of Cairo and the Giza pyramids in the distance are spectacular. We took a short tour and learned so much about the history of the fort and the mosque. There is another mosque in the Citadel called the "Green Mosque" because of its colored dome. While the Mohamed Ali Mosque is still in use for prayer, the Green Mosque is not.

From the Citadel, we caught a cab to the old Islamic Cairo. This area of narrow winding streets and bazaars was very interesting. We coEgyptian Museum.
uld have easily spent an entire day there, but we only had an hour or so to explore. A gentleman walked us through the old section (rather than staying on the more touristy street), near the textiles and through the spice bazaar, then into the perfume bazaar. Of course he eventually led us into his family's shop and had to show us some of his very best essential oils. In the end, we bought a small bottle of Frankincense and Murr, which  smelled lovely. Our guide showed us a nice place for our Egyptian lunch (which was excellent) and then we headed on to the

We could easily had stayed much longer at the museum, but it closes at 4PM so we decided to make the most of the time we had. We lucked out though, as they close the doors to newcomers at 4, but once in one could continue browsing for quite a lot longer. We left at about 5PM. The quantity and quality of the exhibits was awesome from huge statues to small beads and jewels. We were glad to have been to Luxor and the pyramids before coming to the museum so we were able to picture where the many statues and hieroglypics were originally located. The absolute highlight of the museum was the King Tutankamun tomb exhibit. They removed most of what was in the tomb and it is on display here. The amazing wealth of objects, from his coffins and golden mask, to jewelry, chariots, throne and more, was fantastic to see in person. The mask of King Tut is probably the most well-known and spectacular antiquity of all times due to how magnificent it is and how well it (and the other objects) were preserved. 

View over Cairo with pyramids in distance (photo center)

We packed a lot into our two and a half days in Cairo and would have enjoyed staying a bit longer if not for the incessant hawkers, each with their own spin on how to get us to visit their shops. That said, everyone was quite friendly and we were happy to have visited.

With Equanimity and Joy