Day 12 - Cairo to Luxor

We began our day at 10a today because we will not return to the hotel but go directly to the airport tonight for our flight to Luxor. Magued joined us for some of the day. I'm a little unsure why he drove with us but I believe he had another group he was monitoring as well. He is perfect for his job. He is so detailed - more about that at the airport later today.

On to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. There is a new museum being built that will be the largest museum in the world when it is completed. This museum is very old itself and the new museum will have a much safer way to preserve some of the delicate items we saw. There is a fee to carry a camera, though it is a small fee, Henry suggested I not take the camera and that for $10 I can get a DVD/CD with pictures of everything in the museum and all over Egypt. So, that's what I did. It was very strange NOT to take photos! Henry gave us our personal and detailed, guided tour. I can say we have become friends in this short time! 

Our lunch break was on a "retired" Nile cruise ship. Several of these boats are stationary at the side of the river and serve as very nice restaurants.

After lunch we went to Old Cairo to visit the Old Coptic Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue. We also visited the Cave Church, which is where the Holy family stayed when they came to Egypt. In fact the Coptic Church has historical records from the early Coptic church in the 4th century BC with writings stating where the Holy family traveled and lived while in Egypt. They have built a church on each site. Henry said we can Google and find that.  (no Internet in my room to do that)

Locations of Christian Churches

I had made a request to go to a store with essential oils. These are different that the ones I use from doTerra but they are pure and made here in Egypt. There are some that I have never seen available before. I loved the stop and actually John did too. They had some mint that was place in a hot glass of water and immediately cleared our heads, you can see that it would be fabulous with a cold or something. John really wanted that! We bought some and they gave us additional glass bottles and a burner. Such a sweet woman Mona helped us with explanations and uses.

From there we drove on to the Old Market that Henry that Henry thought we would enjoy. I am sure they are also trying to fill up our time since our flight is not until 8:45p. We opted not to go to the Mohammad Ali Mosque. We've been in a Mosque in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and we really have no interest in seeing another. We drove by it on our way and saw the Citadel as well. Henry said the market place is how the real people of Cairo live. What a lively and fun place. Every sort of shop you can imagine on narrow streets with happy people. At one point we stopped at El Feshawi, which is a "famous" coffee shop where a well known writer penned his writings. We had mint tea and relaxed. I might add there is another man walking with us, in a suit. I asked Henry about this. He said he is escorting us, it is not needed but he is bored and wanted to be around Americans. Market place, police escort because they are bored in some cases. Henry was born and raised here, he knows at least one person at every stop we make!

Tea at the Market

As we left the market we bid farewell to Henry at a Metro station to make his way home to his family. We will miss him! Osama had the arduous task of crawling through the unbelievable traffic too take us to the airport. We felt very safe as his driving skills are magnificent! Keep in mind they do have lines indicating lanes on the freeways and most streets, but clearly these are only vague suggestions!

Unbelievable - McDonald's in Cairo!

On arrival to the airport there was Maged to greet us. He had our boarding passes and whisked us thought the lines, security, and deposited us on the walkway to our gate. He is one of the most organized and efficient people I have ever met. He had an envelope for us with pounds to pay our way into Abu Simbel at the end of the cruise, hotel voucher for Luxor, and verbally gave instructions about the guide to meet us tomorrow morning. He explained it all and then again asking if I understood. I did, but I am sure John didn't so it was good that he asked.

Our flight was uneventful, our Ya'lla transfer person was waiting for us and another couple. We had two cars and they transferred us to the hotel quickly. We are tired but John ordered room service, a BURGER! I had a couple bites, it was delicious! So off to bed. We will be picked up at 10:30a to transfer to our cruise on the Nile and meet George our guide! We may not have internet on the cruise, it is undetermined at this time. 

It takes forever to upload photos, so I will add them later if I can.