Ok - so, the next morning we visited the City of the Dead, and I would have to say this was my least favorite day of the tour. It was filled with crypts of dead people, some fairly famous citizens of bygone years, but very run down, broken crypts, trash everywhere, dog poo…sad to see the state of things. We saw some of the sadder, poorer areas of Cairo this day and if they would put some effort into picking up trash and dog poo it would be sooooo much nicer - not just for us, but for the people living there. We had a very nice lunch with hummus and flatbread type appetizers and grilled chicken and lamb - I really enjoyed the aromatic spices they used in the foods. We visited the Sultan Hassan Mosque after lunch and had to take our shoes off to enter - for those who get squeamish about that kind of thing - definitely wear socks and if possible take another old pair to put on over your regular socks - my socks were absolutely black on the bottom when we got back to the ship… I had never been in a mosque before and thought it was beautiful - with no pews like my church at home…as a "special" treat, they allowed us to observe the Imam saying the call to worship and some prayers, which I thought was interesting since they allowed the women in our group to observe, but I understand the female muslim women are shepherded into a separate room from the men and only hear the Imam but do not see him. We returned to the hotel after that for dinner on our own….but we'd had such a large lunch that we just snacked on some nuts. By this point in the tour (one day left), we were pretty tired and just relaxed and went to bed.
Our last and final day was wonderful. We visited the Old Coptic Cairo area. We visited the Ben Ezra Synagogue. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside. It was disappointing because it was just beautiful inside - I never got an explanation if it was out of respect or a security issue for the no pictures. Outside of the synagogue was the Moses well, where Moses supposedly stayed or was found as a baby (I was losing track of information by this point in the trip…) We then went into the church (which name I am forgetting right now) where Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus are said to have lived when they were in Egypt. It was beautiful and we were allowed to take pictures. You could go into he crypt-like area which was where they lived, but it was getting crowded and and staircase had steep steps and you had to hunch over to go down so I opted not to go. We then visited another church that had beautiful mosaics. We went to lunch and then the Khan El Khalili market. The market was overwhelming for me - very crowded, lots of vendors pursuing you, surrounding you, hassling you…I do not like that and consequently I did not shop or look around much - I, frankly, just wanted to get out of there…so several of us just went to the meeting place and sat in the shade waiting for the group and return to the hotel.
To be honest, I had seen everything I wanted to see in Egypt by this point and I was basically done with the tour. We had the farewell reception, which was lovely and did not go late in to the evening like some of them do and I had the awful 4:40 am flight home to look forward to….1:30 departure from the hotel.
All-in-all it was a marvelous trip - so many things to see and experience. It was definitely a bucket-list trip for me and probably amoung the top 5 for sure, even top 3. I would recommend this trip to everyone. The pyramids and temples — you just do not have the opportunity to see anywhere else. The exposure to the muslim world was new to me - somewhat contemporary in Cairo, but very conservative from Luxor to Abu Simbel, with many women still in the full burka with face coverings and only a slit for their eyes. Still feel like I am absorbing and assimilating everything I saw… If anyone has questions just ask.
A few tips - wait until you get there to exchange money. Hotels and museums will take credit cards but many of the small vendors want cash. The hotels both had ATMs. The flashlight I packed came in very handy and I was glad I had it. I took mosquito repellant wipes (Avon picaridin wipes I got on Amazon) and they worked against these annoying little black flies that were all over and I never saw a mosquito so I think they worked on those as well. My travel friend got some kind of bug bites on her ankles but I didn't get any. I wore mostly linen and did not need the fleece I brought. Laundry on the ship was inexpensive. I wore my hiking shoes the day we went to the pyramids but really did not need them and only wore tennies the rest of the time. I took hiking poles and never used them.
