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Arrived in Cairo quite early in the morning, around 8am eventually I think it was. Woke up to find us stuck in the clogged and chaotic traffic that seemed to be so typical of Cairo.
Arrived at the hotel and checked in, wasn't one of the nicer ones we had been to. I had three different sized/shaped beds in my room, another room didn't have running water, and another room had rocks/stones in the bathroom....
Had a chance for a shower and some breakfast before making our way by van to the Egyptian museum. The content of the museum was good and interesting, however the organisation and presentation of the displays was quite poor, considering the status of the museum. Definitely had to rely on Wally to explain things to us. The highlight was seeing the actual mask of Tutankhamen as well as other relics from his tomb such as the gold coffins.
After the museum we went to the old Coptic church of Cairo, which was built some meters up off the ground, nearly on top of the old Roman walls. It was nice enough, but after seeing many of the churches in Italy, it paled in comparison. The group decided not to go to the mosque which I was a little disappointed in, since I had never been to one before and don't plan on casually strolling into one any time soon.
So we headed to the markets, and had a kebab at a very traditional Egyptian place which was very nice and great value. We were then given one hour to explore the markets which essentially consisted of several streets running parallel that were full of shops selling much of the same tourist/souvenir items. The sellers were very persistent and on the main street it was nearly like walking through a funnel of people, where as soon as one stoped speaking to you, another would start. They were simply standing outside their shops waiting for you to walk past. It was somewhat off-putting to even want to have a look at their stuff, for you know someone would be in your ear telling you they have a great deal just for you. Others proclaimed to tell us they 'didn't know what we were looking for, but they had it anyway'. We were even offered camels in exchange for the girls (aka wifes) we were walking with.
After the markets we returned briefly to the hotel before our group of friends met up and went for a walk down to dinner. Was a very nice place of Egyptian food which came out buffet style, before we had our own mains. Had the best falafel of the trip yet, very nice.
Walked back and then met Wally in the lobby to say our thank yous and goodbyes. Overall he was quite good as a guide, and provided everything we needed of him. Later on that evening we also saw off our other newly acquired friends; Dan, Jac and Jess. Plans are to meet up again in London again soon though. Bed around 1.30am
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