Craig Goldsmith

Didn’t sleep well the night before having had a migraine in the middle of the night, I think jet lag and dehydration had both kicked in hard. Woke and met Dave for breakfast, I decided not to risk it and just had the croissants, Dave had the eggs and they didn’t look too bad. After checking what Dean and Shannae where going to do we decided to hit the Cario Museum. The cab ride was an adventure but well worth it, the museum is massive I wasn’t prepare for its immense size, and that pales at the actual size and volume of things on display. Lots of sarcophagus (sarcophagi?) more then I expected (in my head I thought it was only for the super powerful and rich) it actually equates to a lot highly decorated exhibts. A definite highlight was the Jewelry and Tut’s collection, some really amazing pieces, it would of been awesome to see what the full costume would look like back in the day. Sadly no photography in the museum which didn’t stop the occasional muppet. I can’t describe how cool it is, the only down side is there is little to no descriptions on the majority of the stuff which makes putting things into context a little hard sometimes. The animal mummies where another highlight as were the ancient tools, including Egyptian boomerangs.
Washing drys on a Cairo balcony

Cosy room at the Salma Hotel

View from my Room

After the museum the next task was to try to cross the road. Not a easy task with the crazy flow of traffic. Dave went first and got across safely, which left me stranded on the side of the road so I had no choice but to commit to a panic’ed dash. After a short walk along the Nile, being asked if we wanted a Felucca ride ever 15 metres we decided to brave the traffic and and visit the Ramese Hilton, this time it took as a little longer to cross but our confidence grew with each street we crossed. (I was a natural by the end of the trip, crossing roads like a local).

Felucca moored on the Nile

Mosque (sorry I don’t remember which)

Gorgeous turrets of a mosque

We then had lunch and asked for directions to the Islamic area, another mind boggling cab ride and we were dropped off between four massing mosques. We walked around through lots of alleys lined with tiny shops selling all manner of stuff, with mostly men (few women sellers) trying to convince you to stop and look. Many liked asking what country we were from and we had many canned responses such as G’day Mate, Stone the Flaming Crows, and Flat out like a lizard drinking.
Are we lost Dave ?

No, But I don’t know where we are!

A gorgeous window

In the end we did get lured into an apparently 100 year old store that sold perfume / essences. It was a fun experience and in the end after a cup of scolding hot tea, I left with a little bottle of “Cleopatra” . Smelling better then we did before we negotiated a few more crowded, and muddy alleys until we hit a main road and followed it back to the big square where we started. I took the camera out and took a few shots and for the most part was ignored by the locals so my confidence has grown and tomorrow I’ll take the big camera (DSLR) for a spin.
In the perfume shop

Craig loses focus

Sunset in Cario

The cab ride home was probably the tightest we had, with our car 2 millimetres away from over cars on the road, the margin for error was close to zero. We saw a lovely sunset with broken clouds making for some spectacular views sadly the memory card kept filling up so I missed a few awesome shots. When I got in Dean and Shannae took me to the roof the see the last of the sunset and one of the Giza Pyramids visible between the buildings. Awesome!! We then went down for a few drinks before we had the first administrative briefing with our guide Dave. After dinner I had the Egyptian moussaka again (delicious) and then we all went to bed. Sadly I was awake again at 1am and then at 3am and been awake till morning call to pray (which is right next door).
Sorry the story so far isn’t that exciting.