Cairo

After being in India for 5 weeks, Cairo felt like such a clean and organized city!! And, our stomachs were soooo grateful! After 5 weeks of diarrhea and stomach cramps in India, we finally got our normal stomachs back. And we enjoyed eating shwarmas and Egyptian sweets 🤤. And, it was so good to eat meat again and no thick, spicy curries.

We stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment right downtown – about 2 blocks from Tahrir Square in the heart of the shopping area. We had 4 days in Cairo and divided everything we wanted to see into these action-packed days.

Egyptian Museum

This museum never ceases to amaze me. The sheer amount of stuff they have in this museum is incredible. We felt like we were rushing through it, but this ‘rush’ still took us a few hours! There are sections of this museum where you aren’t allowed to take photos (e.g. King Tut’s mask and coffin), but here are some others:

Pyramids

Of course, no trip to Cairo is complete without a visit to the Pyramids and Sphinx. Unfortunately, they have moved the solar boat museum to the new Grand Museum that is opening soon nearby so we weren’t able to visit it.

Citadel and Mohammed Ali mosque

We went up to the citadel built by Saladin in 1176. The mosque was built later in the 19th century and is similar in architecture to the Blue mosque in Istanbul. While there, we also visited the military museum, but it wasn’t that interesting unless you know a lot about modern Egyptian history (which we don’t!).

Khan El-Khalili Souk

I always love a market and I’ve really enjoyed this one on previous visits to Cairo. I love the windy paths and how some of it is indoors and some outdoors – even if it is really touristy! This souk has been ongoing for about 600 – 800 years and it’s so fun to get lost in it.

Coptic Cairo

And finally, on our last day, we visited Coptic Cairo. This is the oldest part of Cairo where a canal used to link the Nile to the Red Sea. Coptic Cairo has lots of old churches (one where it is said Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus came to rest) and a Synagog built supposedly where baby Moses was found in his basket. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos of the synagog which is a shame because it’s probably the most beautiful building there all decorated with inlaid pearl. Down the street from this area, is also a large mosque – the largest and oldest in Africa.

There is still so much more to see in Cairo, but it was time to leave and take the overnight train to Luxor. But, we all loved Cairo so I’m sure we’ll be back!