Tuesday, 28 April 2015

Day 22 14 April Tuesday Luxor to Cairo

 We were up early 4.30 for 5.00 breakfast, (I didn’t even realise a 4.30 existed) and depart for Luxor International Airport at 5.30 AM for our Egypt Air flight.  The plane had everything you would want in a plane, wheels, wings, some engines and an Arabic prayer which is a blessing for the pilot.  Perhaps this what we had instead of the safety talk.
The airport is obviously ex-military as there appears to be lots of hardened bunkers dotting the outskirts of the airfield.
The traffic in Cairo is amazing.  People beep (actually the cars are the ones who beep) when they overtake to let you know that they are there.  Often there are no road markings and even if there are following them appears to be optional.  Size does seem important in determining right of way.  It seems quite chaotic but it does seem to work.  Pedestrian crossings do not exist.
It is huge and we just went around on part of the ring road for most of it.  I suppose when you have 20 million people they have to go somewhere.  They do have a subway system in part of the city.  People don’t like using the buses as they don’t have a timetable so you could be waiting 5 minutes or 2 hours.  There are private vans that people use.
The Pyramids and the sphinx were amazing, I was especially taken with the sphinx as it looked so different.  The vendors are at all the major exhibits and are hard to get rid of.
The best line heard so far was, “You have come to help Egypt, come and help me.”
After lunch the Cairo Museum - just so much to see.  How it is exhibited is a little old fashioned.  They are planning a much larger Museum.  No photography is allowed but when Elizabeth went through security she pulled aside.  They thought she had a knife but it was only a spoon.
There was just so much to see but Tutankhamen’s death mask and possessions were a highlight.  We paid a bit extra to get into the Royal Mummy exhibit so it was amazing to be face to face with Ramses II, Hatshepsut, and Thutmosis I, II and III and some others. Tutankhamen’s mask was amazing! Then just a short 3 hour bus ride back to the ship Sokhana.

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