Cairo, Egypt day 2

Today we woke up around 9 am and set off to go to the Egyptian museum. On the 15 min walk we met a guy that joked he wasn’t following us and that he works at the museum so I started chatting with him and he gave us a ton of helpful information. The best was him explaining that there is a gift shop that is through the government so prices are already written and they cannot haggle you and it helps give back to the city and country instead of random people. We also found out that the museum didn’t open until 11 for non tours so we decided to check out the shop conveniently across the street.

This gift shop was AMAZING and the owner Tika was truly a wonderful man and he showed us true Egyptian hospitality and treated us as his own daughters. We went to the second floor of the shop where he showed us beautiful hand made paintings that’s were one of a kind on Papyrus, a special paper and used for Centuries in Egypt as it comes from the Papyrus plant that is found along the Nile river. I of course was drawn to the cat painting that symbolizes good health , protection, and good fortune as ruled by the Goddess Bastet. Tika showed us many beautiful paintings and works of art and his joy and passion for his country and culture was truly inspiring. After we went downstairs to see more souvenirs and I found a beautiful silver ring that depicted the Sphinx and I decided to get a custom engraved necklace with my name in hieroglyphics. In addition, Tika gave me traditional Egyptian tea and I continued browsing for post cards and magnets. He gifted me the post cards (20) and the 3 magnets as a thank you and we left our goodies with him while we went to the museum since I had to go back for my necklace at 5pm.

We then went to the museum and spent about 3 hours walking around reading everything. I learned a lot of new interesting facts and increased my ancient Egyptian knowledge. After the museum we went to KFC (part of the US embassy trifecta [mcdonalds, kfc, and Burger King]). I had some spicy rice and chicken and it slapped! After we went back to the hostel to rest for a few hours before going back to the shop to get our stuff from Tika. We arrived and I ended up getting my parents and I some Egyptian oil perfumes because why not!

Jess wasn’t feeling well so we let her sleep and Savannah and I got fruit and chips for our girl dinner. We got soooo much for less than $6 it was amazing! I had like 5 kiwis alone and it was a great moment. After we went and got Cinnabon for dessert before heading back to sleep for the evening since we had a long day the next day.Read more