Egypt
Bāb al Lūq

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • Kushary Dinner

      December 14, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

      Well, we had heard so much about kushary that we decided to try it out. THE place to try it was at a restaurant called Abu Tarek, a short walk away but …we had to cross a few streets. As I mentioned before, Cairo streets are treacherous places! Cars, trucks, donkey carts, busses, skateboarders, motorcycles, tuktuks and people make streets a nightmare to negotiate.

      As written in our guidebook, “Playing Chicken. It may sound silly, but the greatest challenge many travellers face in Cairo is crossing the street. Traffic seldom stops, so you have to trust that the cars will avoid you.” Once you step off the curb, you can’t stop or hesitate. Do it fast!

      The first street that we had to cross looked impossible but a kind man saw our distress and took charge. He signalled us to follow him and we crossed the road with him. Phew. Chris finally got the hang of it.

      Now back to the restaurant Abu Tarek. It is quite the place, 5 storeys, all lit up with lights and flashing signs. People can take out kushary or dine in. We opted for the full Abu Tarek experience, dining in the elaborate decor upstairs. Little did we know what we were in for.

      We were seated next to a group of men on a short trip to Egypt from Abu Dabi. One fellow spoke a English quite well and he offered to help us out. Kushary is a mix of noodles, rice, black lentils, fried onions and tomato sauce dressed with lime, more fried onions, a garlic and olive oil dressing, hot sauce and chick peas. We were told that the waiter would mix it for us, which he did expertly. Delicious!

      Then the guys beside us told us that they had paid for our dinner and a rice pudding dessert! What?! That was such a surprise but we have found that people are very kind and generous here. We feel like superstars. After telling us that they raise and race camels, they got up, said goodbye, and left. What a night.

      As we walked back to the hostel, the kindness continued. A women sitting beside the sidewalk made sure that we noticed a puddle on the sidewalk, other people wished us, “Welcome”, and a young boy smiled at us as we passed the nut store he was working in. We are not in Canada!

      Tomorrow, we will go to the Black and White Deserts and sleep under the stars.
      Read more

    • Day 14

      Luxor - Cairo

      March 18, 2020 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      We had intended to stay in Luxor for 2 nights and then flying out of Cairo on the morning of 19th. In the middle of that night, we found out that the connecting leg of Cairo to Abu Dhabi was cancelled. That means the rest of the trip is not useable. We had to go to Cairo ASAP to have any chance to get out. Catherine managed to get us 3 tickets for Nile Airway from Luxor that morning. Total panic. Trying desperately to get back to TAD for those cancelled tickets. After hours of frantic phone message between Catherine and Silvana. I was told that we managed to secure TAD for the outgoing tickets. They also had moved the leaving time from 12.30pm to 11.45 am. What a miracle and a big relieve that was. Now all we have to do is to cancel the other air tickets because we had 2 lots of tickets home. Went to breakfast this morning at the hotel thinking we were all safe, we were called to the reception that we had an oversea phone call. It was Catherine from Brisbane.
      In totally confusion, Roland hasn't pay for his return ticket home $1900.00 and I had only a few minutes to pay on line or I would have lost the ticket home. Holy shit! Total panic again. The brain was not working and the fingers were not co-operating trying to get payment through the internet. In my state of confusion that morning, I didn’t understand I had to do internet banking for my ticket. Sil and Jan had already paid. Went back to room, quickly packed up and cancelled the second days accommodation.

      Left the hotel to airport early morning, flew Nile Airway from Luxor to Cairo. The girls walked all along the whole Cairo airport but failed to cancel the other air ticket. Stayed at Le Passage hotel at the airport.
      Read more

    • Day 15

      Cairo

      March 19, 2020 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      We had intended to stay in Luxor for 2 nights and then flying out of Cairo on the morning of 19th. In the middle of that night, we found out that the connecting leg of Cairo to Abu Dhabi was cancelled. That means the rest of the trip is not useable. We had to go to Cairo ASAP to have any chance to get out. Catherine managed to get us 3 tickets for Nile Airway from Luxor that morning. Total panic. Trying desperately to get back to TAD for those cancelled tickets. After hours of frantic phone message between Catherine and Silvana. I was told that we managed to secure TAD for the outgoing tickets. They also had moved the leaving time from 12.30pm to 11.45 am. What a miracle and a big relieve that was. Now all we have to do is to cancel the other air tickets because we had 2 lots of tickets home. Went to breakfast this morning at the hotel thinking we were all safe, we were called to the reception that we had an oversea phone call. It was Catherine from Brisbane.
      In totally confusion, Roland hasn't pay for his return ticket home $1900.00 and I had only a few minutes to pay on line or I would have lost the ticket home. Holy shit! Total panic again. The brain was not working and the fingers were not co-operating trying to get payment through the internet. In my state of confusion that morning, I didn’t understand I had to do internet banking for my ticket. Sil and Jan had already paid. Went back to room, quickly packed up and cancelled the second days accommodation.

      T 13° to 21°
      Read more

    • Day 18

      Kairo

      December 31, 2022 in Egypt

      After Dahab, Kairo was a big shock for me. Kairo is everything but not laid back, there is a constant honking.
      I spent new years on a boat on the Nile with the people from the hostel, which was great really enjoyed it.

      I also went to the Islamic quarter and did a free walking tour there and went to the pyramids.
      I thought always the pyramids are overrated but honestly it's totally worth visiting them. They're huge and impressive.
      Read more

    • Day 66

      Cairo Egypt

      September 23, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      Pyramids of Giza, the oldest Pyramids in Egypt, mind blowing how they created these, the wheel hadn't even been invented, Massive rocks brought in from hundreds of miles away to chip and fit to build these truley magnificient structures, they used to be covered in Lime and glowed with a triangluar tip of a metal that was a becon to space, all placed according to celestial points. The Sphinx equally mind blowing, but so much damage from thousands of years of feudalism. From days of the greatest creations of mankind on earth to today, massive poverty in Egypt today, 28 Million people in Cairo alone, Whew!! Overwhelming and not safe for tourists, lots of harrassment on the streets, you need a guide to be safe! 8 Egyptian pound to 1 NZ dollar - $20 equals a pile of notes there! Security in our hotels intensive. The war of Israel and Gaza broke out 2 days after we returned home!!Read more

    • Day 19

      Cairo Day 3

      May 22, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

      Today we had a sleep in, then met for coffee and went out for a local dish koshary which was delicious! We all devoured it and then had rice pudding, which was supposed to help settle the stomach.

      We then headed to the Civilisation Museum where we got to see all the mummies. It was so interesting to see and learn how they preserved them. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any pictures. Some of the mummies still have hair, finger nails and teeth. Most of the mummies we saw were found in the same place and were all related.

      We met Christina’s family at the museum - two aunts and a cousin and they took us to the Coptic area to show us some churches. We only had half an hour to view them as they closed at 4pm so it was a fairly quick visit.

      We then decided we wanted to see the cave church and caught three Ubers. Unfortunately, our Uber driver was terrible and took forever to pick us up — we waited 30 minutes for him when he was just around the corner and then when he finally picked us up he kept missing turns. Eventually we asked him to pull over and we got out and had to pay him more then what Christina’s cousin told us to. We were stranded at a petrol station on the edge of some neighbourhood watching tuk tuks do burn outs. We ordered another Uber and the driver was so much better. We decided it was way too late to meet the others at the cave church and headed to one of Christina’s family’s cafes on the Nile. We made it first and decided to get some well deserved drinks before heading over after the big mess around with the Uber driver. We were right on the Nile and ended up staying for a lot longer than planned and watched the sunset. It was so nice to relax on the Nile.

      We made our way to Christina’s cousins cafe and ordered some food. Little did we know that what we thought was a mushroom burger and mushroom piccata turned out to be meat dishes with mushrooms in them. Lucky the table had plenty of vegetables and rice and everyone ended up sharing their meals. It was a lovely night. We headed home early as we had a tour booked for 7am the next morning.
      Read more

    • Day 22

      Ein Spaziergang durch die Antike

      December 31, 2019 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      Am letzten Tag des Jahres schleichen wir viele Stunden durch die antiken Reliquien des Ägyptischen Museums. Faszinierende Zeugnisse längst vergangener Zeit, teilweise lieblos und chaotisch in einem wunderschönen Museumsgebäude abgestellt – trotzdem absolut sehenswert und beeindruckend.
      Nach einem bunten, turbulenten, spannenden, abenteuerlichen, fröhlichen und liebenswerten Jahr 2019 starten wir heute Abend in das neue Jahr 2020 – ruhig, besinnlich und vorfreudig auf das, was in diesem Jahr kommt, kann kaum besser werden – gewünscht vor dem ältesten Wunder der Welt.
      Read more

    • Day 37

      Kairo - Ägyptisches Museum

      March 16, 2020 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      Vor unserem Aufbruch nach Kairo schien es uns in der gesamten Corona-Situation am sinnvollsten, hierher aufzubrechen. Hier scheint die Lage recht entspannt, jedoch stellt sich nun heraus, dass wir unsere Reise aufgrund der Grenzschließungen schon mal nicht im Sudan fortsetzen können und auch Deutschland die Grenzen dicht machen will. Noch immer scheint es uns allerdings besser, hier zu bleiben.
      Da es vermutlich der erste Ort ist, der hier irgendwann schließen würde, besuchen wir heute das ägyptische Museum und tauchen mit all den großen und kleinen Skulpturen und sonstigen Fundstücke in die Zeit des alten Ägyptens ein. Sehr faszinierend zu was die Menschen zu dieser Zeit hier schon in der Lage waren. Vor dem Herzstück der Ausstellung, der Maske von Tutanchamun, bekommt Alma vom Aufseher eine Münze, auf der die Maske eingeprägt ist, geschenkt.
      Auch hier bereichert Karin unseren Besuch mit viel Wissenswertem und Geschichten.
      Im Museum, das zwar groß angelegt, jedoch wenig gepflegt und nicht besonders gut aufbereitet ist, wird zeitgleich zum Besucherbetrieb auch renoviert. Die antiken Skulpturen sind zwar mit etwas Folie bedeckt - dennoch für Deutschland unvorstellbar.
      Read more

    • Day 29

      The Egyptian Museum

      October 31, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      The Uber took a it longer than expected, (although still only 110 LE) and got to the museum 20 minutes after it opened and the tours were already there. The crowding was worst going through security, then it was in OK. At times some of the exhibits were blocked by a group, but it always cleared.

      The museum was established in 1835 and the current building opened in 1901 and is the oldest museum in the Middle East, It exclusively focuses on the predynastic to Roman eras of Egypt, and is there ever a LOT of that!

      Two hours only covered the "guidebook highlights".
      Read more

    • Day 19

      A visit to the Egyptian Museum, Cairo

      January 8, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      We were up earlier than planned this morning due to noisy neighbours! We got ready and went to breakfast at 8 so we had plenty of time before our trip was due to start at 9.

      In reception at the appointed hour, Romani appeared with another guy who he introduced to us as Ray, our guide for today and tomorrow. We had a bit of a chat about the tour we have just done and about Nabil and then went to find our transport and driver.

      Our first stop was the Egyptian museum in the centre of Cairo, a building purpose-built in 1897 to house Egypt's impressive collection of antiquities. There are plans to move the entire collection to a new site near the Pyramids. Indeed, the building is ready (Nabil pointed it out to us when we were there) and some artefacts have already been relocated. By all accounts, it will be a modern state-of-the-art facility which will rank as one of the great museums of the world when it opens to the public.

      The current museum is rather dark and dusty with poorly-written explanations about the exhibits. It is, nevertheless, an impressive collection, despite the fact that so many antiquities were taken overseas by the archaeologists and treasure hunters who discovered them.

      Ray showed us the highlights of the museum and explained their significance. He left us by the Tutankhamen room and gave us free time to explore by ourselves. It was quite a moment coming face-to-face with the young Pharaoh's mask and sarcophagus. I remember when the Tutankhamen exhibition came to the British Museum in London to mark the 50th anniversary of Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb. It was 1972. I was seven years old. My friend, Carolyn West, went to see the exhibition. It was a huge deal! She brought a commemorative programme into school to show us all. I can vividly remember seeing the pictures of the magnificent treasures, the like of which none of us had ever seen before. It sparked an interest in me that never went away. Now, just over 50 years later, today I saw them for myself! It was quite a moment!!

      We weren't allowed to take photos in Tutankhamen's room, so I bought a couple of postcards instead.

      We spent a further hour in the museum marvelling at the exhibits and wondering at the incredible talents of the Ancient Egyptians to have created such a huge quantity of outstanding artefacts.
      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Bāb al Lūq, Bab al Luq

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android