Second day in Cairo

At breakfast, we met Stan, from Oregon, who had just returned from a G-Adventures trip in Egypt, so he came with us to the Coptic Museum, St. George’s Coptic Church and the Hanging Church. We took UBER, for about $2, and spent a few hours in this area. Coptic churches are Egyptian Christian churches, which make up about 10% of Egyptian people today. The rest are Muslim, and nearly all Muslim women wear some kind of headscarf or even a full hijab. The museum had thousands of artifacts, many from the first centuries AD: some woven tapestries made from linen and wool, and intricate details, mainly from burials. There were also many paintings, limestone and wood carvings, and most were the 4th and 5th centuries, although some were within the past few hundred years. The oldest copy of the book of Psalms was on display, from the 4th Century AD. The Hanging Church was SO busy, mainly with Egyptian tourists, since Friday is a holiday for them. After seeing those three places, we ate lunch and then walked along the road for nearly a kilometer where there were people set up selling many things, but especially vegetables and fruit, and some fish and chicken. An obnoxious amount of flies were everywhere. Sharon got looks constantly, being a tall, white-haired Caucasian, and often people wanted their photos taken with her. It was quite amusing, but everyone was so friendly, especially since we were nearly the only white tourists from the West. Again, the clothing, amount of garbage, and transportation were most noticeable. Donkeys and horses sometimes pulled carts of cauliflower or other vegetables to market. Our tour group met for the first time; our tour guide and CEO is Kareem, or ‘Kimo”.Read more