Citadel and Mummies

After a long day yesterday, we had a chill start to the day. We risked our lives again in Ubers to get to Old Cairo, about 30 minutes east of our apartment. Probably the best drivers of the trip, hardly any honking and felt less scared than usual. Though I did see a family of 4 on a motor bike, with the 2 kids the size of the boys.

The Saladin Citadel was built in the 12th century and was a fortress high above Cairo, and a city in itself. Now there are mainly museums and the Muhammad Ali Mosque. Beautiful for its age certainly, but not a match for the mosques of the UAE.

We took cars to a local spot for lunch. A bit of a miss from a food perspective and Elliot let me eat a fly with my fries, so I thought it best to stop there.

We booked the Egyptian museum of civilization for the afternoon, solely for the 30 mummies of kings and a few queens that it held. Ramses II also rests there and was incredibly well preserved (though the whole exhibit was a lot:). Good to appreciate it for what it is.

The museum was closing as we left. Still a lot to explore in Old Cairo, but another time, perhaps. Tomorrow we have a few more things planned, then we booked a hotel closer to the airport so that we can more easily make our early wake up call!Read more