Eternal Nile Day 13
Eternal Nile
DAY 13 - Thursday, December 9, 2004 - Visit Citadel of Salah ad-Din, Churches, & Explore Khan el-Khalil Bazaar
We were up at 6 AM and this gave us a little more time to get ready and have our buffet breakfast. We returned to our room to get our back-packs and we walked to meet our fellow travelers and our bus at the main hotel.
As we looked about we saw the pollution that covered the city. 500 yards from the Pyramids we could barely see its outline. Yes, it is that bad. All of us cough when we are out and about. The sun is so distorted and orangy through the mess in the sky. They need a heavy rain to wash everything away and clean the air for a few days.
At 7:50 we left the hotel and started out for the Citadel. Using all the major arterials and fighting the heavy morning traffic we arrived at the spiritual heart of the city and we drove through Cairo's most traditional Islamic quarter.
We had passed many apartment complexes and the quarry where they cut the huge limestones blocks for the Pyramids. We ascended to The Citadel, a spectacular hilltop medieval fortress built in the 12th century by Salah ad-Din (Saladin). As we entered, the bus was checked by dogs and security. There we saw the Alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali who died in 1848.
From the side of The Citadel, we would have had a sweeping view of the entire old section of Cairo, with its mosques, minarets, and densely packed bazaars, but it was not a clear day were we could have seen the River Nile and even the Great Pyramids in the distance.
Next we see the outside of the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, built in the 14th century, during the Mamluk era. The Mosque next door is where the Shah of Iran is buried after his exile in Egypt.
As we left the Citadel we were greeted by HUNDREDS of school children who were taking their day off on a school field trip to visit this very holy historical site. This bought back memories of Lewis-Palmer and all of our field trips.
We got in the bus and moved on to the Coptic Quarter to visit the Coptic Christian Church, a Jewish Synagogue and then the "Hanging Church", another Coptic place of worship. We walked through narrow alleys to find the Saint Sergius Church where it was said that Mary and Jesus hid during their flight to Egypt. This place of worship is now going through some major renovations as it is in very poor state of repair.
Our next stop was the Ben Ezra Jewish Synagogue that service the 42 Jewish families left in Cairo today. This synagogue is located on the site where Moses was found in the rushes of the Nile River. It is also where they found the oldest copy of Hebrew Manuscripts from 1200 BC.
We then wandered some more and stopped at the Coptic Orthodox Church - Saint Barbara - where we observed them giving communion with whole pieces of pita like bread. The name "Hanging Church" comes from the fact that it was built over a Roman fortress. One of the most inspiring paintings is that of the Holy Virgin, Jesus, and John the Baptist.
We wound our way out of the old city center to our restaurant for lunch. We had passed the Citadel again and saw the long lines of children waiting to gain admission to this fortress that dominates the city skyline.
With a short detour to see a Muslim cemetery in the City of the Dead and Shahinaz took the time to point our her family's tomb. We wandered through the crooked streets of the sprawling Khan el-Khalil bazaar and entered the restaurant at the Naguib Mahfouz corner where we had another traditional Egyptian meal.
Once we were done we had about an hour to visit the bazaar. It was a great experience to be able to explore this maze of little alleys on foot and not be overly enticed to enter every shop. This may be the largest traditional shopping bazaar in the world and we only saw a small portion of it.
In the tiny alleyways here, there are hundreds of shops where you can watch goldsmiths, coppersmiths, brass makers, and fortunetellers at work. Most everyone was very pleasant and cordial, asking where we were from, did we want to look and purchase, and thank you very much when we declined. I was able to take a lot of photographs, but stayed away from taking pictures of people in general.
We returned to our hotel and had the afternoon free to pack-up for our departure to the US tomorrow. We took time to write one last e-mail and then finished the journal for our last day. We decided to go to the Garden Restaurant for a pizza and salad.
At 6:45 we met the members of our group who were going to the Light and Sound Show at Giza. We had to wait for the first show (Japanese) to be finished, but the show was worth the wait as it was a laser show, with lots of animations, and incredible sound.
After seeing all three of the presentations, it is hard to pick a favorite as they all had very unique properties, not one was the same!
We came home right away, I paid the bill while Gennie typed a few words and then we went to bed at 9 PM as we have to be up by 4:15 and leave the hotel at 6 AM for our 9 AM flight to JFK, Dulles and then Denver.
Accommodations: Mena House Oberoi - - - Meals: B, L
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