Egypt – The ancient Land of Mystery (Part 1) Cairo Diary

Covid Pandemic has taken away a lot from each of us, many of the loved ones, health and mental peace. In my case, I thought it took away my wander lust; suddenly the traveler in me became hesitant and shaky when it came to travel to foreign lands very unlike my earlier self. I was not happy, this was the biggest price, I thought I had to pay due to the turmoil.

Egypt was in my wish list for a long time, as this was the remaining of the five great Museums of the world that I was yet to visit. The other four Athens Archeological, Vatican City, Louvre and British Museum were done long back. For history lovers Egypt is a must and dream travel, but in my case, it took a back seat for a couple of years as, I was busy in exploring Far East and South East Asia for my novel. We moved to Kenya during pick of covid, still had a slim hope in my mind to visit Egypt from here. Finally, on a last moment decision I tagged along my husband on his official visit to Cairo (which I never indulged in earlier). Our flight was at midnight, got the visa in hand at five in the evening and then rushed packing, collection of Dollar; I hardly had chance to brush up my knowledge on Egyptian history.

Early in the morning, with the first ray of Sun, the silver line of Nile appeared in my view line, I felt myself again after a long time, getting the thrill I used to, with the aerial glimpse of a new land to be explored.

We were booked at Ritz Carlton Nile, overlooking the Nile on one side and the Tahrir Square on the other. This was located at the heart of historical Cairo, being a heritage hotel itself. For me the location of a hotel had always been important, as it made a lot of difference in historical places, in terms of convenience and getting the vibe. We booked the entire tour through a well-known Travel agent recommended by an Egyptian friend, the agent was updated beforehand about my passion for history, hence, he assured to provide knowledgeable guides. I had a general aversion towards guides, as most of them came with half-baked knowledge that immensely irritated me. Mr. Gamal was already waiting at the hotel lounge when we arrived, he introduced himself as our guide for next two days in Cairo. He asked me whether I would prefer to go to the new museum or the old one, the old one (as I mentioned earlier) was located next to the hotel. Why could not we do both I was wondering when he explained that he would like to show us the bazar afterwards. I took an instant dislike on the man who looked more like an academic than a tour guide for preferring bazar over museum. On an afterthought, I settled for the new museum, as the old one I could do myself on the free days, exploring museums on my own provided immense joy to me always.

“Thousands of years ago, dead bodies used to be preserved and were called mummies”; “Can we discuss the periods of Old and new kingdom please?” I interrupted. He took a deep note of me and smiled gently, from then on it was only serious business. We not only discussed at length the different eras, also the significance and uniqueness of Lower and Upper Egypt, Greko Roman influence, and Arab colonization. At the museum he explained few of the vital symbols of Hieroglyphs or ancient language which came very handy in the later part of our tour while exploring the tombs and temples on my own.

At new Museum

False door from a tomb

Relics

The Bazar was the reflection of a typical Middle Eastern crowded alley with shops full of cheap artifacts and jewelry, I was not amused, especially after a night long journey. Gamal understood my plight and apologized for his choice.

Cairo Bazaar

The Next day we started early to cover the excavation sites at Memphis, Saqqara and Giza. The weather was pleasant in Cairo, a bit on the colder side during morning and evening, hence, outdoor excursion did not pose to be challenging. We started with Memphis, the capital of Old Kingdom, which was half an hour drive from the hotel. The site had a museum showcasing a gigantic statue of Ramesis II that was discovered from underground. It was the site of a temple built by Ramesis II, the greatest Pharaoh of New Kingdom or the Golden Age of Egypt and could be compared with the Gupta Period, Golden Age of Indian History. This was the time when Egypt reached the zenith in terms of wealth, culture, and science. 

At Memphis

Saqqara was the site of the oldest pyramids, one large, looking like a step pyramid and many other small ones. The largest one belonged to Pharaoh Djoser of third dynasty. The site was full of tombs of the Nobles and distinguished people closer to the Royal family, though only a fraction of the same had been unearthed so far. We went inside one of such tombs, the colors of the paintings were still intact, so was the false door, believed to be the path for the soul to travel to heaven.

Saqqara step Pyramid

Giza site was located at the west bank of Nile; in ancient Egypt, tombs used to be built traditionally on the west bank, as the Sun set symbolized departure from life. The human habitation had steadily been on the eastern bank of Nile in entire Egypt including Cairo. The largest two pyramids named Khufu and Khafre belonged to the Pharaohs of 4^th dynasty and the third one belonged to Pharoh Menkaure, son of Khafre. The three smaller pyramids belonged to Khafre’s mother, wife and daughter. This place was so windy that keeping a camera stand straight was also a challenge, my shoes were full of sand dust and so was my mouth. But it was worth all the pain as the pyramid of Khufu was one of the seven and only surviving wonders of the ancient world.

The giant Sphinx at Giza

Giza site

That afternoon, Gamal took leave gifting me two artefacts and a talisman of a bracelet that he himself wrapped on my wrist saying, ‘it’s from your Egyptian brother’. I instantly felt that the tie was to remain even long after I would leave Egypt and exactly that happened, we kept exchanging information about our respective civilization till today.

Every place I visited in the past, I tried to enjoy the traditional cultural flavor in terms of music, here I was keen to attend a concert of Saidi music. It seemed, that was quite unheard of, hence, had to settle for a Nile cruise on board music and dance. The music was good, dance was quite intolerable for my taste, though the ambience, the moonlit night and food partially compensated.

The next day morning we went to the old museum; the building, a typical colonial one reminded me of Athens Archeological Museum, the treasures it stored including Tutankhamun’s were incredible and truly satisfying for a history lover.

Tutankhamun's Gold sandal

Love the neck piece

Tutankhamun in his Gold attire

From Golden era

Our next destination that day was ‘The mall of Egypt’. While living in a place where branded goods remained inaccessible, this was very much needed, and I must say the mall was very impressive even for someone like me who stayed in Bangkok; I did full justice to the visit.

The last evening of our Cairo stay ended with a candle light dinner overlooking the Nile at the rooftop restaurant of the hotel. For some reason, the floor manager decided it was an anniversary celebratory dinner; we were showered with special attention from the singer and also a cake on the house. Such mistakes were to be enjoyed, so we went by the flow.

The next day, I was on my own, so decided to do some ‘my kind of shopping’ (being unconventional) that became very much part of the cultural exploration, anywhere I went. I found out a boutique shop named Nomad Gallery based on the Trip Advisor reviews. It was an inconspicuous shop in a heritage building, quite difficult to locate and not touristy at all. The moment I entered, I knew what a treasure it was with grade one authentic collection pieces of artefacts, silver jewelry, finest cotton and rugs and a reasonable price.

My next mission was to find out a book shop in order to buy a book on Hieroglyph. As I got down from the car at a square, a huge looking man just hijacked me saying he will show me the book shop but before that I must visit his souvenir shop. I did not have much choice but to meekly follow him. There, at the silver section I found some talisman I did not get at the earlier shop, hence, decided to buy them. The man at the counter named ‘Abdul’ obliged, but then took me to upstairs at their fragrance section. Ancient Egypt was known for secret potions and fragrances, they still carry forward the culture of preparing perfumes and lotions from flower extracts. Abdul had his own style of wooing customers, majorly white females, but within a few minutes he understood I was beyond his grammar book. He was not to be deterred easily, this time not the salesman, but the charming man he was started wooing me. I quite enjoyed the attention and accepted the compliments and then parted empty handed calling him a dear brother.

There were a few book shops on that road, but none in English, hence did not serve my purpose.

We had an evening flight to Luxor, from there started the next phase of travel, exploring the Golden Age of Ancient Egypt.

(To be continued…)

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