Egypte / Egypt 2002

July 2, 2002 – Cairo

Wan is my alarm clock this morning because I have a lot to see for this last day in Cairo. I will take the train for Aswan at 10pm.

After the usual light breakfast, I go outside to find a taxi to go to the citadel because I really don’t want to walk all the way like yesterday. I don’t have the good method right at the beginning because I am asking for the price to go there. In fact, in Cairo, when you take a taxi, you have to know the price and then take a taxi. Don’t negotiate with the driver or you will pay more than you have. So at my first attempt, I just say “Citadel” and that’s it. Maybe I should have been more precise because the driver is taking the complete other direction to go there so I have to guide him in his own town. Hopefully all the hours spent yesterday in the streets help me a lot to find where we are. When I say Mohammed Ali mosque, he finally understand where I want to go. As the traffic is very busy near the entrance of the citadel I just ask him to stop at the crossroad. I give him 6 EGP and there was no problem (so the price often quoted is 5 EGP, who cares?).

The entrance of the citadel, like the other monuments in Egypt is heavily guarded by the military and the police and all of them have the traditional Kalachnikov for our protection (no photo is allowed!!). I come so early because in the French book it is written that the early morning is wonderful for the view. But at 8am, you can only see at 200m because of the pollution and the morning fog. It will be better with the hours. Hopefully I saw the pyramids yesterday from the minaret because it will not be the case today.

Mohammed Ali mosque

The first part of the citadel was built in 1176 by Saladin, a specialist in castles or citadels ;o). During the XIXth century, the Mohammed Ali mosque is built under a Turkish inspiration with the very thin minarets. The prayer room and the square are very big. Many lights are suspended at 3m above the ground from the dome. It is very spectacular. There are not a lot of people there and that’s great.

Mohammed Ali mosque square + Inside dome of the mosque

From the citadel you have a beautiful view on the two mosques I visited the day before. There are also a police museum and an army museum on the site. The police museum is quite interesting, you can discover there the big stories in Egypt during the last decades and the great missions carried out by the policemen.

View on Al Hassan and Ar Rifai mosques

Around 10am, I exit the citadel site and I take a taxi to go to Ibn Tulun mosque. We drive in a street where one of the numerous jails in Cairo is located. There were a lot of women in front probably waiting an authorization to visit a relative.

The entrance of the mosque is free but you can give whatever you want. The mosque is currently under renovation and with all the work it is hard to enjoy the place. In Cairo, many monuments are under renovation but it seems that it will take years and years to see the results. The square of Ibn Tulun can give an idea of the importance of the mosque (the global area is about 3 hectares.

Ibn Tulun mosque square

The mosque of Ibn Tulun on the 5 EGP banknote

When I have finished there, I just go to the hotel. On my way I take a street where the concentration of policemen and bodyguards is well above the normal. There must be something special there but I don’t know what because I can’t stop to have look to the guidebook (the police is watching everyone and make signs if needed). At the hotel, I understand why it was so full of special forces, it was the street where there is the Egyptian parliament.

I just have a break on the sofa because it seems that there are more dust and pollution there than the other days.

After I try to find the boat terminal at maspero to take the ferry to Coptic Cairo but even at noon I was said that there is no more boat to get there. I am not confident in what he said so I ask the question another time but he explained me that it is really impossible to go there by boat. At the hotel, other travelers told me that they heard the boat to Coptic Cairo was cancelled few months ago, who knows!!! But it is really too bad…

I come back to the hotel where I speak to the Irish guy I met the day before. He has started his trip in May through Turkey, Syria, Jordan and he will take a flight to Sri Lanka in the next days to start visiting asia and finally end in Australia where he hopes to find a job for a year or so. Good luck and have fun!!! Wan is back and we want to go to the North Cemetery by taxi but there is a lot of traffic and we will not find one who will accept for the regular price. So we quit and I will go there at the end of my trip in Egypt when I will come back in Cairo.

I resume my discovery of Cairo by moving up on Talaat Harb when I see the French Consulate. It means that the famous cake shop El Abd is very closed to this place so I circle around to find it and yes I did. First, I just have a look there but it was only to better choose what I will take. I ask for a sample of cakes in order to taste them before buying the ones that I like for the tonight train (13 EGP / kg).

I come back at the hotel at 5pm just to have a break again, surf on the internet and wait for Jack and Cathy with whom I will take the train to Aswan. After a shower offered by Essam, we go out for dinner and another time we go to Felfela on Talaat Harb (the take away shop) where we have the dinner.

View on Midan Tahrir from the New Sun Hotel

At 9pm, we go to the subway and we took one of the 2 lines to reach Ramses station. The cars are full but there is enough place for us and our bags. An Egyptian will warn the people around us to let us get out of the car at the station. We arrive 20 minutes before the departure and a man shows us the number of our cars. I am in the coach #7 while Jack and Cathy are in the coach #9 behind the restaurant coach. We quit Cairo main train station right on time at 10pm.

Train ticket for Aswan

My car is almost empty but it is only for a short time. At Giza station more or less 30 Czechs jump in the car and suddenly the car is full. The trip to Aswan (located at 980km from Cairo) will take 13 hours. It is time to discover what can be bought in the restaurant car: Chicken or cheese sandwiches, tea, coffee, soft drinks at a very affordable price. You can also remained seated in 1^st and 2^nd class, a guy is moving there to sell all the stuffs.

After all this talking with the Frenchies, I go back to my cold car (18 – 19°C), I put a long sleeves shirt and I fall asleep immediately.

Main expenses of the day :

Taxi to the citadel : 6 EGP

Citadel entrance : 10 EGP (student fare) otherwise 20 EGP

Taxi to Ibn Tulun : 2 EGP

Ibn Tulun mosque : what you want

Cake shop El Abd : deliciou Arabic cakes 13 EGP / kg

Drinks (water, soft drinks, tea…) : 20 EGP

Sandwich in the train : 5.5 EGP

Coca cola in the train : 1.75 EGP