Touring Ancient Egypt - Cairo.
Around Cairo there are excellent locations to tour round such as The Citadel, The Egyptian Museum and then just a little south at Giza and Saqqara Egypt's famous pyramids are on display.
The following information assumes touring and visiting around Cairo for independent travellers rather than for tour groups since the latter are always (well should always) be fully organised about getting from a to b etc.. Any prices quoted relate to November/December 2009 - so may well change anytime - usually upwards.
Giza Pyramids (Pyramids of Giza). One of the places in the world to visit the area contains the Great Pyramid of Khufu and Queens Pyramids, the First and Second Dynasty Mastaba Tombs, the Pyramid of Khafre and Temple, a huge Sphinx and the Pyramid of Menkaure and Queens Pyramids. The trip from Downtown Cairo to the area can be done using frequent buses from New Bus Station which is located behind the Egyptian Museum or by minibus 82 or 83. However a black and white taxi ride down is fairly cheap (around LE30 to 40) that this is probably the best option. (note that there is no particular need to retain your black and white while you visit the pyramids since there are taxis available at the entrance for the ride back).
There are loads of tourist police and other police around who seemed mostly intent on wanting to have their photos taken (for money of course) and seemed quite oblivious to the teenagers clambering 40 or 50 feet up the side of the Great Pyramid so to presumably impress their friends.
At the site entrance you also have to pay a further LE30 which is meant to give you entrance to 3 tombs. The problem here was that although you have payed for your tomb tickets you will find that the tombs are actually locked - there is no choice but to get one of the "guides" to take you round and unlock the gates - a right fiddle because of course your "guide" will then want a tip. The Stepped Pyramid of Djoser is one of the main features of the site and it certainly is a very impressive brick-built structure.
Dahshur and then Memphis. After our trip to
Saqqara we had time to continue south the few kms to Dahshur where there are
several other pyramids including the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid. However
as we reached the crossroads at Dahshur there were lots of armed police around
and our driver then said he was going to ask one of them for the correct route
to the Pyramid area as "he had been here before and had gone into a bad area by
mistake". Anyway we then continued on to the entrance where there were again
quite a few police around - this was at 1430hrs and officially the site was not
due to shut until 1600. However we were then informed that the site was going to
close in 30 minutes. We therefore decided to give up the visit - which seemed to
make our driver quite happy..
On the way back to Cairo our driver suggested we stop off at Memphis instead -
this was well meant but he admitted after the visit that he had never been
inside site. The entrance fee was LE35 each and the open area is quite small
with just a few albeit nice statues including Ramses II and a Sphynx. However
there was little else to look at except around 10 million of us tourists
(Memphis is very much on the tour-coach itinerary) and of course lots of stalls
and hawkers trying to sell rubbish souvenirs. In our view Memphis is not worth
going out of the way to visit - too expensive to get in, badly crowded and in
the event not a lot to see.
Day Trip to the Monasteries at Wadi El Natrun. There are
still four Coptic Orthodox
monasteries located close to the town of Wadi El Natrun although years ago there
were probably at least 70 in the area. The town is around
120kms from Downtown Cairo out on the Alexandria Desert Road in the Nitrian Desert
- the turn off is at Bir Hooker. The
only practical way to visit these monasteries is to hire a car and driver for
the day - if you use the "hotel" travel desk they will probably vastly
overcharge for this day trip so it's worth asking around outside of your hotel
or even at one or two local shops - usually someone will know somebody who would
like the business. We got our car and driver for LE 450 and found him by asking
at one of the shops close to the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Cairo.
Although there are four monasteries in the area it is only possible to visit three of them (see below)
- to visit Deir Abu Magan you are required to have prior written permission. From a practical point
of view their are public toilets at Deir el-Baramus but they are disgusting -
however those at Deir Anba Bishoi are ok. Very light snacks and a drink are
also available at Deir Anba Bishoi however a donation for such should be given - and
at the parking area by Deir al-Suryani you will find a shop where fruit and
drinks can be purchased. These monasteries were built with protection in mind
i.e. they have an extremely "fortress" look to them.
Deir el-Baramus:
This monastery is open daily 09 to 18h in the summer and 09 to 17h in the winter
- admission is free however there are various donation boxes around. The
monastery is set in lovely gardens both inside the walls and also all around the
outside and is the oldest of the four monasterys in the area as it was founded
in 340ad by Saint Makarius.
Deir Anba Bishoi:
We liked looking round this beautiful monastery most of all - probably because
of our constant fascination with domed churches - and with five located here
there are plenty of them to look at. Opening hours are 07 to 20h in the summer
and 07 to 18h during the winter months - entrance is of course free.
You can have a guided tour by one of the resident monks if you wish - there is plenty to
see although some areas are locked and a guide will unlock them - or you can
just wander around on your own. Founded by Saint Bishoi this is the largest of
the four monasteries at Wadi al Natrun.
Deir al-Suryani:
This monastery - which was founded around 980 by monks who had left Deir Aba
Bishoi - is very close to Deir Anba Bishoi and is surrounded by green fields.
Entrance is of course free of charge and the monastery is open daily but times
vary somewhat - it is always open until at least 17h apart from Saturdays when
it closes at 15h during the winter.
Touring and sightseeing in Cairo including The Citradel, Coptic Cairo, Islamic Cairo and The City of the Dead.
Visiting Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo). Coptic Cairo
is of course the oldest part of the city and is located within the old walls of
Babylon in the South and not far from the River Nile. The nearest metro station
is Mari Girgis or a taxi will drop you near the entrance on Sharia Mar Girgis -
the area is controlled by police barriers so no traffic is normally allowed
inside.
The only entrance fees applicable are for the museum otherwise you are
free to wander around where you wish. The area inside is very interesting to
wander around with it's narrow sunken streets especially where the churches are
located - churches etc. to look at include the Convent of St George, the Church
of St. Sergius, Church of St Barbara and the Ben Ezra Synagogue.
To the back of the area are two old cemeteries - one is Greek Orthodox and the other Catholic.
Further along the main road is the huge Church of St George and just past that
there are remains of Roman Towers and the entrance to the Coptic Museum - then a
little further along from the museum is the Hanging Church of the Virgin Mary.
Touring Cairo - visiting Tulun Mosque and then The Citadel.
Cairo's
Citadel (Al-Qalaa) was built in 1176 by Salah ad-Din (aka Saladin) and is a
hugely popular tourist spot located in the South East - note that there is only
one entrance and this is just off the ring road. The only realistic way to get
there is by taxi which for instance from Downtown will cost about LE25 to 30. If
you don't mind a little walking then get a taxi to Ibn Tulun Mosque and have a look round it, then walk on up
towards the visible Citadel to reach Maidan Salah ad Din roundabout where there
are two large Mosques to visit - Mosque of Sultan Hassan and Mosque of ar-Rifai.
Both of these Mosques are open to visitors apart from prayer times and both do
have entrance fees which seems incredible for places of worship.
With the walls of the Citadel in front of the Mosques walk anti-clockwise up the road to reach
the ring road and then left to reach the entrance to The Citadel. The Citadel is
open daily apart from religious holidays but can also be closed for short
periods at prayer times - the entrance fee is LE50. Having looked round - which
does take some time you can easily find a taxi to take you back Downtown or
wherever so if you got there by taxi there is no need to retain it.
City of the Dead and the Northern Cemeteries.
We had intended taking a bit of a look round the City of the Dead which is
located on the South East edge of Cairo i.e. fairly near to The Citadel. However
having driven past it on our way to visit The Citadel the area looked
exceedingly dirty and did not look too inviting - not even very safe - so we
decided to give it a miss. Should you decide to look round the City of the Dead
perhaps a good idea would be to enlist the services of a local guide.
On the other hand the Northern Cemetery is perfectly
fine and very interesting to wander around - it is located to the North East of
The Citadel.
There are quite a few mosques in the area with some particularly beautiful domes and minarets - within the
cemetery itself there are many small cenotaphs which are really interesting to wander around. The Northern
Cemetery is also home to quite a large number of people - it has been occupied as a dwelling area since
the 1320s.
Eventually arrivinging at a main road (Shari al-Azhar) which you cross via a footbridge and then enter further market areas. This area is quite popular with tourist coach parties and tours and has been nicely paved - although some market stalls are around mostly it comprises of shops. Having passed by several more large mosques you will arrive at the Northern Gate. Note: when we got to the Northern Gate we found it impossible to get a taxi - this was quite late in the afternoon and very very busy on the roads - we ended up walking quite a few kilometres towards Downtown before finding transport.
These are our Egypt related topics:-
Further related information: The following travel books may be of great benefit if travelling and touring around Egypt's Ancient Sites - Egypt Rough Guide Egypt Insight Guide Egypt Eyewitness Guide Egypt Lonely Planet
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