Last Day

Last day in Egypt was great, though I don't have photographic evidence of the best part. With our Muslim Tour guide, we visited the biggest mosque in Cairo, and got a first-person account of the tradition behind it. It was interesting to hear more about the prayers that I'd been hearing echoing from the city as a whole 5 times a day over the course of our vacation. From there, we went to visit a great Coptic church in the city before lunch at another Koshary, yum.

But the best part of the day, for sure, was visiting the big museum in Cairo. Most amazing thing was the exhibit on King Tut, the pristine stuff they pulled out of his tomb in the beginning of the 20th century. It was incredible! I mean, it blew me away. The artifacts were so well preserved, and just so extravagantly gorgeous, from scarabs and jeweled belts to intricate necklaces and the sarcophagi themselves. The whole thing was like those Russian dolls; there was a gold casket inside a gold casket inside another, and in the inside a sarcophagus within a smaller sarcophagus, meticulously bejeweled and designed. The whole display was so over the top, I could barely believe my eyes.

Another highlight, of course, was the mummy room, housing everyone from Queen Hatsheput to Ramesses II himself, who historians have rumoured to be the Pharaoh that prevented Moses from leaving. I've only seen one mummy before, in the Vatican this Christmas, so I was entranced by this collection. They are weird looking, that's for sure, with their leathery skin and intact fingernails and crunchy hair skill on their heads.

One last night smoking shisha in the Cairo hotel, with some girl talk and reminiscing, then off to bed to catch our early morning flight back to Paris, via London Heathrow. Exhausted, broke, and dying for a real meal, yet feeling great!