Today was Regan's 40th Birthday! Being in Cairo on his birthday was SO cool! We did a lot of tourist Egypt activities today.
We started out at the Sultan Hassan Modrasa and Mosque which is one of the an extraordinary monument in the Islamis world. It took 43 years to build and includes different Islamic architectural styles.
I should have worn socks because to go inside the Mosque, you can't wear shoes. The mosques were filled with Muslims visiting with their families. 5 times a day, there is a Call to Prayer and being inside the mosque was so cool watching the Muslim families praying during the call to prayer. Our guide, Yasir had us sit inside the mosque and he told us all about the Muslim religion. We were able to ask him any question and it was so cool to be able to understand more about their religion.
We went to the biggest mosque in Egypt Ahmed Ibn Tulun where we got to see some amazing views of Islamic Cairo. Cairo is nicknamed the city of a thousand minarets {a minaret is the top of a mosque}.
We were able to climb to the very top of this mosque. There were more than a hundred stairs to go up to the top of the tower. Regan was scared to climb up so high since he is scared of heights, but seeing the views from the top was amazing.
Cairo is just SOOO crowded and full of people. 19.5 million people live just in Cairo!!! This would explain the crazy traffic!!!
The Gayer Anderson Museum is attached to the Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque. He was a high commander in the British Army during the British invasion to Egypt. Inside he has so many artifacts from Egypt and other Islamic countries that he collected while in the Middle East. A James Bond Movie was even filmed here. The scene is with James Bond jumping from the house into the mosque courtyard.
Our guide stopped at a street cart and got us Sugar Cane Juice. It was different but yummy!
We then went to el Moez which is 1,000 year old open air museum of Islamic Buildings which are decorated with different patterns.
We ate lunch of mango juice, falafel, pita bread, kabob, tahini and seeds.
I got Henna on my left hand from a lady from Sudan. The Henna took a long time to dry and lasted a week.
The next part of this day was probably the crazies part of the whole trip. We went to the
Khan el Khalili Bazaar which is one of Cairo's main attractions. It is where you can find souvenirs, cafes and shisha {egyptian pipe smoking}. The amount of people in these small allies was pure craziness. At one point, there was a small motorized cart that was trying to get through all of the people and broke down. People were trying to push it out of the ally while other people were yelling and getting mad. I cannot even describe how many people there were in such a small space.
Regan's bartering skills were on par! He chose a few souvenirs that he wanted and negotiated the price. I was so uncomfortable!!!
This is the entrance of the tent makers market. It was amazing to see how people sew intricate designs by hand.
This is all sewn by hand made from little scraps of fabric.
After the Khan, we drove by the City of the Dead. People really liven the cemetery since they are too poor to live anywhere else.
We ended Regan's birthday by going to an awesome hotel called the Semiramis. We ate a sushi dinner and then had drinks on the top of the hotel overlooking the Nile. My favorite was Regan dancing to the arabic music that was playing.
Happy 40th Birthday Regan! Thanks for bringing me on a trip of a lifetime!
No comments:
Post a Comment