Dipping my toe back in the Nile

[Kerrodt]

Do you have to take the 35mm slide film out of their frames?

@RooFlyer I have used this one in the past from Officeworks. The slides are put into the scanner intact. The digital copy is saved onto a memory card.

The quality of the digital copies that this device produced were incredible. My parents had 60 year old slides that we converted and they looked like digital pictures taken only a week ago. Very little colour correction was required and could easily be done in a standard photo editing app - nothing fancy required there.

QPIX Negative Slide Converter

Shop QPIX Negative Slide Converter with our Price Beat Guarantee. Buy with Afterpay or Zip. Enjoy free Click and Collect. Save with Officeworks.

www.officeworks.com.au

 

[RooFlyer]

The next day, I had a whole day tour arranged through the concierge at the Conrad. Two half-day tours, Coptic Cairo and the step pyramids of Saqqara, which I've always wanted to do.

Started with a bit of a hiccough when the guide arrived thinking there were 2 pax and I assured him, no just me (as arranged). This put him a bit out, as he'd be earning half as much!! In fact the price I was paying was the rate agreed with the Conrad back in May when I booked and by the look of it, the rate had almost doubled since then!!

Anyway to his car with a driver and I had to quickly disabuse him of the notion I was going to ride in the back seat. Front seat with views for me!!

8am start meat the traffic was just OK and en route we drove for a while along the fabulous Cairo Citadel Aqueduct. Built in the 1300, it brought water from the Nile to the Cairo Citadel, which was the first place we'll be visiting. To get a level water flow to the Citadel, which is on a hill, water was taken up from the Nile via large waterwheels up to a great height. The height of the aqueduct decreased as the topography rose towards the citadel. At the citadel the water was again raised via waterwheels to enter the complex.







The Cairo Citadel was obvious to me on my first drive from the airport to the Pyramids area on this trip and I really wanted to visit it.

Wikipedia: The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rulers. It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residence of its rulers for nearly 700 years from the 13th to the 19th centuries. At the time of its construction, it was among the most impressive and ambitious military fortification projects of its time. It is now a preserved historic site, including mosques and museums.

In addition to the initial Ayyubid-era construction begun by Saladin in 1176, the Citadel underwent major development during the Mamluk Sultanate that followed, culminating with the construction projects of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad in the 14th century. In the first half of the 19th century Muhammad Ali Pasha demolished many of the older buildings and built new palaces and monuments all across the site, giving it much of its present form. In the 20th century it was used as a military garrison by the British occupation and then by the Egyptian army until being opened to the public in 1983.



Some of the more 'recent' palace areas of the citadel



We headed straight to the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.

Situated on the summit of the citadel, this Ottoman mosque, the largest to be built in the first half of the 19th century, is, with its animated silhouette and twin minarets, the most visible mosque in Cairo.
The mosque was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali's eldest son, who died in 1816.







It was here that a problem with my guide for the day first appeared. His English was just - just - good enough to conduct the tour, but nowhere near good enough to answer my questions. Can't be helped now, will have to rely on wikipedia later!!

And Wikipedia has its uses. It revealed to me something the guide failed to mention. This clock, I happened to snap:



... is the Cairo Citadel Clock, with some history.

The clock was manufactured in France, and sent to Egypt in 1846 as a gift from the King Louis Philippe I of France to Muhammad Ali of Egypt. It was intended to be placed inside Muhammad Ali's Shubra Palace, but it was not installed and was left in the palace in storage.

The clock was installed at the Citadel in 1856 under Abbas I of Egypt, following the construction of the Mosque of Muhammad Ali which had been completed in 1848. The clock was housed inside a locally-made metal tower, which was decorated with Arabic inscriptions and stained glass.

For many decades, the clock was famous for not working. Various attempts were made to fix the clock in the 20th century; a repair was ordered by King Farouk in 1943 and in 1984 under President Hosni Mubarak, but both times the clock stopped working a few days later. In November and December 2020, French Horologist Francois Simon-Fustier travelled to Cairo to examine the clock, and sent a report to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The reparation of the clock was carried out by an Egyptian expert from Luxor. On 16 September 2021, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the completion of the restoration and restarting of the clock

The clock has been widely cited as having been sent by France in return for the Luxor obelisk now at the Place de la Concorde, however this has been disputed.

 

[RooFlyer]

The mosque was OK - I've seen a lot of old, grand mosques!!







You get some good views of Cairo from the plaza outside - or would if the air quality wasn't so bad.





@boomy had a much nicer day when he visited.

We next visited the Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque, dating from the 14th century.





Did I mention that the air quality was bad that day?





By this time, it was evident that the tour of the 'Citadel' was going to be a tour of the 2 mosques. Not the guide's fault - that's all that's available (other than the Police and Military museums, which I passed on).

 

[RooFlyer]

A few parting views of the mosques and citadel.





You could almost cut the smog with a knife!! Just as well Egypt's Climate Change Summit was happening elsewhere

 

[RooFlyer]

Next stop was the 'Hanging Church', which dates from the seventh century, replacing one from the third century. Its called 'hanging' as its built over part of a Roman structure called the Babylon Fortress, although my guide explained it in terms of being above a Roman cistern (water tank).

Here is part of the Babylon Fortress, we passed along the street. The Fortress was built about 30BC and acted as a toll collecting place on the banks of the Nile (its now about 250m inland), and the ground level has risen (being built-up) since then, so most of the structure is/was below current ground level. According to Wikipedia, it's origin is disputed by Coptic historians. Some date its origin to the nineteenth century B.C, after Pharaoh Sesostris defeated the Babylonians and took the prisoners of Egypt as slaves. The prisoners rebelled, building a fortress around their home which became known as Babylon. Others believe the fortress was built in the late sixteenth century B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, after conquering Egypt.

My guide explained it in terms of some water-lowering scheme of Roman times, which was horribly confusing. Lowering the water table next to the Nile??




The church is accessed up steps, taking it above the old fortress. Its the seat of the Coptic Pope.





The church was quite beautiful, but quite crowded and noisy. You can see the various mask-wearing. Certain tour groups were 100% masked (I assume a condition of the tour) but most went maskless.









Looking down into the fortress the church is 'hanging' over. Suspended over/built over really.



Above is a great barrel-vaulted roof



Edit. previous commentary incorrect re Jesus' residency in Hanging Church - see below.

 

[RooFlyer]

Note correction at the end of the above post

Out of the Hanging Church, we walked back past the Babylon Fortress and went down an alleyway, going past St George's Church which I assumed we'd visit later.



Next down some narrow lanes within the old Coptic town was the Cavern Church of Matryrs Sergius and Bacchus which dates to the 4th Century and is traditionally believed to have been built where Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus Christ stayed when they went to Egypt.







With a bit of pushing and shoving from fellow visitors, I went down some steps to a crypt-like space which is where Joseph, Mary and Jesus were supposed to have stayed.



We next visited St George shrine which was mildly interesting, then went back to the car. I'd forgotten that we hadn't visited St George's Church until we had headed off, so that opportunity was lost. .

Anyway, next stop, Memphis! A few shots of the drive



A long canal, paralleling the Nile and built in Pharaonic times now looks like a cesspool, but provided a way for roads to be built south of the city and out in the fields. Now surrounded by (illegal) buildings.



Approaching Memphis

 

[RooFlyer]

Memphis was the original capital of the Old Kingdom (2700-200BC) of Egypt . Today its an pen-air museum, mostly scattered fragments of temples etc.





The most striking relic is a colossus of Ramses II (much later than Old Kingdom, but he dominated everywhere) . It has a twin, which used to be in Cairo but is now in the Grand Egyptian Museum. Moving it was quite an event

The one in Memphis is sheltered under a museum building, on its back.







It was found about 1820 face down, so the rough lower surface is weathering ...

Then on to what I had been looking forward to, the Step Pyramids of Djoser, at Saqqara about 20 min drive away, and like the Pyramids, right at the edge of the desert area.





A little Roman temple marks the entrance to the precinct - step pyramid in the distance. Funny how a Roman temple can be so utterly irrelevant and overshadowed.

 

[RooFlyer]

Saqqara is the location of the earliest pyramids and the tombs (mastabas) of nobles and kings before pyramids. Its a large complex of burials dating from about 2,700 BC

Before pyramids, burials were in mastabas - a temple containing a shaft with the burial in an adit off the shaft and there are plenty of them here.

Pharaoh Djoser commissioned the first monumental burial place in the world, although in Peru there are somewhat contemporary ones. It has several mastabas at its core, with abt 6 km of tunnels within and a central shaft 7 sq m and 28 m deep. You can go into the pyramid, but my guide 'forgot' to buy the additional ticket required, when we came through the main gate.



The step pyramid, with a couple of mastabas to the left





There's a fascinating complex of buildings part of the tomb complex - such as this temple adjacent to the pyramid. It was very frustrating with the guide unable to articulate the complex history very well.







Mastabas and looking south to the Pyramids of Pep I and another. These date several hundred years after Djoser and also Giza, so they returned to Saqqara.

 

[RooFlyer]

Nearby the damaged and stone-pillaged pyramid of Unas, 2350 BC so again, much later than the nearby Djoser pyramid.



A mastaba shaft



Went into a couple of the temple buildings around some of the mastabas and some very nice carving art & stories













False doors feature in these tombs - the entrance-way to the underworld, or after-life.

 

[Nukie]

Thanks so much for a wonderful TR, really enjoyed it.I went to Egypt in 1991 and it wasn't so crowded then, just loved the Nile Cruise and the Khan el Khalili bazaar in Cairo. Brought back some great memories...

 

[RooFlyer]

Which reminds me ....

Close to the step pyramid of Djoser are two other pyramids in bad repair - those of Userkaf (nearer) and Teti



Teti's pyramid - from about 2,240BC - is open to the public and on approach looks much like a pile of earth with the entrance and a number of mastaba tombs on the other side.





Accessed by a ramp and then a tight squeeze through a low-stoop-height tunnel into the burial chamber.

 

[RooFlyer]

Around Teti's pyramids is a complex of mastaba tombs of court officials, apparently demonstrating the rise in wealth and authority of the bureaucracy. Fascinating walking through and into these mud-brick buildings, some maybe a dozen rooms (and the burial shaft), which look like buildings you might see in many third-world countries today but they are 4,000 years old.











Carvings of rich scenes of everyday life on the Nile, including hippos & crocodiles

 

[RooFlyer]

I was getting a bit bored by the time we went into the 5th tomb- of Kagemni (Chief Justice and Vizier during Teti's time c.2345-2323 BC) , but some of the work was the most interesting I'd seen.

 

[RooFlyer]

So it was farewell to the Step Pyramids. Highly recommended if you have half a day; seeing the mastabas and discovering the evolution of Pharaonic burials made it for me.



Next morning, I went to the relatively new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation. NMEC - National Museum of Egyptian Civilization As you can see from the web site, its a slick modern production. The site is huge (God knows how many neighbourhoods would have been demolished and people displaced to make way for it) but the footprint of public galleries is relatively modest. The Museum does essentially two things: Takes you though the history of Egypt from pre-history to modern times, and shows the22 royal mummies in a fantastic subterranean gallery.

Like everywhere in Cairo, the Uber trip there involved navigating the freeways. The driver took an understandable wrong turn and off we went for a 15 minute extra excursion. He wasn't happy, thinking I'd be annoyed, but brightened considerably when I gave him a good cash tip!



Through the gate and up to the entrance

This model gives an indication of the site. The public galleries are restricted to the central square building with the pyramid (!) on top of it and the two rectangular buildings just this side of it.




The central gallery takes you for a walk going through the ages, which is fascinating, taking you away from the Pharaonic focus you get for most on a trip to Egypt.



That's the pyramid thing that sticks up from the top.



There's a central gallery AV show which seems right OTT.





Of course the Pharaohs get a go too



A ramp leads down to the gallery of royal mummies, but no photos allowed there and closely supervised.



This link (Google search) shows you most of the actual mummies but not the layout, which is unfortunate. EDIT: It also shows a lot which isn't in the gallery!! Its a dark mon, directional winding gallery, with illuminated Perspex cases with the mummies in them and explanatory notes on the wall. Shouldn't be missed.

There is a decent café on site and you can walk outside in the gardens, which are not yet very developed. There are also large galleries devoted to Egyptian textiles and one other, which I forget.

 

[RooFlyer]

Then, time to head home. I must say after two weeks, I was ready to go - Egypt can be hard work, the Conrad and well organised tours notwithstanding. Crowded, noisy etc can get a bit on your nerves.

An early Uber to the airport, only 35 mins from downtown leaving at about 7:00; EGP 112 = A$6.60!!

After security at the terminal door (bags x-rayed and a pat-down), check in at QR First counter was nothing special, and told I could go to the Ahlein Premium Lounge. One or two more security points (both with pat-downs) before the lounge precinct, basically a long corridor with lounges off it. There was a desk with Ahlein sign but no-one there for 5 mins, so I went down the corridor. Nothing marked. First lounge space:




Hmmm - I guess not. Second lounge, which I was directed to by a lady in someone's uniform. She asked me when my flight was - I replied xx_X (ie 90 minutes away). She emphatically said I need to go to my gate!! I declined Geez, I hope this isn't the lounge:





I went on down the corridor, round a corner and, phew.



Its not a bad lounge - plenty of space, quiet areas and not a bad food selection. I only had a coffee, as I was looking forward to my QR First (J) flight.



There are a couple of more rooms off the end of this view






Breakfast offerings

 

[RooFlyer]

Boarding the A350-1000 for the three-odd hours to Doha was, as usual, very 'premium'.



QSuites . As before, I was in 'First' but its simply Business re-named to impress the locals (I guess). More QPoints and Avios, though.





Welcomed by the head steward, then Champagne (PH from memory) and a cool hand towel (in the wrapper - that got souvenired for my toiletries bag!!)



Menu (won't show the wine list here - next sector)





Bit of a delay in departure, so out came the cardamom coffee and dates



I haven't seen this elsewhere (but haven;'t flown anyone else International since Covid)



Off we go - rear facing seat (so seat is closer to the window than the aisle)



Privilege Club members get an hour of free "high speed" wi-fi. OK-ish

 

[RooFlyer]

With the advance in time zone, it was more lunch than breakfast, & I was pretty hungry. Warm nuts & some more PH will be a start



Seared scallops to start



Then beef cheek. I must say this was one of the worst plated meals I've ever had on QR. Not awful, just not their usual standard.



The wi-fi went off as we traversed Saudi airspace (remember a few years ago QR couldn't fly over many Gulf states)





Off the coast of Qatar



Definitely approaching Doha. All that bloody money and you are under the flight path!!





Stopped at a remote stand (the World Cup was underway at this time and there were a lot of aircraft about) and another First bus ride.



Of course, not as posh as the 2 parties who were met by airport limos!

 

[JohnM]

For anyone interested, the November issue of National Geographic has an extensive coverage of Tutankhamun, the new museum etc.

Not sure how much of this will show for non-subscribers: November 2022 Issue

 

[TheRealTMA]

With the advance in time zone, it was more lunch than breakfast, & I was pretty hungry. Warm nuts & some more PH will be a start

View attachment 310830

Seared scallops to start

View attachment 310831

Then beef cheek. I must say this was one of the worst plated meals I've ever had on QR. Not awful, just not their usual standard.

View attachment 310832

The wi-fi went off as we traversed Saudi airspace (remember a few years ago QR couldn't fly over many Gulf states)

View attachment 310834

View attachment 310833

Off the coast of Qatar

View attachment 310835

Definitely approaching Doha. All that bloody money and you are under the flight path!!

View attachment 310836

View attachment 310837

Stopped at a remote stand (the World Cup was underway at this time and there were a lot of aircraft about) and another First bus ride.

View attachment 310838

Of course, not as posh as the 2 parties who were met by airport limos!

View attachment 310839

What? You didn't book the Limo service??

 

[RooFlyer]

What? You didn't book the Limo service??

Meh. I was waiting for the offer.