The next day we walked from the hotel a little and then took a taxi( 5 Egyptian pounds) to Tahir square. A bustling bus terminus. There we went to the Egyptian museum. Saw mummies, jewellery, all things old, beautiful and Egyptian. But we were overwhelmed, the museum is just too big. I also had my attention on all the things I still wanted to see, so it was a bit of a disappointment. Then we took a taxi ( a little old man illegally using his car as a taxi), and shared it with two Spanish girls. We went to the market - sook. We started to buy all our souvenirs. Sat in a coffee house with men smoking Hukkas/nargila. I had a banana milkshake. The floor was covered with sawdust and the men spat straight onto the floor. We continued walking down the endless narrow corridors of buildings. I bought a fez - my plan being to collect hats from everywhere we go. I immediately put it on. that is when the day changed, everyone who saw the hat reacted to it. Most touched their heads and said welcome, women in the full covering, laughed and children pointed and whispered to each other.
We saw live chickens having their throats cut, large bails of cotton, cobblers sitting outside repairing old boots and Egyptian barbers, all of these in shops without a front wall or door. At one point a man touched my bum, I swung around, hit him with my bag and shouted " don't you touch me!" Immediately about ten men swooped down on this guy , shouting at his and clipping him over the head, telling him to apologies to me. They too all came and apologised for his behavior. It was Ramadan and they are not supposed to touch woman in that month, or even look at them. We had chosen the right month to travel to a Muslim country, although it also meant there was no belly dancing, which we had wanted to see.
We sat at another coffee house and a group of about 5 Iranian tourists asked to take a photo with us - maybe the hat. Next we went into a mosque next to the market. It wasn't as impressive as I had expected. Of course we only saw the woman's section. Then back to the hotel to rest before another night out on the town. This time we went with the group on an organized Nile cruise. It was a large boat, with an open deck, buffet and lounge with a dance floor and a band which played mellow Western music throughout dinner. We ate a lot, including stuffed pigeon, and about half a bottle of wine each. Then to our surprise a belly dancer came on. Extremely beautiful and ornate. She pulled me up to the dance floor, and I jiggled around with her. Later we stood on the deck and felt the cool breeze coming off the river.
The next day we were on our way home. On the bus we met a guy from Singapore and invited him home with us. He cooked us a Chinese meal and gave us some travel tips.
So now Egypt is out the way, the real Europe trip can begin.
I know I am not the best writer, but bare in mind this is all taken from real letters written home during the journey, and the interesting part is to see the moments when the differences between traveling in 1991 and in 2009 show themselves.
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