Khan El Khalili Bazaar in Cairo| Egypt Travel Blog: Day 09 (Part 59) 08D19

Cairo Khan El Khalili Bazaar | The Most Famous Ancient Market in Egypt

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After visiting the Cairo Museum, we headed to the Khan El Khalili Bazaar located in the heart of Islamic Cairo, not far from the medieval walled city, the Saladin Citadel. We were asked if we wanted to visit the Saladin Citadel, but everyone passed on that. Most of us were too tired and wanted to go back to the hotel.

They say no trip to Cairo is complete without visiting the Khan El Khalili Bazaar. Merchants, both local and foreign, have been trading in the Khan El Khalili Bazaar since the 14th century. Khan El Khalili was originally built as a burial site. The burial site belonged to the Fatimid Caliphs and these were the people who founded Cairo in the 10th century.

Going to the Khan El-Khalili bazaar is like going back in time to an old Arab souk. It’s hard to think of something you can’t find in the bazaar. You will find almost anything you can think of. Colorful candles and lanterns, jewellery, perfumes, musical instruments, handicrafts, sweets, spices I never knew existed, statuettes, souvenirs, silver jewellery, t-shirts, galabiyyas, belly dancing costumes … what more do you want?

Here you can put your haggling skills to good use and you are expected to haggle. At some stores when I started with 1/3 price of what merchant asked for, they were looking at me like I was an alien!

Even if you don’t want to buy anything, walking through the alleys and experiencing a different world will make your Egypt trip worthwhile. It is possible to lose track of time and get lost in the maze of stores.

We were given an hour and a half to visit the bazaar and then we would meet at a restaurant to eat and have tea.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo Tour | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 09 (Part 58) 08D20

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities | The Egyptian Museum in Cairo Tour

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Our next stop was the Cairo Museum in downtown Cairo, Tahrir Square. If you only have a short amount of time, seeing the museum can be a daunting task. It has 120,000 artifacts that would take you 9 months to peruse if you spent a minute on each one.

Our guide gave us a tour of some of the items. The museum was so massive that I didn’t know what to photograph/video or what not to. I will describe the highlights of what I remember seeing.

- Tutankhamun’s Mask

- Statue of Khufu

- Statue of Khafra

- Statue of the Dwarf Seneb and his Family

- Amenhotep III and Tiye Colossal Statue

- Masks of Yuya and Thuya

- Merneptah Stele

Some of the statues and cages were all made of gold and for sure I had never seen so much gold in my life.

There were several floors, but I only visited 3 floors near the central area. I saw some animal mummies and there was also a display of daily necessities used by the Royals those days. I saw some flip-flops and sandals. Footwear existed and was invented in Egypt, but was worn only by Royals and rich people.

From here we would go to our last tour in Egypt, the open-market bazaar called Khan El Khalili.

Cairo Tour (Seven Churches in the Coptic District) | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 09 (Part 57) 08D20

The Church of St Sergius and Bacchus | This Is Where Jesus Lived in Egypt

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

We started our Cairo tour in the Coptic District where several churches and synagogues were located. The fascinating Church of St Sergius and Bacchus dates to the 4th Century AD. This is a historic place because there are stairs leading to another church underneath (the oldest Coptic Church in Egypt) where Joseph, Mary and Jesus lived when they were in Egypt. I saw the well from which Jesus drank water. The well is still preserved and sealed, but you can still see the water through the glass cover.

The church was a basilica design and had a nave and two side chapels. I saw an impressive carved wooden screen decorated in ivory and ebony separating the congregation from a small chapel.

The other places we visited here were the Hanging Church and the Synagogue of Ben Ezra. Located in a small backstreet, all these churches presented amazing architecture and beauty. The decorations inside them were awe inspiring. 

This peaceful place in the middle of Cairo felt like an oasis from the city’s hustle and bustle. There were so many historic places tucked into one location that I got confused while doing video trying to figure out which one was which.

From here, we would visit the Cairo Museum and end our trip visiting the Khan El-Khalili bazaar.

Caves Beach Resort, Hurghada to Cairo on Overnight Bus | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 9 (Part 56) 08D20

Overnight Bus to Cairo - Leaving the Caves Beach Resort | All-Inclusive Food & Drinks at The Caves Beach Resort, Hurghada

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

We left Hurghada Caves Beach Resort after 3:00 AM. We had a goodbye meeting yesterday, as some of our tour mates will head to Jordan and other countries and will not join us in Cairo. This always puzzles me; you meet some people for a short time, become very close with them, and then never see them again. However, we will have some new tour friends from here to Cairo.

The road from Hurghada to Cairo was full of contrast. Sometimes we were passing by the sea, sometimes desert, sometimes cities and villages. I noticed lots of upscale residential property developments by the sea that looked really nice.

Our bus was fuller than before because people from a separate group merged into ours. Most people slept on the bus, but I was up to see the roads and sceneries. We had a couple of stopovers at the service areas and I got out each time to stretch and take a stroll around the complex.

I didn’t notice any guard officers with us this time. My guess was this road was safer than the road we took from Cairo, so there was no need for extra protection.

We would start our Cairo tour around 10:00 and I will be leaving Cairo later today after midnight. I find it hard to believe that my Egypt trip is coming to an end.

Another Free Day at Caves Beach Resort, Hurghada | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 8 (Part 55) 06D20

Last Day Spending Leisure Time at The Caves Beach Resort | All Inclusive Food & Drinks at The Caves Beach Resort, Hurghada

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Today is our last day at Hurghada. We would leave at night for Cairo. I still had all day and I decided to take more pics and videos and then relax for the rest of the day.

After breakfast, I decided to go to the beach and spend some time. I saw some individual suites that had bamboo roofs close to the beach that looked like a cottage, unlike mine which was on the 2nd floor.

There were signs everywhere telling us to keep drinking water, even if you don’t feel thirsty. I noticed that in Egypt I never felt thirsty, but my body was still dehydrated. Our tour guide warned us also about this and asked us to keep drinking water.

The beach area was really nice. There were umbrella-like shades made of bamboo, sunbathing beds, reclining chairs, sofas, a bar for snacks and drinks, etc. It was not crowded and I sat there for a while. I saw some Russians that started drinking even at that early hour.

The Red Sea beach was not fine white sand like Caribbean beaches; the beach looked like red and muddy small rocks and coarse sands. I was afraid it would cut my feet without sandals. I decided not to go to the water. I saw a boardwalk dock a little bit ahead with some boats. Everything was beautiful, and as you might expect along the Red Sea, everything looked red. Not like the turquoise-blue clear water beaches with fine white sands I was used to.

The resort had lots of cats. Two of them caught my attention because they were always chasing each other and playing. I saw them sometimes sitting on outdoor sofas and playing. I was about to take a good ten minutes’ worth of video of them playing.

I gave my housekeeper a very good tip every day. He did a good job keeping my room nice and clean every day and was very happy after getting unexpected big tips.

Later on that day, I started feeling regret about leaving that beautiful resort and having a couple of do-nothing days. We would leave for Cairo that night.