Back to Cairo and Alexandria - 4 November

4:00 am. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! These early mornings totally bite!!!! We had to be at the airport for a 7:00 am flight back to Cairo. We were handed yet another craptastic boxed breakfast and out to the ferry we went. One ferry ride, one bus ride, one plane ride, and three hours later we were back in Cairo.

We made our way through the traffic of Cairo which is just as bad as all of the other cities we’ve visited. Our schedule called for a two hour stop at the Egyptian Archeological Museum where all the priceless artifacts from the tombs and such are kept. Bahgat led some of us through a warp-speed tour of the museum while others wandered off on their own to enjoy the exhibits. I figured that if I had a well-educated Egyptologist giving a tour it would make the experience much more interesting…and I was right. Bahgat did a great job in giving us the highlights of the museum in such a short amount of time. We saw some amazing exhibits including King Tut’s famous mask and some sculptures that were 3500+ years old in perfect condition. We had the opportunity to see the mummies of the pharaohs too but I wanted to get to the bookstore and get some books on the pharaohs and we had such a limited time that I couldn’t do both so I choose books (I have librarian syndrome!).

After the museum, we drove to a hotel that we visited on the first day where we had lunch. This was the one with the really good hummus so my lunch for the day was hummus and dessert again. Yummy! Once our lunch hour was up, we were back on the bus for a three hour drive to Alexandria. It was an uneventful trip and we were soon driving into the port. We had asked Bahgat to do a drive-by of the Alexandria Library so that we could at least see it since we didn’t have time to do a tour of the facility. We made a very brief stop long enough to get some photos and then we were pulling up to the dock.

This was the first trip that I’ve taken on this voyage where I wasn’t ready for it to end. It had been such a magical and unforgettable time seeing the treasures of Egypt. I also hated to say goodbye to Bahgat! Despite my previous grumblings about his annoying habit of calling us habibi, I came to respect his knowledge and love of Egypt and even enjoyed being called habibi all the time. He was definitely one of the best things about this trip and he made the experience much richer for sharing his Egypt with us.

Without doubt, this has been my favorite port. I have fallen in love with Egypt. The people have been so friendly and welcoming and the sights have been unforgettable. This is the one place on this voyage that I will state unequivocally that I will return again. There is so much that I haven’t experienced here and I am eager to come back and get lost in the magic again. Egypt is the best!