The Cube

Egypt: Coptic and Islamic Cairo

April 12, 2026

It was our last full day in Cairo having returned from Siwa Oasis. We decided to stay around the city so it was spent to visit Coptic Cairo and Islamic Cairo.

Babylon - "Old Cairo"

The remains of Roman and Christian Babylon are found in the area known as Misr al-Qadimah, which translates into "Old Cairo". The remains of the Roman fortress of Babylon, can be visited in conjunction with the churches and museum of the Coptic quarter.

The term "Copt" is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos, meaning "Egyptian". Today, it refers to Egyptian Orthodox Christians, who are descendants of ancient Egyptians. Coptic Cairo is a historic, predominantly Christian neighborhood within Old Cairo, Egypt, forming the Coptic Orthodox community, one of the world's oldest Christian denominations.

We took the metro to Mar Girgis station. It was interesting to see peddlers carrying their goods to sell inside the metro. A lady who stood near us on one of the our metro ride bought a few things - chocolate, socks and costume jewelleries.

We started at Mari Gerges Church / Church of St George as it is right across from the metro station. The church is at the heart of Coptic Cairo and sits upon the northern tower of the Roman fortress of Babylon.

Church of St George

Coming out of the Church of St George was this plan of the Roman fortress of Babylon, and we backtracked to location #1 on the map - the Hanging Church.

Ruins of Babylon, Misr al-Qadimah

St Virgin Mary's Church, referred to locally as al-Mu'allaqa which means "The Suspended" or "Hanging Church". It is so named because it was built on top of the Babylon Fortress. The main body of the church is suspended over an open space between two of the Roman fortress's bastions. The floor of the church is made of palm logs and layers of masonry stretched across the gaps between those towers. When one stands in the center of the church (the nave), the Roman ground level are several meters beneath the floor. There are some glass floor panels inside to show this as this is not obvious from the outside due to the rise of the street level.

There are other churches within the compound - churches of St Sergius and St Bacchus, St Barbara, St Cyril and St John, convent of St George. Also within the walls of Old Cairo is the Ben Ezra Synagogue.

Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church, or Cavern Church also known as the Abu Serga Church, is one of the oldest Coptic Christian churches in Egypt, dating back to the 7th century. This church is of significance to Christians because of its link to the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt.

St Sergius and St Bacchus church

We were at Old Cairo area for about half a day, we had lunch nearby before getting on a metro to Bab El Shaariya station and walked towards Al-Hakim mosque, cutting through some sort of market.

Islamic Cairo

Al-Muizz Street (Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi Street) is often described as an open-air museum of Islamic monuments. We started from the north and walked towards Khan el-Khalili bazaar. The first monument is Bab Al-Futuh, a stone gate built in 1087 for defense. Walking from the metro station, we bypassed it and reached the second monument, Mosque of al-Hakim bi-Amar Allah.

Mosque of al-Hakim is a mosque from Fatimid origin, and the second largest mosque in Cairo. The minarets of the mosque were originally multi-tiered and later enclosed within massive bastions.

Further south, stands the 12th-century Aqmar Mosque. The mosque's stone facade is the oldest of any religious building in Cairo and decorated with lamps, niches, star forms and religious writings.

Madrasa of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun sits between the Dome of the Sultan Qalawun and the Madrasa of Sultan Barquq. Only two of the madrasa's iwans survived. Inside, the mausoleum lies to the right of the door. It is surrounded by gilded wooden grills. Here, Sultan al-Naser Muhammad’s mother and one of his children were buried. The sultan was buried in the mausoleum of his father al-Mansur Qalawun in the building next to it.

The plan was a casual visit to admire the architecture so we the monuments we entered were free of charge exception to baksheesh requested at a couple of the mosques. We didn't enter any of the monuments that require an entrance fee.

We ended the walk at the alleyways of Khan El Khalili.

Side note: How come milo in Australia doesn't come with plushie+recycle bag?

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Egypt

Egypt: 3 days 2 nights in Siwa Oasis

April 10, 2026

Siwa Oasis lies 780 km west of Cairo is related to the Berber languages of North Africa. It evolved as a well-watered stopping point in the desert, on the Haj pilgrimage froute from the coast of northeastern Libyra through to the Red Sea and developed many Berber connections. Siwa covers a large area of date palms and olive trees fed by underground springs. The oasis' population are mostly Berber and the main centre is Siwa town.

Getting to Siwa Oasis

We chose to take the overnight long distance West Delta bus from Cairo. There is an option to get the tickets online through bookaway website but it cost from USD 25 per person one way. Getting a ticket from the bus stop in Cairo cost EGP 480 per person one day (around USD 9). We walked from our hotel at El-Tahrir to Abdelmonem Ryad West Delta bus kiosk at our day 2 in Cairo to buy the bus ticket. There were many kiosks there and it could be a little tricky to differentiate them as there were no signs. We matched the kiosk with photos of buses.

I found this very helpful webpage when I was researching on buses to get to Siwa Oasis. We wanted to get the return tickets at the same time but were told to get it from Siwa. We have met travellers who bought return tickets from the same kiosk though. There were also travellers who bought both the same because the bus seat is the normal short distance bus size, and the distance to the front seat was quite near. The bus we were on was a normal day bus, not those flat-lie big seat kind.

The bus was scheduled at 10:30 pm but we were told to be there at least 30 minutes prior, and departs from where the bus kiosk is and takes about 10-12 hours. We reached around 7ish the next morning. There were a few toilet stops but the toilets were not clean and needs a small payment.

We arrived in Cairo from Luxor, spent the day in GEM and took a bus to Siwa Oasis on this same day.

Things to do in Siwa Oasis

Shali Fortress

Shali Ghadi, an ancient hilltop settlement within the town, is a fort-like tight collection of ruined and slowly collapsing mud-brick houses. The Siwis moved from here after it was severely damaged by unprecedented hevy rains in 1926 and built their houses on the surrounding plains, which now made up the town. We came here the day we arrived Siwa and for sunset before we left Siwa.

Gebel Al-Mawta / Mountain of the Dead

The mountain is less than 1 km north of Siwa town where tombs have been cut out of the rock of a conical ridge. Much of the tombs was destroyed when the tombs were used as shelters during the Italian air raids of World War II. As it wasn't far from Siwa town, we walked there.

Salt Lakes

We asked the owner of the hotel to organise transport to bring us to the salt lakes, Cleopatra's Pool (Ain Juba/Ein Guba), Gabal Dakrur (Dakrour Mountain) and to the nearby desert with bbq dinner. I think the desert is the beginning of Bir Wahid or the Great Sand Sea. This is the sectio of the Saharan sand dunes that stretches westward more than 300 km into eastern Libya. We paid EGP 800 for a tuk-tuk for the day and bbq dinner for two.

Some of the tuk-tuk driver/guide prepared snacks and coffee/tea but ours didn't. In fact, our tuk-tuk driver were trying to fix the vehicle. However, everybody are friends in Siwa and we were invited to share the food and drinks.

Small salt lake

Big salt lake

Umm Ubayda / Amun Temple

The tuk-tuk we were on stopped working and our driver called for help. When one of the guides who we met at the salt lakes passed by, he helped to move our tuk-tuk for a distance, presumbly nearer to a workshop. We were then transferred to his tuk-tuk and he brought us with 4 other passengers to Cleopatra's Spring. On route, we passed by Temple of Umm Ubayd and had a pit stop.

Temple of Umm Ubayd was originally connected to the Temple of the Oracle and dedicated to Amun. The temple was blown up in 1896 to contruct the town's mosque and police building. Only part of the wall covered with inscriptions survives. It is about 200 m away from the Temple of the Oracle.

Cleopatra's Spring / Ain Juba / Ein Guba

The spring's waters are said to have purifying properties. The queen herself was said to have once taken a swim. This circular pool is now enclosed by stone.

Gabal Dakrur / Dakrur Mountain

Our driver re-joined us at Cleopatra's Spring after a short while. We then made a move to Gabal Dakrur which isn't far from Cleopatra's Spring.

Gabal Dakrur from Gabal al-Mawta

Sandboarding and sunset at desert

We departed from the hotel before sunset and had sandboarding before watching then sun set from the dunes. We then walked to where a campfire was set up for dinner.

Aman Yden Hot Spring

As we didn't get around to the hot springs near the desert the day before, the hotel manager suggested that we could go to Aman Yden Hot Spring which was nearer. There were 5 of us - sis and I joined 3 other travellers from Taiwan who stayed in the same hotel. We each paid EGP 100 for entrance to the hot spring plus EGP 500 per person for transport to get there and return.

Most people also go to Fatnas Island for sunset but it didn't sound very tempting to us so we decided to give it a miss. We did, however, went back to Shali Fortress for sunset views.

Blackout and ATM machine

We did a takeaway (bread, eggplant and moussaka) for dinner the day we arrived in Siwa Oasis. Unfortunately when we got back to the hotel to enjoy our food, there was a black out at the whole of Siwa town. We were told that due to the how water supply was set up, there were also no water during the black out. Luckily after a few hours, electricity and water resumed.

We found 3 ATMs and 2 didn't work. The one that worked, interestingly, was an ATM on a vehicle.

Returning from Siwa Oasis to Cairo

We got our bus tickets from the bus station when we arrived in Siwa Oasis. Ticket was priced at EGP 480 per person, same as the fare we paid for bus ride from Cairo to Siwa Oasis. Bus departed at 7:30 pm. It was another 10-12 hours bus ride. We arrived around 6ish in the morning the next day.

There was a military check at the beginning of the bus ride. Someone made an announcement in Arabic and some people got off the bus. The ones left on the bus were mostly foreigners, possibly because like us, they also didn't understand the announcement. After awhile, someone got back on the bus and said in English that whoever had luggage needed to go and get their luggage for inspection. I got off the bus and retrieved our bags. One of the military guards told me no need to open the bag for inspection when I was about to unlock the bag. Everyone stood with their bags for awhile, and then we were told to store the luggage again. After that, we were on our way to Cairo.

Side note: Orange peel peanuts