The Cube

Index page for 16 days in Egypt, Oman and layover in Manila.

Day 6 - Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hapshetsut and Colossi of Memnon

Day 8 - Shali Fortress, Gebel Al-Mawta

Day 9 - Salt lakes, Cleopatra's Pool, Temple of Umm Ubayd, Gabal Dakrur, sunset from the desert

Day 10 - Aman Yden Hot Spring, Shali Fortress for sunset

Day 13 - Spending a day in Nizwa

Day 14 - Day trip to Birkat Al Mouz and Bahla

Day 15 - Around Muttrah

Day 16 - Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Bayt Al Maqham, Omani brunch and around

Egypt's national food which consisted of rice, lentils, macaroni and vermicelli topped with tomato sauce, spicy chilli or garlic sauce and crispy fried onions. Sis doesn't like it, I'm ok with it but it did feel like combining leftovers carbs and mixing them up with some sauce. We first had it as part of tour to Saqqara/Memphis/Dahshur. We had it again for lunch after visiting Coptic Cairo because of limited choices available. 

Breakfast was included in our accommodations in Cairo and Siwa Oasis. We stayed in 3 different accommodations in Cairo because the hotel we booked was said to be on maintenance and they moved us to their sister hotel in the Garden City for the first 2 days. We had to move back to the initial hotel we booked for day 3. The hotel we initially booked (i.e. the one we stayed on day 3) was so bad that we booked a different hotel for our last day in Cairo before flying out. 

This refers to veggies stuffed with rice mixture. We had a few - mahshi warak enab (stuffed grape leaves), zucchinis, bell peppers and cabbage from different places. They were all delish!

We first had stuffed grape leaves in a restaurant named Oldish. While all the food we had there was delicious, we noticed price differences during checking the bill before payment. One of the dishes had a price increment of a few hundred Egyptian pounds and one of the drinks was cheaper by EGP 10. When we asked, we were told that they coincidentally had a price revision that day and had not had a chance to update their menu. This wasn't informed to us when we placed an order nor when they gave us the bill. After a couple of rounds of back and forth, they adjusted the price for both dish and drink, and claimed that they reluctantly gave us a "discount".

Molokhia or spelled as mulukhia is a green soup made of minced jute leaves and cooked in broth. I first learned of this from the Cooking Fever game. So when we first saw it in Oldish restaurant, we ordered it. It was also part of the home-cooked meal in Luxor. 

Egyptian goulash is nothing like the Hungarian goulash. The Egyptian goulash is a type of meat pie with the crust made of phyllo dough. We saw it on a menu and wanted to order it to try but was told that we needed to pre-order it. This was the only dish we told our Luxor hotel owner that we wanted to be included in the dinner. We were told that they didn't have meat but we didn't mind, so this version was made with chicken. We initially thought they were going to replace it with some vegetarian option but it was likely that they were referring to beef in this context as it is usually made with ground beef.  

I would say these are more popular outside of Egypt, I guess?

Ta'ameya is Egyptian's version of falafel that uses fava beans and usually eaten as breakfast. We ordered a portion at Abdo in Siwa Oasis when we were out for brunch. It was also included in our breakfasts in Siwa Oasis. The other one with bread was also for breakfast. We arrived back in Cairo from Siwa Oasis and saw a breakfast food cart when we walked to the hotel. We joined the locals, stood around the cart and ate. It came with fuul (broad or fava bean paste).

On arrival at Luxor, we asked the hotel owner for recommendation of food and he suggested this Wolf Restaurant which is just a few minutes walk away. We ordered tagine dishes - from memory, one was moussaka and the other fish tagine.   

Om Ali which is the Egyptian bread pudding. 

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. 

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

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. 

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. 

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.