The Citadel and the traffic

On our free day, 11 of us caught the hotel bus to the middle of Cairo. One of our group had arranged for taxis to meet us there and drive us around for the whole day. The cost was 200 Egyptian pounds, which is 50 NZ dollars, so only $12.50 each, with four per taxi.

The first stop was the Citadel, founded in 1176 by Saladdin. Inside this mighty fort with its high walls and massive towers, there were two special mosques. The first was built 1294-1340. The other one, four times the size, was 19th century, with wonderful decorated domes soaring above. I liked the sign that said,"Please do not put your shoes on the carpet." A clock in the yard was a gift from King Louis Philippe of France, in exchange for the obelisk which is in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. It has never worked!

I took photos of the city below, bathed in pollution, before we dashed down to the gate - our taxis were due back at 12.30 and we had to be on time because they were not officially allowed to stop there. Off we set into the traffic. It is amazing. There are no traffic lights in Cairo and as a result, the traffic flows unceasingly, with everybody ducking and diving, easing into spaces you wouldn't believe, sounding their horns. We didn't see any accidents.

Next we went into the Coptic Christian area and looked at some old churches.Coptic Christians are a very small minority but there is no strife with Moslems. In the church of St George, a woman was praying while she held her hand against a large metal icon of the saint. Next door was a large ruined Roman Tower made of white and brown bricks. Then came the hanging church (Coptic), so called because it was built on top of the old Roman fort. It was full of Christmas decorations, balloons, posters in Arabic wishing "Merry Christmas" and "Happy 2010". There were mosaic pictures, beautiful embroideries on velvet and a complicated wooden screen across the front.

After that we went to a restaurant for lunch and were finally delivered back to the parking place under the bridge, to catch the bus back to the hotel at 5pm. But we were early, so went into the Hilton Hotel for a drink.

The sun was setting as we drove off, an enormous golden orb. The traffic was very heavy. We drove and drove on a road that was four lanes wide on our side. But the traffic was six wide, because they used the shoulder and everybody was only about six inches from everybody else, which worked very well becausethe traffic wasn't moving very fast. Only about one car in ten was using its lights; Egyptians keep them off to save the battery. It was 6.15 when we got back.