There was finally a much-needed slow day on the trip. We had a late morning flight to Cairo and the morning, after a stroll outside, was spent packing and getting to the airport. The airport was a much better experience than the one in Cairo – there was a departure area with food and water. It was a short flight and soon we were haggling for cabs in Cairo. Uber would have been a little cheaper, but I did find a good cab to take us to the Steigenberger Hotel – right next to Tahrir Square – the scene for all the protests. The hotel was fabulous – very swanky and really well located. The room was small – but that happens in all downtown hotels, but it wasn’t bad. The restaurant served delicious food and I have some stoaries about the drinks at the bar. The only part that left me less than satisfied was the front desk.

The Cairo experience started with a lunch in the hotel and it was a good beginning. After a lazy afternoon, we decided to visit one of the old traditional markets – the Khan El Khalili. Great choice of thing to do but the wrong transportation choice. I decided to book an Uber. I assume this is one bad experience – but first, the driver was smoking in the cab with windows rolled up and didn’t even understand enough English to get it that I was unhappy. Then he couldn’t find the market and dropped me 1km away after going around in circles for 40 minutes. It took us some looking, but we got there. The market is incredible – has a Grand Bazaar charm, with small coffee shops, fancy lighting and a lot of souvenir stores selling mass-produced plates and lamps. There was a lot of negotiation to be done, and somehow I was not in the mood. We had a coffee, walked around a bit, bought some trinklets but nothing major, before we headed back. This time managed to find a regular cab that got us to the hotel in 15 minutes.

New Year was only a few hours away and I asked the hotel desk what was a cool place to be. They had no idea – I was told the area around was going to be quiet. It was quite the opposite. There was a large crowd and a live music show at the riverside just a few hundred meters from the hotel – something I could also see from the hotel room window. We spent some time walking around the area and then some at the bar in the hotel. It was quite happening!!! Even the midnight fireworks happened right outside the hotel and were quite a spectacle. I am still surprised the hotel had no clue. We didn’t hang around much past midnight, but it was a fun night out. We had an early morning pickup for another road trip – this one to Alexandria, the home to the largest library in the world and earlier the home to another wonder of the ancient world.

The guide was right on time and we started our 2-hour drive to Alexandria right after breakfast. There were about 10 things on the list to see but we could pick only 4. I was worried for a bit as I hadn’t done much research but as things moved I realized there were only 4-5 places worth a visit, others were just things to drive past. The one place he added complimentarily was probably the most amazing site on the tour – the Catacombs of Kom el Sharafa. It is considered one of the seven wonders of the middle ages, but no one really talks about the middle ages. The library was an obvious choice and the remains of the lighhouse of Alexandria was a no-brainer. We picked a church (that happened to be closed) and a mosque as the other two options.

When we arrived at the Catacombs, they came across as one of the most nondescript places which were worth no more than 15 minutes. It was only when you descend down a few levels you realize what a wonder this place was. A spiral staircase leads down to the main burial area with several caskets with figurines of the kings and queens on the outside. The sculpturs depict a scenes from their lives and the whole chamber is surrounded by several dozen graves of the workers and others that built it. Considering this was built in 2nd century AD, this was truely a marvel for the complexity of carvings underground. The building and decotation style is a mix of Egyptian and Roman and the maybe thats why its treated as a bit of an orphan site by the Egyptians.

Up next was something that was at the top of my list – the site of the ancient lighthouse- the one that fell to a series of earthquakes between the eighth and fourteenth centuries. At that time it was the tallest man-made structure (110 meters) on Earth after the pyramids and stood for nearly 1500 years after its construction in 240 BC. Now what stands in its place is this small fortress on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea – a beautiful contrast of deep blue and grey. The fortress was partially built (in 1480 AD) out of the stones from the fallen lighthouse, so there is some history still there.

A stopped for lunch at a wonderful seaside resort that served excellent Egyptian-style fish and even better Mediterranean sea views. This was followed by a stop at a Cathedral (which happened to be closed for the day) and a Mosque which was good, but nothing great. The final stop was what Alexandria is now known for, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina – the largest library in the world even today. The one that stands on the site of the largest library of ancient times which was burnt down in 48 BC by Caesar. While it does sound exciting, there isn’t much to see or appreciate. Its a beautiful structure, but then you can’t go around seeing the 8 million books they house – most of what you see is shelves and computer terminals. There were a couple of exhibitions on the history of the city that were quite interesting.

The drive back was relatively eventless and I was mostly asleep. It was a long tiring day and we decided on staying in for the evening. I tried the hotel spa and the massage was mostly a Western Swedish massage – nothing Arabic about it. After having heard a lot about Saqqara, we booked a half-day tour of the older pyramids on our last full day in Cairo… coming up.