The Yellow Brick Road

Cairo: The Citadel and Egyptian Museum

It's a nice place to take a break from the sightseeing and the heat (though I was there during the lovely 22 degree period). People just come and lie on the carpets to stare at the nice lights.


Note: Unless you want to look like Harry Potter’s classmate, wear a sleeved shirt.




I got duped into going into the National Military Museum. Not that the museum isn’t nice. It’s quite spacious, obviously well-guarded and well-documented. In fact, extremely well-documented. Like three floors worth of well-documentation. That you… can… not… escape… from!! Once you start, the pathway forces you to go into one direction and finish the entire museum. Just my luck to get stuck in the Egyptian Hotel California. To prevent this from happening to you, I am posting a picture of the building you must avoid at all costs!


And if you only have time for one thing in Cairo, it must be the Egyptian Museum famous for King Tut's treasures. The 100+ thousand items on display are quite confusing to navigate without a guide which you can thankfully get out front for EGP 50.


Naturally, if you pre-hire a guide from a more reputable travel agency, the information and the delivery of said information, is much better. Take it from Wong who discovered the price of knowledge… a constant thought bubble of “say it, don’t spray it”.

DO NOT rent out the audio guide. This is a frigging rip-off for EGP 20. Examples of the wonderfully erudite excerpts one might expect to receive from this machine… “Wooden bird found in tomb of Tutankhamun. Might be a play thing.” Or “Throne of Tutankhamun. Discovered with his tomb.” Uh… Duh.

While the price of entry (EGP 50) is quite reasonable, the entrance to the Royal Mummy Room is NOT. For one thing, the entrance here is not covered by the ticket. And it costs another EGP 100!! While I grudgingly forked out the cash just to tick the box, I resolve to give you future travelers the option of paying out your money to see these…




It was cool to see Ramses II. I’m just not sure if it was EGP 100 (USD 17.5) cool.

BIG TIP: Bring your student ID and it doesn’t matter if you’ve been out of school for the last 50 years. It gets you in most places (except the Mummy Room which is determined to rip you off) for half the price.

Renting out the taxi for the whole day cost me EGP 100 which I’m sure is also a rip-off but at least it was a price I was willing to pay.

The other thing about Cairo is that everyone asks you for tip. From the driver to the washroom person to a random person on the street who just said hi. This could annoy even the most seasoned traveler. Key to remember is that this is really a part of the Egyptian culture and if you see how they lived, you would understand why. EGP 5 means more to them than it does to you, so just shake your head no, smile and walk away. They will leave you alone.

And NEGOTIATE all taxi fares and prices!! If you’re traveling with a local, obviously, let them do it. They get taxi fares for 70% of the price they would charge me. Even pretending I work in Cairo gets me lower fares and shopping prices than if I admitted I was a pure foreigner. But at the end of the day, be happy with what you think is a fair price.

And at the end of my day, I was just happy to be in a really nice hotel (the Le Meridien Giza) with THIS view… Beat that why don’t you.

posted by moan @ 3:14 PM