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We enjoy ourselves here. In the morning a round in the pool – then delicious breakfast buffet.

Afterwards, we walked a bit into the “village” to buy sunscreen, an air mattress and flippers. We took the opportunity to visit Abdullah briefly. In the afternoon we had a Zumba lesson.

In the evening again big buffet. Reiner had however no appetite. Thus I was eating alone for a short time. Afterwards we played a round of Carcassonne on our terrace.

Silke

A very nice cab driver took us to the airport this morning. Our plane took off at 12:00 and brought us to Sharm El Sheikh within 1 hour. In the airport we met Abdullah who was flying to Sharm El Sheikh to work.

His brothers picked him up from the airport and unceremoniously took us by car to our club – hotel TUI Magic Life. We need time off from vacation and just want to relax here. A hotel stands here next to the other and it is very touristy. But as I said, to let the soul dangle just right.

The weather could not be better with its 41 degrees daytime temperature and our room is wonderful. There was a great selection at the buffet even for vegetarians and everything tasted great.

Silke

In the late morning we walked along the Nile to the Egyptian Museum. Good 3.5 hours we have looked at the exhibition. Among other things, the golden death mask of Tutankhamun, the statues of Rahotep and his wife Nofret and many funerary objects.

Somewhat macabre (a bit like the roofer in the lead cellar of Bremen Cathedral) is the exhibition of royal mummies and animal mummies. They vary in condition and are displayed in “glass cases”. Afterwards we strolled to the Khan Al khalily bazaar. Ali, a nice Egyptian with knowledge of German, showed us the way into the alleys. “I am not a rascal” he emphasized, but he wanted to sell many spices and rose oil. After we bought a small package of anise tea and about 20 more times “No thanks” said, we said goodbye to the hustle and bustle. If one has desire, one could buy here great also high-quality souvenirs. But since our space in the backpack is very limited, we have only looked at everything.

Many cats sit in front of the stores and of course you are approached everywhere and invited in. But very friendly. Our cab driver back to the hotel was really a rascal though. He actually wanted to collect double the agreed price on arrival. But we didn’t let ourselves in for that. For dinner we bought yogurt in the supermarket and fruit at a street stall. From “strolling” and the heat we fell tired into bed.

Silke

PS: The blocked hotel claimed to Booking.com that they had moved us to another hotel. Fortunately, we had made proof photos and sent them to Booking.com. They are now taking care of the refund.

Since the mother of our host was hospitalized the night, we got today understandably unfortunately no breakfast. We went again on the (foot) way to the pyramids and looked at the biggest one, the Cheops pyramid from the inside. Cameras are not allowed inside. A nice family from Tampa/Florida, who therefore separately explored the pyramid, watched as long as we were inside with on ours. Smartphone cameras are allowed by the way. Just not in the burial chamber!

A tunnel-like passage on stairs and wooden walkways, some of which you can only walk stooped, leads steeply up to the burial chamber, where there is an empty sarcophagus. It was very warm in there, but not stuffy. With our walking shoes no problem to walk the way. The atmosphere is gloomy and mystical. You feel like you’ve been transported back thousands of years. The pitfalls and rolling stones have fortunately been cleared out of the way beforehand.

The streets here are colorful, dusty and full of horses, camels, donkeys, goats, dogs and cats. We checked out at noon and ordered an Uber cab to Cairo City. When we found the Down Town Hotel Cairo after a long search in a high-rise building, we were faced with a door locked by the police or the health department. The janitor had already tried to explain the situation to us in Arabic, but since we even received an email from the hotel today asking us what time we were arriving, we had to see for ourselves. Thereupon we sat down first in a café and looked for a new place to stay with a big cappuccino. By cab we went to the Horus House Hotel Zamalek, which is located on an island in the Nile. For dinner we had noodle soup after a long time. The heat (up to 41 degrees Celsius) makes quite tired. Therefore we rested the rest of the day.

Silke

We were served an Arabic breakfast on the roof terrace. It consists of pita bread, chickpea puree, boiled egg, tomato salad and eggplant. Then we visited the pyramids. On foot, the entrance to the Sphinx is only a few hundred meters from our apartment. Outside the compound was the ticket office, 160 EGP pp….

Already before the gate, every few meters coachmen, horsemen and camel drivers approached us whether we would like to ride or drive. ” No, Thank You!” we said today probably a few hundred times. The animals work under the most difficult conditions. 37 degrees, hardly any shade, slopes on smooth asphalt and deep sand passages. They are sometimes driven through the streets at a hunting gallop. Even little boys race the carriages or ride on horseback. The camels are usually allowed to pace leisurely.

But we were eager to walk, which the shopkeepers didn’t quite believe. Anyway, the Sphinx and the pyramids are impressive even up close.

They served as tombs for the pharaohs Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos. Incredibly, how approx. 2.5 – 3 million gigantic stone blocks (on the average 2.5 tons heavy) could be moved and stacked before approx. 4500 years at all. The construction time per pyramid was about 20 years. The Cheobs pyramid had an original height of 146 m. (If there one was not nevertheless Asterix and Obelix and the “magic potion” at work). Unfortunately there are no signposts and information boards or any information at all. If you want to visit the Cheobs Pyramid from the inside, you have to buy an extra ticket for 360 EGP pP at the main cash desk. Also the museum with the boat of the Pharaoh and the smaller Mykerios pyramid are with Zusatztickes of 100 EGP pP. viewable. We wanted to, but we didn’t have that much cash left and credit cards are not accepted. We could have gone to a hotel in town and used the ATM there, but decided to leave it at the outside viewing. However, a couple of people told us that there wasn’t quite as much to see inside either. A few corridors over stairs and the almost empty burial chamber. Well, maybe next time. So we walked a good 10 km on the grounds around the Sphinx and pyramids and then towards our vacation home.

In the evening we watched the lightshow again from our terrace. It was in English and Chinese today.

Silke

Since my seat was double occupancy, and the gentleman in question was insisting on “his” seat, I agreed to sit somewhere else. Since the plane was really full, I was kindly moved to first class. I had never flown so luxuriously before. The seat could be extended all the way to reclining. The meal was a fresh four course meal, Served on china with a white tablecloth.

The entertainment was also higher quality and there was a quilt! You could get used to that. Unfortunately, the flight only lasted four hours and fifteen minutes. Once we arrived in Cairo, we bought a new SIM card for our cell phone and then took a shuttle bus to our hotel. After a short night we had a wonderful breakfast, with all kinds of delicious things. After checking out, we took a cab ( Uber didn’t work, or didn’t find a ride) to our quaint little apartment across from the pyramids of Giza. We did some quick shopping and watched the lightshow from our terrace in the evening.

Silke

Ps.: At first again it takes some getting used to, when horse-drawn vehicles and camels come towards you on the road !