Cairo, Ibn Tulun Mosque

We had a bit of a touristy day today which started with a morning visit to the Saqqara Pyramid in Giza, which isn't as big or impressive as the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Pyramid (visited on previous trips), and incredibly difficult to photograph as it's under scaffolding at the moment. The trip out there was an adventure in itself though, through the heavy traffic and passing all the illegal apartment blocks, which are built so close together you could share a tv with your neighbour. They make the Barrio Gotico streets in Barcelona seem like grand avenues!

After that we stopped off at a carpet factory and shop, which runs a scheme of training local school children in carpet making and they, in return, must attend school. Resisted the temptation to buy!

We'd heard there was a camel market nearby and thought that would be fun to see. 'No problem', our driver said, when we asked about it. Twenty minutes later he pulled into a side street and introduced us to a friend who had one camel. We decided not to buy it ;-) or even ride it and got back in the car!

Next stop was the Ibn Tulun Mosque, the second oldest mosque in Egypt I think and dates back to 876 AD. It really was very impressive and beautiful and had been recommended by our friend Helen from Australia, who used to live in Cairo. It was a bit dull today though and might be worth a visit again when it's sunnier (but not in the heat of high summer). In fact, we actually had a light rain shower on our way there, which made us smile as one local legend says that it's here that Noah's Ark came to rest after the deluge.

Hungry by now, we went to a Lebanese restaurant for lunch. Nice food and atmosphere and good to try somewhere new. It was just round the corner from the British Embassy and after lunch as we walked around the very high security complex and grand house, I wished I'd gone along to the reception there on my first night, held especially for BC staff.

Last stop was to a couple of streets we'd heard about in our own area of El Dokki which we wanted to see. Dark by now of course, but we still got a feel for it and will definitely be exploring them on our next visit, Enshallah.

Twelve hours later and clutching a packet of chocolate hobnobs to have with a cup of tea, we arrived back at the flat!

My blip's of the Ibn Tulun Mosque.

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