After a wonderful week in Oman, I flew from Muscat to Cairo a couple of days before my next Intrepid tour in Egypt & Jordan. After pristine & provencial Muscat, the sprawling squalor of Cairo was somewhat disconcerting. However, I slipped into my gritty urban suit of armor and spent two productive days exploring this vast metropolis on my own, before meeting an interesting new group of fellow travelers.

Certainly, the hotel and my room was not like in Muscat, but I survived the first night, taking it easy compared with the rigueur of a tour. On my first morning, I made it to the Cairo Tower for views of the city, and of the pyramids way off in the distance…

This batch has some of the greenery below the Cairo Tower, a serious police presence elsewhere in town, and the Nile that follows through this megalopolis, almost to the end of its long journey…

Uber worked great, and was way cheaper than the taxis, which themselves weren’t that expensive. So, I took one to the Christian Coptic section of town and visited several of the Churches there…

In addition to the Coptic Christian Churches, there was a synagogue! And, of course, more than a few tourist souvenir shops…

It was interesting to see the people engaged in their reverence, touching objects and pictures, worshipping their icons, and more…

Looking for my taxi driver, I first took in the displays of stuff, then wondered through a neighborhood adjacent to the coptic section, not a site of abundance, yet there was the fun of the kids playing…

I went back to the hotel for some more sleeping. The next morning, I went to the Islamic Art Museum. Check it out…

Next, I went to the Cairo Citadel, up on a hill with view of the city, a huge old mosque, and several museums. The mosque had much grandeur…

After the mosque, I wandered around the area, went to the prison, and checked out the Police Museum…

Next, I went to the Military Museum which was impressive. Set in a palace, it’s collection is vast…

More from the Military Museum…

Next, and with only an hour to spare, I went to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. Part of a larger complex, but housed in one huge room, it was great. Unfortunately, one is not allowed to take photos of the Royal Mummies exhibit below, but there’s a lot here…

More of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. This batch ends with some shots out the window of my ride back to the hotel…

After a long day, I still made it back to the hotel in time to meet my new Intrepid tour group. After our initial meeting, we took a bus to a tourist market place, then had some dinner…

That was just my first two days, mostly on my own. The next day we went to some of the classic sites in Egypt. Stay tuned…