We started the following day rather early but all we did was just a short and quick excursion to two tourist attractions in Cairo city. The first destination was that of a modern Egyptian pride: The Asfour Crystal Factory. Along the way, we noticed that while there are a lot of automobiles dominating the Egyptian roads, many locals still depend on animal transportation including donkeys, horses and camels and they actually go onto the streets and obey the traffic lights and what not. It kind of reminds me of bicycles in China - although the ratio of bicycles to cars and animals to cars are of great difference.

As the name implies [just like the perfume palace, I like how Egyptians are so honest and direct with names], Asfour Crystal Factory is a place that produces, well, glass crystals. Since Egypt is literally full of sand, having a specialty in glasscrafting should come as no surprise. However, nothing prepared me for what I saw inside their gallery.

For master craftsmen, simple ornaments or fake jewellery is nothing. For some challenge, and a bit of fun they crafted this fancy looking pyramid glass case. That’s right, it’s a display cupboard of sorts, and inside it are various little ornaments made from glass crystals. Although, some of their glass artists decide to go a little bit further.

Yeap, that’s a friggin’ glass tank [it costs about LE35,000, that's about RM23,000] just for you. There was also this one beautiful sword, and its not just a single piece of clear glass; it’s got an inner layer of green and red glass in its core, making it look like a super special secret item from the Prince of Persia games. Unfortunately, they allowed no pictures for that display, and that display alone :(

The second stop was at a very old suq, or bazaar called Khan Al-Khalili. It was a Friday, so while the ladies get to shop to their hearts content, the male members of the tour group went for Friday prayers at one of the two mosques near the bazaar. There was too many people and I couldn’t get a decent picture [of the mosque or bazaar] so,…heheh. Anyway, I noticed something interesting about the other mosque [which we didn't go to]. In its front plaza stood three tall pillars of intriguing design. They don’t appear to have speakers nor lights on them which made me wonder, what are they for? I looked around for any clues, and saw the crowd of Muslims flooding the front compound of the mosque.

Then, it crossed my mind. Cairo city certainly has a high population density and surely mosques can and will face an overflow problem during major prayers. Even in Malaysia this is a common phenomena especially on Fridays where you can see sometimes the Muslims just spread a mat on the street or grass and just pray outdoors. I never got the chance to find out what those three pillars were but judging from their design, with the folds and cervices, I’m guessing that they were huge collapsible umbrellas meant to be opened to shelter the people praying outside when it rain. I don’t know how far my guess would go, though. After another quick stroll around the bazaar, we rushed off to lunch and rested the day off.

The next day was more interesting. Since the original itinerary said that the day was ‘free at leisure’ we made some special plans. My mom’s friend has a son who is currently studying in the Al-Azhar University, which is in Cairo. Since he speaks fluent Arabic and knows his way around, he helped us to arrange a trip to the beautiful port city of Alexandria.

It was a long journey along a highway across the desert, but it was not without any interesting sights.

While many Malaysians enjoy burung puyuh [quail] from time to time, the Egyptians have quite a similar taste: pigeons. They breed and house pigeons in huge towers made from either clay or mud-bricks [as seen in this picture], and when the pigeons have matured enough, they would then be processed and manufactured to be served either fried, smoked or roasted. Too bad I never got to taste any :p

Halfway through the journey, we made a stop at a very interesting place called Lion Park. At first glance you might think it’s a zoo, but in reality, it’s an animal hospital and rehabilitation centre.

It’s got some, uh, fascinating decorations made of starfishes, garlic, pumpkins…

..and stuffed animals, including this huge crocodile [its about 4 metres long!], among others. Just like a zoo, it’s got the local animals including camels, dogs, a variety of goats and sheep and a gigantic cow. Yes, you heard me right - a gigantic cow. It’s so huge, it was love OMFGWTF at first sight. I can’t even begin to describe how big it is.

That’s my mom next to Mr. SupersizeMe* [not his real name]. His head is easily five times the size of my own. I can’t imagine what, or how much it eats daily. I mean, even Tuff Hedeman wouldn’t wanna rodeo this beef tank. My belief in the existence of Taurens was instantly reinforced there and then.

Of course there were other sickly-looking animals, there and I couldn’t help but snap a couple of pictures.

Next stop: Alexandria!

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Small Talk:
I know it’s a ‘he’ because I went around his pen and made a ‘major’ confirmation of his gender.
Even 1901’s large-sized serving doesn’t quite match up to this weapon of mass reproduction.

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The Egypt Travelogs Series:

1. Cairo (The Great Pyramids)
2. Road to Alexandria (Asfour Crystal Palace, Lion Park Animal Hospital)
3. Alexandria (Qaitbay Citadel, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Montaza Palace Gardens)
4. Return from Alexandria (Local fruits and produce)
5. West Luxor (Temple of Karnak)
6. East Luxor - Part One and Two (Colossi of Memnon, Ramesseum, Temple of Hatshepsut, Alabaster factory)
7. The Nile - Part One and Two (Edfu Bazaar, Life along the along the Nile)
8. Kom Ombo (The Twin Temples of Kom Ombo)
9. Road to Abu Simbel (Shooting star, desert skies)
10. Abu Simbel - (The Greater Temple of Abu Simbel)
11. Aswan - (Unfinished Obelisk, Felluca ride)

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