The drive to Alexandria took us 3 hours along a highway across the desert, and the drive home is of course very much the same. At that time, everyone was happily exhausted from the very active workout and fell asleep for the better part of the journey. However, to be remain seated for over an hour in a constantly shaking vehicle isn’t the most fun thing to do, you see. Luckily for us, our driver realised this and made a pit stop so we could stretch our legs - and also so he could refuel the van.

As you can see, the top half of this image shows the prices for the two different variants of petrol and the bottom half, diesel. I suppose for an Arab country where oil is probably more common than water [lol], having cheap fuel is to be expected. However, we didn’t really get down at the petrol station, but at a rather interesting fruit stall a few minutes further up from the station.

One thing I can say about Egyptian fruits is that they’re absolutely delicious! The oranges are very VERY sweet and the strawberries are super juicy. And uh,.. shall I say that their average sizes are a little bit larger than what we usually find in our region?

Yeah. That’s the average-sized Egyptian pumpkin right there. I kinda understand why we were served pumpkin soup several times throughout the trip [note: the pumpkin soup was a hit with the older members of the group, but, well, it's nothing I personally fancy though :p].

Of course, what is an Arab country without pickled olives and olive oil? I have eaten pickled olives during some of the meals and it was quite interesting, actually. It’s sort of like the Egyptian equivalent to, uh… I don’t know, us eating pickled chillies, I suppose? But after several meals, I have concluded that olives only taste good on pizza after all, brouhahahaha…

We continued the rest of the journey after everyone bought their share - and went back to sleep. The next morning, I went to visit the Cairo Museum and I was very lucky to get to hog the tour guide all to myself. Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed inside the museum [I guess this is a common rule for all museums], so no pictures, sorry :p.

Anyway, the optional excursion was a tad bit pricey but, man, it was worth every single cent! I mean, I’m a guy who can easily pour over article over article about mythology and guess what, Egyptian history completely revolves around their mythology - which was so absofuckinglutely awesome!

It was the first time I visited a museum and had my breath taken away. I mean, Muzium Negara can scratch my balls, man. The Cairo Museum is not only full of exhibits - it’s pratctically OVERCROWDED with them. The artefacts and displays detailed everything about the lifestyle of ancient Egyptians, from fishing tools to children’s toys to women’s makeup to burial masks and super huge sarcophagi. Everything - and I mean EVERY FUCKING THING - was there. There was even a fucking 5000-year old toilet seat!

The main highlight of my visit was that I paid an extra LE 100 [that's about RM65] to visit two very special rooms - they were display rooms which housed The Egyptian Mummies. How can one visit a Egyptian museum and not see the mummies? It’s heresy! So I paid a little bit extra and went inside to fulfil the uh… whatever you wanna call it lah. It was a quiet room and there weren’t many people inside. I suppose people are scared of mummies after all, heheh. Aaanyway…

When I looked at them carefully, I realised how fascinating they were. 5000 years, and not a single bacteria have made any appearance. It truly is a marvelous feat of preservation. I was told that the Russians tried to mummify Lenin, but after 100 years, his body started to grow bacteria and rot away. The ancient Egyptians’ technique of mummification has been lost in time and will probably remain an eternal mystery. Who would’ve thought that pickled humans could entertain mankind so much?

I left the museum in the afternoon feeling fulfilled and satisfied with myself. I can now proudly say, hey, I’ve seen mummies firsthand! Heh, as if that’s gonna impress anyone lah. Anyway, an important journey awaited us that evening. We were to spend the night in a long train journey that would take us to Luxor to continue the rest of the tour package. Of course, while we waited for our coach, we got to snap a few more pictures!

We had a simple dinner before getting on board a 10pm seating train and we soon began our journey in the cold cold night.

Next stop: Luxor!

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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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