To The Museum
~continued from previous post~
The driver was accompanied by Iman, who acted as our tour guide. She was a very charming young woman in her twenties and conversant in English. I totally loved her accent, although according to Amanda she can be quite abrasive. You know keeping true to the time limit and not giving in to our propensity to drag our heels.
I was lucky to be riding the front seat with Iman when we set off from Ramses station to the museum, but we first stopped at a foreign exchange station and we got some much needed lira for our tour. Money problems solved, a bit.
Upon arrival at the Museum of Antiquities, the driver wanted to collect all the money for the tour. Half of us didn’t pay yet. We thought keeping our money until after the tour is over is our bargaining chip, that we won’t be abandoned in the middle of the desert or something. You hear all these crazy stories - horror stories - about travelers being duped and abandoned and robbed. You know all those things. But the driver played hardball with us too. He said that since AJ and Monica reserved the tour, he can take them to do the tour. Now it’s our choice whether we wanted to go on the tour and if we did, then pay upfront or hit the road. Haha. Apparently, he’s had bad experiences with tourists running out on him after doing the tour. Well, what else could we do, we paid up.
The entrance fee to the museum was part of the tour fee. But cameras are strictly forbidden inside the museum. There is a place to leave one’s bags and cameras and we had no choice but to avail of the service.
The Museum of Antiquities was an amazing building. The exhibits were both fascinating and mind boggling. A Disneyland for history lovers and archeology buffs. I am neither but I could easily spend a whole week browsing through the many many display tables and statues and relics and jewelry and oh everything else there.
I thought the time we spent in the museum was very limited. I guess, Iman allotted just one hour for the tour and she had to stick to the schedule. She however was very knowledgeable, or at least she played the part of a tour guide really well. I found out that even NCL tour only allotted one hour in this place.
When we left the museum we had to wait for our driver. In the meantime, we ate whatever goodies we brought from the ship, fruits and cookies. And when he arrived, he was bringing an 18-seater minibus, air-conditioned and quite impressive. We were all happy to be having enough room to complete this tour.
Here are some random images. All from outside as no cameras are allowed inside
I can't believe I didn't get a better shot. The day we were there it was crowded.
Cleopatra is this you?
Being an alumna of the Pink-walled university, I am partial to anything pink. I especially thought bringing the same color to the fence was brilliant.
Date built?
Date completed?
While waiting for our transportation, we gathered around for a souvenir group shot.
For more comprehensive information, fellow blogger Nomadic Pinoy covered the same visit to the Museum in his post seen here.
The driver was accompanied by Iman, who acted as our tour guide. She was a very charming young woman in her twenties and conversant in English. I totally loved her accent, although according to Amanda she can be quite abrasive. You know keeping true to the time limit and not giving in to our propensity to drag our heels.
I was lucky to be riding the front seat with Iman when we set off from Ramses station to the museum, but we first stopped at a foreign exchange station and we got some much needed lira for our tour. Money problems solved, a bit.
Upon arrival at the Museum of Antiquities, the driver wanted to collect all the money for the tour. Half of us didn’t pay yet. We thought keeping our money until after the tour is over is our bargaining chip, that we won’t be abandoned in the middle of the desert or something. You hear all these crazy stories - horror stories - about travelers being duped and abandoned and robbed. You know all those things. But the driver played hardball with us too. He said that since AJ and Monica reserved the tour, he can take them to do the tour. Now it’s our choice whether we wanted to go on the tour and if we did, then pay upfront or hit the road. Haha. Apparently, he’s had bad experiences with tourists running out on him after doing the tour. Well, what else could we do, we paid up.
The entrance fee to the museum was part of the tour fee. But cameras are strictly forbidden inside the museum. There is a place to leave one’s bags and cameras and we had no choice but to avail of the service.
The Museum of Antiquities was an amazing building. The exhibits were both fascinating and mind boggling. A Disneyland for history lovers and archeology buffs. I am neither but I could easily spend a whole week browsing through the many many display tables and statues and relics and jewelry and oh everything else there.
I thought the time we spent in the museum was very limited. I guess, Iman allotted just one hour for the tour and she had to stick to the schedule. She however was very knowledgeable, or at least she played the part of a tour guide really well. I found out that even NCL tour only allotted one hour in this place.
When we left the museum we had to wait for our driver. In the meantime, we ate whatever goodies we brought from the ship, fruits and cookies. And when he arrived, he was bringing an 18-seater minibus, air-conditioned and quite impressive. We were all happy to be having enough room to complete this tour.
Here are some random images. All from outside as no cameras are allowed inside
I can't believe I didn't get a better shot. The day we were there it was crowded.
Cleopatra is this you?
Being an alumna of the Pink-walled university, I am partial to anything pink. I especially thought bringing the same color to the fence was brilliant.
Date built?
Date completed?
While waiting for our transportation, we gathered around for a souvenir group shot.For more comprehensive information, fellow blogger Nomadic Pinoy covered the same visit to the Museum in his post seen here.
i agree, the pink fence is pretty but the pink building look's a bit weird for a museum.:p
ReplyDeletei saw some amazing Egyptian artifacts and mummies (even mummified cats!) at the British Museum. very interesting.
i could only imagine what's inside. hmmm, a think i saw a sample of the pyramid :)
ReplyDeletewhoa egypt!
ReplyDeleteone of a kind destination..
Egypt! I'm inggit. I agree with being extra cautious before paying up.
ReplyDeleteNever been to Eqypt but looking forward to it after seeing all this. Museum of Antiquities is a must.
ReplyDeleteThe pink building is really unusual. Very nice images, the trip is so interesting.
ReplyDeleteat least even from outside it gives you a preview of what good art can be seen inside.
ReplyDeleteGreat one of the whole group, those are very hard to get in a destination. We need to see pictures of the minibus upgrade!
ReplyDeleteaww. no pictures inside. sayang naman. i could just picture how majestic the insides would be.
ReplyDeletehaha... i am absolutely envious! I really hope i'd get to see Egypt before all the sand is covered with 'preogress' :)
ReplyDeleteHow very exotic! I look forward to more photos of Egypt.
ReplyDeleteDo you keep in touch much with the people you met on the cruise?
By the way, a GP surgery in the UK is a doctor's clinic. So walk in patients go there to get a check up, not for an operation - minor or otherwise.
It's scorching over here right now. What is it like over your neck of the woods? Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Come visit again tomorrow!
oh! a pity you can't take fotos inside, maybe the antiquities have some strange history behind it. ^0^
ReplyDeletethe exterior certainly looks amazing!
i esp. love the date built and date completed?! ^0^
still looking forward for more fotos!
Oh, thanks for the link!
ReplyDelete