Two more great days of sightseeing in Cairo. Yesterday afternoon began, contrary to our expectations, with Coptic Cairo. That's an area of the city where the Christian community lived in the post-Roman time and is home to several ancient churches, the Coptic museum and even a synagogue, the first I have ever been in, as well as the oldest mosque in Africa. The churches were lovely, as a proud Englishman I was especially delighted with the many figures of St George to be found, a very popular saint for Egyptian Christians. All in all, it was a very peaceful and attractive part of the city, a contrast from the hustle and bustle of the city all around, and it was great to find out more about the Christian part of Egypt's heritage. Then it was across town to the Egyptian Museum - left until after Coptic Cairo so we could spend as long as we wanted to in there! What can I say except, WOW. The collection is incredible, famous artefacts we had seen in books and on TV, items from many of the locations we've visited over the past couple of weeks and yet more jaw-dropping moments discovering just how advanced the ancient Egyptian civilisation actually was. Having said all that, what made the visit to great was Hassan. Without a guide, we would have struggled to pick out the best exhibits, even to find some of the things (the old museum is crammed full of artefacts and is not laid out entirely logically, to put it mildly). But with Hassan, it was amazing. He is just so enthusiastic about his subject and his own personal memories (things from tombs he'd been involved in excavating, things he wrote dissertations about etc.) just added to the overall impact. Needless to say, the Tutankhamum exhibition is the centrepiece, most of the items from the tomb are on display. I have to say that seeing the world-famous gold and blue mask was incredible - standing just a few inches away from one of the most iconic works of art in human history is pretty special. But the rest of the collection was also impressive. Other highlights in the museum for us were the models of everyday life in ancient Egypt and the sheer genius of some of the sculptures. Hassan kept asking if we'd had enough, but each time we were more than happy to continue! When we had eventually seen everything we wanted to (and Hassan had made sure we'd seen what he thought were the most important items), it was back to the hotel through the busy traffic. After a long day, we were both absolutely shattered so it was dinner in the hotel and an early night. Today was a very sociable nine o'clock start and we headed south to Dahshur, site of two early pyramids, the "bent pyramid" and the red pyramid, the first to be in a true pyramid shape. We stopped at the red pyramid first, and like those we had previous seen it was awesome, especially here in a more remote location than at Giza and with just a handful of other visitors. We climbed the 28 metres to the entrance and then it was time for me to venture inside - going down the sloping corridor was hard (it's only about 1.2 metres high, so you have to bend over as you make your way down the slope/steps) but it was worth it to get into the chambers at the heart of the pyramid. Even though they're not decorated like the tombs around Luxor, the sheer size and scale of the construction is staggering. Clambering out was easier, but I was out of breath and very hot by the time I emerged into the sunlight again. After a rest, we made our way around the base of the pyramid and continued to the bent pyramid, which is almost as impressive especially the intact casing of the structure. Here, the only other person around was a tourist police officer, on his camel! As always, Hassan did an excellent job of explaining the site to us and bringing it all to life. Back to Cairo next, first stop was the medieval Nilometer, used to measure the flood levels of the river, which is a mightily impressive structure and design for such a functional building, and set in a very tranquil garden on an island in the Nile. Next was lunch at a very nice buffet restaurant, where we fortified ourselves for the afternoon's sightseeing in the Islamic part of the city. Stopping at Al-Azhar mosque, we met a colleague of Hassan's, who is more of an expert on the city's Islamic heritage and he joined us for this part of the day. In this mosque (centre of Islamic teaching for Egypt and much of the Islamic world), although modestly dressed already, Sally-Jayne had to don a hooded gown type to look around. I did take pictures, copies of which are available for a nominal fee in used notes. The mosque itself was impressive, especially the minarets. We continued into the heart of Islamic Cairo, walking along one of its main streets, lined with mosques, Islamic schools and other monuments from the medieval period. This was fascinating for me, not just for the fantastic architecture and the bustling street life all around, but also to see the mosque and mausoleum of one of the Sultans who was a character in a historical novel about the crusades I read recently and to experience the area I had been reading about in the work of Egyptian writer Naghuib Mahfouz. I always enjoy following in the footsteps of films or books I like and this was no exception. After a very interesting meander, we stopped for tea on one of the main squares, before meeting up with our driver again to return to the hotel. Once again, the day had left us very tired and we ate here in the Nubian restaurant - delicious grilled meats, bread and hummus, one of my favourite meals. Currently enjoying a local beer while typing up the journal entry and then it will be time for another early night, ready for our last full day here in Egypt. We are revisiting the ancient sites at Giza and Saqqara tomorrow, so Hassan can show us more of the things there are to see at those places that we didn't get the chance to see last time. In the evening, we are taking Hassan, our tour manager Ahmed and Magdy, our guide from Aswan and Luxor (who is here in Cairo with a group at the moment) out for dinner. Plenty to look forward to!