2nd February 2004 And time to leave Port Said. Unfortunately, our friend Mohamed Tarek didn't turn up by noon so we had to leave without saying goodbye. The Superjet Bus Station is a few kilometres south of Port Said, costing EP16 (A$3.50) each for the Port Said-Cairo trip of two and a half hours. We drove alongside the Canel for a while and saw some ships passing through. They look strange, almost abandoned on the grass!

Arriving in Cairo, we caught a taxi (EP30 - A$6.60) to Midan Talat Haarb and walked up to the Pension Vienna. It was nice to see the little owner recognise us and waddle up the street to shake our hands, calling "Welcome, welcome".

	3rd February 2004 Today we visited to Mosque of Qaitbey - 500 years old and built in 1474. It was hard to get to and we were at first disappointed by this much vaunted Mosque - in fact, we thought we were at the wrong place, so dirty and desolate was the exterior - but inside was another story.
	A magnificent carved stone dome (above) loomed overhead with exquisite stained glass windows lighting the inlays on the roof. Next to the mosque was the madrassa (tomb) of Sultan Qaitbey himself and that of his sister. Again, the stunning Mamluk architecture is seen (left), together with a wooden stand for a large Koran (right).

The views from the minaret sweep over the City of the Dead to the Citadel and the Pyramids. In the photo on the left, the Citadel can be seen on the top left with the main dome of the Mohamed Ali Mosque in evidence. The pyramids are there, lost in the haze on the horizon in the centre.

Descending, we walked to El Khalili and admired the Al Hussein mosque before stepping into the madness that is the bazaar. A thousand hands waving and voices callng "Look, look!", "See this!", "Feel the silk!", "Try this Tshirt". The noise ebbed and flowed as waves of tourists washed through the sea of brightly coloured wares. How quick the merchants were to pick up on nationalities - "Bonjour, bonjour" to the French group bartering for jewellery, "Auf weiderzehn" to the back of a disgruntled German lady who had bargained too hard, and back to English for yours truly. "A free cat with every purchase, lady" as I bent to pat a passing feline.