The three days in South Sudan had gotten under our skin; we were physically tired, by the intense heat, the different food, and frankly the itinerary my brother had set for us had left us little time to rest, recover and digest what we were seeing. And then we flew to Cairo, and my head exploded. We walked into our (very nice) hotel late at night, dusty, unwashed, stinky too probably… and it really got to me that on the same planet there are people sipping daintily from china cup while listening to a string quartet and others who eat once a day, wear old clothes and scrap a living when they can. I mean… I always knew that was the case, but literally touching it with my own hands… was a lot to take in.

There are places that change you, that get under your skin, and South Sudan did just that. But now we were in Cairo and from the moment we opened the curtains and saw the River Nile the city got my heart. I have been dreaming about travelling to Egypt since I was a little girl and studied the Ancient Egyptian in school, and this trip was a dream come true in the biggest way possible. Was I worried to be disappointed? Not in the least… and in actual fact it was even better than I expected.

It was magical.

Standing on the balcony of our hotel watching the Nile flow by felt slightly unreal, was I really there?

Cairo day 1: Giza and the pyramids. Need I say more? They are even better in person. Their scale is immense, in photos they never appear in their true size. How can they be 5000 years old? In a way, they feel older, as old as time itself. It is hard to imagine that at some point they did not exist. You want to touch them, and touching them is like touching history, or the beginning of history. The block of stones they’re built are almost supernaturally big. They can’t have possibly have been built by men. And they belong to the desert. The same colour as the sand, it is as if they have emerged from the ground of their own accord.

Cairo is encroaching on them, as you can see, but they resist, sentinels of a past that is still mysteriously alluring and enchanting.

The Great Pyramid is 481ft tall, taller than the Statue of Liberty and was built for the pharaoh Khufu, it is probably the single biggest structure ever built. The other two were built for Kafre (the one with the smooth limestone top, which looks like it’s the biggest, but he couldn’t have ever built something bigger than his father… so he build a smaller one on higher ground and visually appears the tallest) and Menkaure. There are also smaller ones built for their wives.

(Don’t be afraid to take a ride on a camel, the price is fixed by the government to avoid problems!)

We then visited the Sphinx, which was not big as I had thought! Still majestic, it is thought to have the face of Kafre and that it might have been painted in bright colour in its time. Can you imagine?

The Grand Egyptian Museum had partially opened and we had to pop in for a visit. It is going to be magnificent, the largest archaeological museum in the world – and it already is pretty impressive – when all is finished all the Tutankhamen’s treasure will be on display for the first time and more than 100,000 other artefacts will be transferred there.

The Pyramids are only 2km away…

After lunch we visited Saqqara, an ancient necropolis with many visitable tombs and the oldest attempts at building pyramids. There were very few tourists and plenty to see. Again it oozes ‘ancient times’ vibes and it was kind of magnetic.

Many of the tombs are visitable and you’re never prepared for the magic they hide inside..

Being in the proximity, being inside places so old is more than awe inspiring. For a few moment the stones, the art, create a silence that cuts you off from your everyday life. It transports you on a different plane, on a different dimension. The world recedes and you are not you. You are part of something bigger, something eternal. You feel small and insignificant but at the same time you are part of time.

I’ve said it before. It is magical.

My brother, who has been living in Cairo for this past year, walked me around the area called Garden City, a residential area that looks very European. Another surprise.

We had fresh mango juice and a fruit salad in his favourite student cafe… so so lovely.

The sun setting over the Nile will not be forgotten any time soon.