the blue mosque

Next destination: the blue mosque

Blue Mosque! This must be another beautiful mosque, I thought. The title alone suggest something grand and unique among all other mosque. If you want to know what it is... read on. Ghehehe...

The ever optimistic driver brought us to the "innards" of Islamic Cairo. He drives us through very narrow alleys and very busy streets filled with sidewalk vendors and children running/playing with the passing cars. "Am I in Tondo Manila?", I thought. But honestly, our slums are no different from this place.

It did not come as a surprise when the driver stop on a small dilapidated building. It was barely a mosque. There was no roof (doom), only two wall sides, all arches are broken, and only a portion of the blue wall was kept intact. I guess, it's just a 4x6 meter wall with partially filled blue tiles.

One minaret is still standing, whom the guide eagerly offered for us to climb - to see the old Cairo! I readily replied, "No way!" My knees is not that strong anymore.

Aside from that minaret, the Blue Mosque is nothing but ruins of an old Mamluk-type mosque.