Cairo Day One

Cairo Day One

We  arrived later in Cairo than expected, after waiting in Tel Aviv for late passengers to board the plane.  Since the tour we were with was arriving 2 hours later, we needed to take a taxi.  Unfortunately the ATM at the airport wouldn't take our cards, so Mark had to exchange some $$ - not our first choice for funds.  He negotiated a taxi fare and off we went into the seething Cairo night.  The only difference between Cairo and say, Ho Chi Minh City, is far fewer motorbikes.  Ignoring lane markings, horn honking, driving at excess speeds when you have clear space in traffic, and weaving like a drunk were exactly the same.  There are also more heavily laden trucks.  Our hotel was on the other side of the city from the airport, so it was a hair-raising 45minute ride, interrupted at intervals as we got to the outskirts of the city by pedestrians, donkey carts and small herds of sheep.

We had a decent meal by the pool.  The tour director called on the bus from the airport to let us know that start time in the morning was to be 8 am in order to avoid some of the heat of the day.  On to the pyramids!

Our first stop was Saqarra - the so called practice pyramids.  The first one is known as the step pyramid.  It was not the effect the builder wanted, so next the builder, Imhotep built the bent pyramid.  After rising straight up from the base, it slanted in, hence bent.  Also not good.  The last was the precursor to the great pyramids of Giza.  Our next stop was a museum with a huge statue of Ramses II..  BTW the name pharaoh was actually two words meaning great house, but was co-opted by a king who wanted an even grander name than king.

Lunch was next.  We had an Egyptian tour guide, Khalid, a very knowledgeable and frustrated comedian.  He told us in ancient times, pigeons were raised for the wealthy because they were believed to be an aphrodisiac.  So of course, one of our choices for lunch was pigeon.  We went for it.  We were greeted at the restaurant by musicians playing bad Egyptian music.  Then we had an opportunity to watch a woman making pita and baking in an outdoor oven, then sampling the bread.  I will dream about bread this good.  After we were seated in this open air restaurant, we were served fresh bread, hummus, tahini, olives & pickled veg.  Lunch was bbqed pigeon-a little on the dry side, brown rice, french fries, and beer for us.  The french fries keep appearing in an otherwise middle eastern meal.  Ketchup too.

fresh pita was so good, hot from the oven

The great pyramid of Giza, built by Khufu or Cheops, is as impressive as I expected, but mobbed by tourists and junk souvenir sellers, camel ride pushers, horse cart ride purveyors and of course postcard sellers - you get the idea.  And of course, it's all total chaos.  There are Tourist Police to keep the vendors in check, but ignoring them works just fine, usually.  Standing right at the great pyramid, gazing way up, watching a flight of birds wheel through the sky, touching these ancient stones, made the rest of the chaos disappear.

the Great Pyramid of Pharoah Khufu

Looking up - it is so massive

Apfels and Farrs at the Great Pyramid

Our bus then took us to a plateau above the great pyramid to a slightly smaller one built by Khafre son of Cheops.  The son was subtle in using the slope  of the land to make his appear larger, but respected his father enough that it is not actually as tall.  The great pyramid remained the tallest manmade structure for 3,800 years.  Amazing.  We had nice views of the two large ones and the smaller queen's pyramid.  While waiting for two members of our tour group who opted to go into the tomb of  Khafgre, we were accosted on every side by Bedoins, wanting to pose with us, wrap scarves around our heads, get us on a camel, take photos of us with those things.  Mark and I got caught up in it all and escaped with paying 20 Egyptian pounds for all of the above.

 Egyptian pound is written LE and equivalent to about 17 cents US.  The Bedoins were not happy.  I did love seeing them racing their colorfully decorated camels across the sands between the pyramids, reminding me how in many ways, ancient traditions continue.  Of course, they were racing for the next tourist bus instead of waylaying a caravan....

Ho hum, hokey camel photo

Tour agenda, the great sphinx, as opposed to all the many other smaller ones.  This one is massive and is missing his nose, which was not shot off by Napolean as some people believe, according to Khalid our comedian tour guide.  But no part of it has ever been found.  Definitely impressive.

The day was pleasant, probably in the 80s, hot in the sun, but cool in the shade with a breeze.  We had a brief break to wash off the days grime and believe me, walking around the pyramids is dirty and dusty and sweaty work when you're not in the shade.  At 5:30 our bus was leaving for a sound and light show at the pyramids.  Not recommended.  30 minutes would have been bearable.  An hour, with bad narration,  pseudo animation of the sphinx, volume too loud, seats very uncomfortable was over the top.  Back to the hotel for a dinner that very nearly didn't arrive - Hotel Oasis on Alexandria Desert Rd. Not recommended.  Finally after eating we were able to enjoy the gardens of the hotel with Annette and Stewart and some scotch.  Bliss, sort of.  Seeing the sights of Egypt with a tour group has it's +'s & -'s.  Pluses: you don't have to make the arrangements or scheduling, the bus is comfortable and air conditioned, no worries about being hijacked, you get to all the top tourist attractions, you're not in a taxi in Cairo!  Minuses: you're always with your tour group, you don't get to do the scheduling, you get to only the top tourist attractions, there is no time for yourself, no time to wander.