Giza Pyramids
I joined up with my Imaginative-Traveller tour after 2 days of exploring Cairo on my own. We had a wonderful group consisting of just 8 people, most in their 30’s and 40’s. 4 from Australia (1 couple and 2 guys; a young honeymooning couple from the U.S., a Mexican/Canadian ESL teacher from Toronto, and then me. I was the oldest in my group, but it worked out just fine.
First thing on our schedule was a visit to the great Pyramids of Giza which we discovered were just a 20-minute private bus ride away from our hotel. The city of Cairo has continued to expand to the point where it comes as a bit of a shock to see that the sandy desert surrounding the pyramids themselves is actually located in the middle of the congested city suburbs of Giza/Cairo.
The hassling began even before we stepped off the bus! ‘Friendly’ young men try to convince you to visit their shop, or their ‘brother’s shop’. And once you pay your ticket and enter the premises, watch out! The camel touts are relentless! Be careful where you walk because you never know when you will back up into a camel!
Not even the touts could diminish the wondrous effect of seeing the pyramids for the very first time. To be honest, they almost don’t look real – you see them many times over the years – you never expect to actually see them in person! They are truly immense in size – it is hard to believe that humans managed to build such structures. It is believed that Egyptian farmers (and not slaves) laboured on the pyramids during the flood season while their fields were under water. Apparently they considered it an honour to participate in such an undertaking. Some people still don’t believe that the ancient Egyptians were capable of building such structures, especially when you take into consideration the precise placement of each stone, and the cosmological significance of the dimensions of each pyramid – some believe the Pyramids were constructed by angels, the devil or perhaps aliens. Who knows!
Our bus took us to several vantage points around the site of the three large pyramids. At the highest point, the desert rose all around us – shops were set up on the sands, manned by men in flowing robes, groups of tourists trotted off into the distance on camels, while the great Pyramids continued to distract me from taking in anything else. It’s impossible to describe the feeling of seeing these structures with my own two eyes! I am told that each pyramid was originally capped with limestone and would have gleamed like giant crystals under the desert sun. Unfortunately, over the centuries, it has been stripped away and used to build palaces and mosques, exposing the softer inner-core stones to the elements. Chambers and passageways can be visited in the pyramids can be visited but are extremely claustrophobic, especially with the crowds nearby. I elected not to go inside since I already had the memorable experience at the Red Pyramid where I was the only person inside the pyramid at one point – how cool is that?!
One of my fellow travelers was talked into taking a picture on a camel (people often have to pay extra before they are allowed to get off the camel). Anyway, he got away with spending just 20 Egyptian Pounds so I thought I’d give it a try too (provided he stuck around to make sure I got off)! The camel squats down so you can easily get on; but you have to hold on real tight while he pulls himself up – you get thrown forward and then back before the process is complete, and it repeats (in reverse) when you want to get off. It was a fun experience, but not comfortable, I have to say. But hey, I did it – I can say that I rode a camel!
Egyptian Museum
It is said that even if you don’t like museums, you must go to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. And they’re right. There are more than 120,000 relics and antiquities in this museum. It feels like a warehouse packed with stuff, much of it poorly labeled and presented – it’s a little bit like exploring your grandparent’s attic. But trying to get around to see everything is likely to cause “Pharaonic Phatigue”. They recommend 2 visits because you really do hit overload after a couple of hours – I was practically blind by the time we left.
We spent time at the Tutahkhamun Galleries, the Royal Tombs, the Old Kingdom Rooms and many more. I even paid extra to see the ghoulish Royal Mummy Room. To be honest, I felt I should do my part to support financially the efforts they are making to preserve such exhibits. (In Luxor I saw a mummy which was once stored in a museum at Niagara Falls, Canada – it is believed to be Ramses II, but they are still not sure. I’m just glad they returned him to Egypt!
Back to the museum – The most unbelievable thing to me was seeing items made of wood, linen, leather and even hair, that have survived to this day, despite the fact they are thousands of years old – unbelievable! The gold-leaf used in those times is much better quality stuff than we can find today – it looks like it has just been applied! I can’t believe how many treasures I saw that used golf-leaf and gems for decoration. I also was amazed to see how many things were made of solid gold, ie Tutan Khamen had 3 coffins, one was sold gold, one was gold-leaf over wood and the final one was stone.
Even trying to get to our meeting place in the museum at the end of the day was a tough endeavour – On my way back, I kept running into rooms I hadn’t yet seen, full of sarcophagus and coffins, tombs, mummies and statues and figurines – there is absolutely no way you can see everything in one day. And everything is original – not ‘replicas’ such as what I often see back in China.
Dinner for our small group was a local Egyptian restaurant where we sampled the local favourite “Kushari” which tasted like my mom’s macaroni casserole. You get a bowl of pasta, ground beef, tomato sauce and dried onions. Mix it up, and add some lime juice, chili sauce and yum, you’re done! It’s real cheap too!
Then, we packed up and headed off to the train station for our overnight ‘seater’ train to Aswan in the south of the Nile where we were scheduled to take a 4-day cruise up the Nile – until then!
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