EGYPT, CAIRO

CAIRO - EGYPT 2/11/07

Arrived in Cairo pretty late on the 1st, by the time we got to bed it was gone 1am. Really tired but excited about the trip to the pyramids early the following morning. Egypt is the only part of the tour which we booked via a tour group. It started really well with a prompt airport pick up. The hotel was really nice what little we saw of it as we were up and out at 7am the following day.

Cairo is a mad house, old meets new, rich and poor although far more poor and the driving leaves alot to be desired!!! After the first 30 minutes you settle into that though and it even gets entertaining from the safetly of the mini bus !!

The first pyramid we went to see was the oldest in Egypt designed and built by Imhotep in Sakhara. For those like us that have seen the mummy movie we recognised the name. However, Imhotep is a god out here and the people love him, they are less than impressed by the Hollywood depiction of a soul stealing nasty individual !!

Our second stop was in Memphis which was a outdoor museum like place for one of the most famous gods in Egypt. Sorry guys really cant remember his name - you get so many of them thrown at you !!!
Nice though.

Our third stop was the one I had been waiting for - the 3 most famous pyramids in Giza. We had spotted them on the horizon a while before we actually got to them. They are with our doubt an unbelievable sight. However, the pictures I had seen in the past on TV do not include the hundreds of other people all trying to get the same view as you, the camels guys trying to coax you for a ride, the locals selling any old tat you can think of and the excessive heat. All that aside though it was truly amazing to see them for real. We toured round the largest on foot taking it all in and saw the second and third from the mini bus on the way to a good picture spot on top of the hill. We had two americans girls on our tour and we sat enjoying the view as they went off for a camel ride. I found it really hard to comprehend the sheer age of them. We all opted not to enter the second pyramid as we had all been told it is awful when you get inside.

Next was the Sphinx, this was not what I was expecting at all. The statue itself has been dug out of the ground and is therefore surrounded by a large earth wall. I was expecting like the pyramids that it stood proud of the land. Apparently according to local rumour Napoleon shot off the nose area, our guide was not so sure of this statement but didnt give us any other info as to what else caused it. The picture gallery for the sphinx was yet again crouded as it was only on one side and it is difficult not to get tired of the constant hassling from the locals in the heat so we took our pictures and got out as quickly as possible. At this point I started to realise wherever we went there would be constant hassle, so I had to toughen up!!

We then went back to the hotel where we waited for our late pick up for the night train to Aswan. Tim and I sat in the lobby trying to break down our backpacks into smaller secondary bags so that we would not have to carry so much luggage as our guide has suggested to travel light. We sorted it in the end after a little flustering on my hair and make up products - which I reluctantly conceded had to be left behind. Accepting the whole back pack thing had begun and Tim was finding it highly hilarious. I left with a brush and deoderant and enough clothes to just about see us through the next 5 days. Our guide saw us onto the first class carriage with Jennifer and Mariah the american girls at approx 10.30pm. If it was first class I really didnt want to see 2nd or 3rd. The girls got it harder than us though as their seats were covered in a deep red substance we did nto go into discussion of what it could possibly be. They spent the next 10 minutes frantically trying to find a carrier bag to sit on. This journey when we booked was said to be 12 hours, unsurprisingly the guide dropped into the conversation that is could be up to 14 much to all our dismay!!! He smiled at us and said Egypian time !! Little did we know we would hear that alot over the next few days. Onto Aswan we went..........

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