Days 19 and 20, Cyprus and Egypt

Sunday is the third day of four straight days in a new city. We docked in Limassol Cyprus which is located just south Turkey and west of Syria and Israel in the Mediterranean sea. Again we did not book an excursion and decided to take a shuttle bus into the older part of the city. The area the bus dropped off us in is considered the old town and there were many shops selling various items including lace, local olive oil, wine, and kabob BBQ's which caught Jim's eye. These are made up of a tray to hold the coals and above the coals a number of skewers are placed in a mechanism that will rotate all the skewers by turning a single skewer. Good thing we are close to our luggage limit or Jim would have brought one home.

After walking through the old town we decided to take a walk along the beach front area. The pedestrian path was nice and since we have had so many close calls with cars it was nice to be able to walk without our heads on a swivel. Since we were in port for only a few hours we decided to head back to old town get a bite and try the local beer. We ordered a Greek salad and two KEO beers. The local beer is another lager style beer which left us looking forward to having a hoppy beer when we get home. On our way to catch a shuttle bus Jim noticed there was a microbrewery so we had to stop in and give it a try. Since we just had lunch we only wanted a taste so the bartender poured us a small sampler glass. To our surprise the beer was a Belgian style ale that was strong, sweet, and slightly dry, a nice change from all the light lagers we have had. Jim asked the bartender how much we owed for our sample and he said it was on the house. We felt guilty for just having a sample and leaving so we left the bartender a couple Euros to thank him. Back on the ship we decided to rest for awhile in our cabin and then later we went back to the casino were we met our friends from Spain. Our excursion in Egypt leaves at 7:10 AM so we made it an early night.

Monday morning the ship docked in Alexandria Egypt. We got up early and met our tour group at 7:10 AM and then boarded a bus for the 2.5 hour ride to Giza (Cairo) to see the pyramids. There must have been 25 buses in our caravan and each bus had a armed guard on board along with a police escort as part of the caravan. There police escorts were in jeep-type vehicles with two officers looking out the back with their automatic riffles. We felt safe as the security was very tight and we had to show our passports just to get on the bus.

We first drove through Alexandria, and to be honest the city was run down and not very clean. There are no traffic lights and the drivers just go wherever and whenever they want. Once we left the city of Alexandria we were on what looked like a major highway. What was strange is that even though there are lines on the highway, none of the drivers stayed in a lane. It appeared they thought the lines were there just as possibilities but not requirements. The road we were on must have been a toll road as the driver stopped twice to pay a toll. At each of the toll stations there were a lot of police or military police overseeing all the activities. As we approached Cairo traffic came to a stand still. Our tour guide explained that traffic in Cairo and Giza is bad almost 24 hours a day. Easy to understand with no traffic controls in place.

After about three hours in the bus we arrived at Giza to see the Giza pyramids. This is where the bus ride paid off It was hard to believe but there we were standing next to three pyramids we have only seen on TV. They are huge and it is hard to imagine how the ancient Egyptians were able to perform such a feat. While we both could have spent more time here, we had to get back to bus to travel to the base of the plateau to see the Sphinx. We only had about 20 minutes to walk around which was not enough time but we did a good view of the Sphinx.

Our next stop was lunch at a 5-star hotel located very close to the pyramids. After lunch we boarded the bus and drove through Cairo to the city of Memphis which was Egypt's first capital. Here we were able to see what is left of a statue of King Ramses the second. The statue was laying down as both of the legs have been broken off over time. Also at the museum at Memphis is many other Egyptian artifacts including the Alabaster Sphinx of King Amenhopis the second. Smaller than the Sphinx at Giza but impressive. Our next stop took us to the ancient cemetery of Sakkara where the first pyramid in Egypt was built, the Step Pyramid of King Zoser. There are two other pyramids within walking distance but our tour guide took us to the top of a hill where we could view 13 pyramids in total. We had no idea there were that many pyramids within such a close area. Also at the Sakkara complex is a Mastabas which is a funeral chamber. We were able to go inside for a look and see the hieroglyphics that are in remarkable condition considering how old they are. Our last stop was at one of the many Papyrus shops where they make paper out of the papyrus plant and then paint Egyptian writings on the paper and sell them to tourists. Nice to look at but we were not interested.

Some of our observations of Egypt - the cities we saw were very run down and it appeared the people were living below the poverty line. The streets are littered with garbage and there are people living in cardboard and grass shanty huts in fields and along the roads. Our tour guide mentioned that in Sakkara over 35% of the children do not attend school. Among the traffic are camels and donkey powered carts that carry just about anything you can imagine. At the pyramids and all the other sites there are locals of all ages trying to sell postcards, souvenirs, camel rides and pictures. We were told by our tour guide to not even talk to these people as once they know you have money they will hound you until you leave. She also mentioned that they may offer a free camel ride but then charge $100 to get off the camel. Surprisingly most of the people trying to get money out of the tourists knew enough of many different languages to do their best to get money from the tourists. We were told to just say no thank you and keep walking but at times we had to say no thank you many times for them to get the message. It was sad to see the standard of living in the cities we visited but it also made us appreciate what we have and how we live. Even with the negative side of our visit we both felt it was worth the trip.

After our last stop at the Papyrus Institute it was time to head back to the ship. Again we were stuck in traffic in Cairo and did not get back on the main highway until 7:00 PM. The ship was leaving at 10:00 PM so we were a little worried we would make it back on time. Our bus arrived at the ship at 9:15 PM after going through two security checkpoints where the bus was searched and our passports were checked. They even checked the bathroom and cooler where the water and sodas were stored. We truly enjoyed seeing the pyramids and the other stops but it was really nice to be back on the ship safe and sound. Tomorrow is a sea day so we can finally relax after four days in a row in different ports.

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Part of trip: Spain and Mediterrean Cruise

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