Advertisement
Published: November 10th 2011
Edit Blog Post
Our first full day of sightseeing in Cairo has been a cracker.
Before getting to the story of the day please note that neither of our cell phones work in Egypt. I checked on the Vodafone NZ website this morning and Egypt isn’t one of the countries they automatically ‘roam’ in. So because the internet is going to be tenuous and we need a means of contact with family etc. back home we have put a local SIM card into my phone. So if you need us at all over the next 10-12 days here is the number to text (or ring in a real emergency) 0021278466976
The last time we were here, 3 years ago, we paid a flying one day visit from the cruise ship when we docked in Alexandria. We saw a lot of things but it was all rather rushed.
This time was quite the opposite. We were able to spend more time looking at things and even got some time to do some shopping!!!
The day started with a 9am pick up and we met our guide for the next 2 days, Mohammed (good Egyptian name eh!!), and set off to the ancient city of Memphis
about 24 kms away. Memphis was the capital of Egypt way back in the early times BC at the height of the Egyptian ‘empire’ and eventually fell into ruin and was buried by the Nile silt. There are a number of magnificent statues and other artefacts from the era that were found and put on display on part of the site of the ancient city. We then went to the pyramids of Djosser at Sakkara, the ‘City of the Dead’ near to Memphis. Apparently the Pharaohs of that time decided to build their burial grounds outside the city of Memphis and this was done at Sakkara. The main pyramid here is quite different to the more well known ones at Giza in that it is a stepped progression of blocks, but it is just as impressive. It is undergoing some restoration at the moment and has a lot of scaffolding around it but it didn’t detract from the sight at all.
We left Sakkara and went next to one of the many ‘Egyptian Carpet Schools’ that we had seen along the road. To tell the truth we didn’t really know that Egypt did carpets, we thought Turkey, Iran (Persia) and
Afghanistan etc. were the big areas, but we were assured that Egyptian carpets are better quality and just as famous as all the others. We actually asked if we could go to see one of the schools as Mohammed had told us about what took place there and it sounded fascinating. They have these schools where the kids can go from a very early age to learn about carpet making and at the same time get some general education as well. (School is not compulsory in Egypt so MOST, from what we saw today, don’t go.) Anyway we turned up at one of the schools and the kids were on holiday but we got the first hand tour by one of the ‘teachers’ and watched a young guy hand knotting a carpet that they were making for a special order for someone in Iraq. He was amazing to watch. OF COURSE we then got taken upstairs to the carpet sales floor and YES we did purchase a genuine, hand knotted Egyptian carpet depicting the ‘Judgement Scene’ a very famous Egyptian scene. Not saying how much it cost but I’m assured it will be a good ‘investment’!!!!!! It wasn’t quite big
enough to get free shipping (those ones cost in the vicinity of $1300US) and $350US to ship it home was a bit expensive so somehow we are going to have to carry it home and will probably end up paying excess baggage for it.
We then drove in Cairo and had lunch at a local restaurant, (with about 40 Russian tourists who arrived in a coach just after us) before heading to the Pyramids of Giza. These were just as awesome and impressive the second time around as they were the first time 3 years ago. To stand right beside them and look at the size of the stone blocks and try to imagine how they moved them into place 4000 years ago is truly inspiring. We still got hassled by all the locals trying to make fast buck but our guide was good at telling them where to go in a language, that while we didn’t understand it, we certainly got the gist of it!!!! We spent a couple of hours, at least, here and it was great.
We left Giza and headed to a ‘trusted’ government approved and licenced ‘jewellery shop where we asked to be taken as
Joy wanted to buy a ‘cartouche’. These are a necklace in either gold or silver with your name in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics on them. Joy didn’t get one last time and wanted one this time so Mohammed obliged. Hassan was the ‘salesman’ and even though he assured us that his gold was the cheapest in the whole world, we settled for a lovely sliver cartouche with the letters in gold and a gold frame around the edges (not sure how pure the gold is) It is really very beautiful and some people tonight at dinner saw it and remarked on how lovely it looked. Joy even insisted that I get one for myself, so I obliged but just a plain silver one in a more manly style.
That was the shopping for the day and we headed back to the hotel about 5pm, the visa card considerably ‘lighter’ to freshen up and have a rest before heading out for our evening appointment back at the Pyramids to see the ‘Sound and Light Show’ tarting at 7pm. We saw this 3 years ago with Robyn and Trevor but were keen to watch it again as it impressive last time. It was
every bit as impressive this time around. They tell the story of the Egyptian dynasties using the Sphinx and Pyramids and surrounding ancient buildings as the screen for a narrated laser light show. It lasts 45 minutes and is amazing to put it mildly. We asked our guide if he could get us front row seats, which were reserved for ‘special guests’ last time. We had to pay 30 Egyptian Pounds each to get in the front row and another 35 Pounds so I could take my video camera in and film it. Might sound a lot but 6 pounds = $1US. So we got front and centre seating in the special reserved area on cushioned seats, unlike the plebs in behind who had ordinary hard stacker chairs!!!!! We were escorted to our seats and everything and got just the best view of the whole show. And YES, for those of you who know the problem I had last time with the disc in my video camera at the Pyramids, I’ve checked and all my video from the visit both this afternoon and the show this evening is all present and correct……phew!!!
Got back to the hotel around 8.30pm and
went to dinner in the hotel restaurant and we are now getting ready for bed as we have to get cracking a bit earlier in the morning as we have to pack up, have breakfast and check out of the hotel here and be ready to hit the sightseeing road at 8.30am.
Tomorrow we visit the medieval citadel of Salah El-Din where the Alabaster Mosque is, the old churches in ‘Old Cairo’ and the old Jewish Synagogue of Ben Ezra and finish with a visit to the Khan El Khalili Bazaar before heading to the airport for a 6.45pm flight to Aswan. Hopefully our hotel in Aswan will have internet so we can up date things there.
So until then that’s it from Cairo for today.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.217s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 5; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0411s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
mum and Dad
non-member comment
We feel we are traveling with you or that's what it feels like
Bruce and Joy. Bruce your blog makes us feel as if we are traveling with you and we love reading about your travels.Well done Bruce.Keep up the good works.I understand Joy your gym team did really well in Timaru.Better than expected. I am told. Better away Keep enjoying yourselves. Love dad and me