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It’s mom’s birthday! We had to wake up extremely early… 5:15 am so that we could get ready and eat in time for our morning tour gathering at 7:15 am. We got up, ran out the door, ate breakfast in the Tsar’s dining room (with terribly slow service), and then ran back to our rooms to pick up our camera, etc. When we left to head to the gathering place, half way there, mom realized she had forgotten her hat. So we rushed back for that as we were already running late (due to slow breakfast). We left to go to the Stardust theatre, our meeting room area, once again and then mom realized she had put on the wrong footwear. She had sandals with bare feet, which was definitely not a good thing for Cairo in the desert sand. All of the tours were meeting at 7:15 am, which was extremely inefficient as our tour as our tour was not called until 8:00 am. We rushed for nothing. As we attempted to reach our busses we were accosted by numerous aggressive vendors, eager to ply their wares on an unsuspecting crowd. I ended up purchasing an Arabian sun scarf (ala Laurence of Arabia). The reason I did this, is because I had seen photos on the internet of tourists by the pyramids wearing the scarves and I thought it would make for good photos. I did not consider what the price should be, but only that I would not pay beyond $5 - I paid $4..Apparently they are only worth $1. Oh well. ;-)
We got onto our fairly comfortable bus and met our lovely guide, Rania. She was lovely in many ways, as her English was excellent, her voice carried very well and her personality was delightful. She always said, if you have any questions, any questions at all, she will answer them.
As the bus headed the streets of Alexandria, we were thunderstruck by the contrast between the old and the new, the dilapidated buildings and the great amount of garbage littered in the streets. Watching donkeys, carts and horse-drawn carriages running alongside vehicles was quite a sight. Not before long, we were on the main stretch of road then heads into Cairo. Luckily we happened to be traveling on a Friday, which was a great bonus for us as travelers, as Friday is their Sunday. There was very little traffic and shops were mostly closed. The drive to Cairo was 2 ½ hours long and we were told that development along this road only started to happen in the 10 years. We learned the difference between the poor and the rich from a property perspective was the difference in the number of pigeon houses that they had on their property. The pigeon houses are made out of clay and mud and they resemble something like a coned-shaped beehive. Our tour guide pointed out 1 of the truly wealthy pigeon keepers. The poor people don’t have air conditioning but they make their houses from mud and straw and this is apparently just as good.
There were some very interesting properties along the way, some adorning statues, mosques dotting the roadside, farms with corn, potatoes and cotton and surprisingly a large number of vineyards. Although we never did see any bottled Egyptian wine. Rania told us that the number one crop for Egypt is Cotton followed by sugar cane. Apparently they do not export their oil, but it is the equivalent of only .50 galloon. However, the locals think that this is expensive for them. But this may be because the average salary in Alexandria is $150 Euros per month. Unemployment is 30 percent. Keep in mind that there are 8 million in Alexandria and 18 million in Cairo. Cairo has the largest population of any city in Africa.
As we headed into the city of Cairo, we caught our first glimpse of the pyramids. It was awesome to see these giant structures in the background of city buildings. I was in shock. We could not believe we were seeing them for real! What a surreal experience. Within minutes we arrives at the Giza plateau and were given instructions on how to deal with the multitude of highly aggressive vendors. We were also warned of how some will trick you into taking your photo, using your camera and then demanding huge amounts of money to get it returned. Immediately on getting off the bus, we were accosted, along with our bus mates. The guy who got us offered his Arabian scarf for free. I said no several times, but he insisted many times over that it was for free. We were warned about this tactic, but the unrelenting pressure led us to believe that this guy was at least somewhat genuine. Before long mom was wearing her new Arabian scarf, LOL, and mine was on soon after. Then we were fending him off when he wanted to give us free postcards. He wanted to take our photo and I was not going to part with my camera for 1 second with a total stranger, who we had already been warned about. Then all of the sudden the free gifts were not free afterall. He was demanding money and his tone had changed dramatically, from sweetness to anger and this is how they how they get you. He got 2 dollars out of us and then we managed to lose him. Thank goodness that was over. Then as we walked towards the pyramids, we were accosted by all manner of camels, vendors, vendors on camels and camels on vendors. Well, maybe not camels on vendors, but sometimes it appeared that way. All the tourists were being swarmed. In fact, some fellow NCL cruisers from Australia apparently had a very expensive camel $30 US camel ride here. The salvation to all of this, is the omnipresent tourist police force, which we saw in action almost immediately as there was one vendor with a duffle bag being held by authorities. I couldn’t help hearing the tune “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when I come for you”, like the “Cops” television show.. (insert deep voice) Cops Cairo.
Yes, it was quite an experience. One that will always be remembered. We posed for photos in front of the pyramids from the NCL staff. We also took a myriad of our own. We even touched the pyramids. In the midst of taking one of my photographs, I stepped backwards and tripped on a rock. It was extremely lucky that there was not another rock behind it as I fell flat on my butt. Fortunately, I was not injured, minus a little scrape on my ankle.
Next… onto the Sphinx. We only had 20 minutes to look at this incredible sight. Wow, what a sight. I could not get over how amazing it was and how many people were there looking at it with us. There were busloads upon busloads of people swarming the place and then of course the scores of insatiable vendors. There was a section before getting to the sphinx that was very congested and it took about 8 minutes just to get through the crowds. Upon getting to the sphinx we were then struggling to get a clear shot photo as the crowds were just everywhere. It was quite amazing to see how deeply embedded the Sphrinx was into the desert and how much excavation was required to reveal its shape under the desert sands. We learned later that day that the nose of the Sphinx and the pock-marks in the face had been caused by the military of old (sometime in the 17th century) using it as target practice before the value of the Sphinx was recognized. That was heartbreaking to hear that, as we had always thought it was from erosion. We got back on the bus and it was time to head to our Jeep and Camel excursion.
At approximately 1:00 pm, we got on board a Toyota Landcruiser jeep with 2 others and our driver and what a wild driver he was! He went out of his way to give us a crazy ride as we noticed the others were following a set path and he was doing his own thing. Mom was hanging on for dear life and I wondered if she really knew this was going to happen. Many times it felt as though we were on a roller coaster and he would snicker as we screamed. However, in due course we arrived at the camel station. There were approximately 200 camels lined up waiting for us all, decorated in colorful accoutrements. There was a saddle and stirrups on some. I did not have stirrups, but did fine without. I was able to catch my mom rising with the camel as it stood up, which is quite an experience. I was worried she was going to fall off. Fortunately, everyone in our group got on and off without any difficulty. Mom and I loved the experience, however mom complained that the orientation of her saddle was off to the left. I hadn’t noticed that it was a problem as I was directly behind her, but obviously it was enough to make her feel somewhat uncomfortable. Fortunately, I was able to take photos and video and our camel driver also took some. One of our group had forgotten her camera and I was able to catch some photos of her that I will give to her later. She was most grateful as she was devastated by not having it with her. After a half hour long ride we got off and entered the country club where we enjoyed a buffet lunch of middle eastern style food., none of which was warm. It was not something to write home about, however, we were starved and it felt good to eat. The country club, Sakkara, was obviously a place for the wealthier Egyptians as only the cruise groups came here for camel excursions.
Next, off to the step pyramid of King Zoser, built almost 5000 years ago and the oldest ancient cemetery Sakkara. At the step pyramid an Egyptian man accosted mom as he felt that her Arabian headgear was not being worn appropriately. So he took it upon himself to take it off and redo it, even though she did not ask him to do so. He seemed gentlemanly-like and even wanted to pose for a photo. But that is where the niceness ended. Once again, there was a demand for money, which my mom adamantly refused and very disgruntled he turned away in disgust. Too bad for him. However, I was able to take some beautiful photos out here. The weather was absolutely perfect for all of our Cairo highlights. Amazingly, our guide,Ranja, mentioned that in all of her 10 years of doing tours in Cairo, it has never rained in the month of May. There was a heavy downpour the day before we arrived. This is highly unusual weather as they only get 4-6 days of rainfall per year. It was amazing for us to have enjoyed such temperate weather, especially when we heard that only a week before it was 116 degrees Fahrenheit (40+ C), which would not have worked well for either of us.
En route to Cairo, Ranja had taken orders from the group for embroidered Egyptian cotton t-shirts and cartouches (Egyptian hieroglyphic jewelry). Both mom and I ordered some. They came with different options, 14 carrot gold, silver with gold, or silver and many different styles.. We picked them up at our final stop along with some beautiful papyrus art, where we were shown how it was made. The salespeople were much less aggressive here, but still worked hard for a sale.
Many Egyptian men asked me if I was married and my mother noticed that everywhere I went that they were looking at me. I noticed that the vendors were much more aggressive with my mother than they were with me. I assume this was because many women in her age bracket were giving them more money than the younger ones.
The ride back home was long, but we were blessed with a beautiful Egyptian sunset. We got back at 8:15 pm, which made for a very long day. Everybody looked exhausted. Vendors at the cruise terminal were not getting any business from our groups. Everybody looped right back on ship and after a quick dinner, crashed and burned. No birthday cake for mom, however, I think she enjoyed her warm hazelnut soufflé. From 5:15am to 10:15 pm, we had been on the go for 17 hours. What a day.
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Judy Dub
non-member comment
Happy Days
Happy Birthday Judy (2 days late - sorry) and Happy Mother's Day too! How wonderful to be taking such a fabulous trip with your daughter. I've been enjoying Suzanne's travel blogs and look forward to future installments.