Welcome to Cairo

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Arriving in Egypt and to our hotel- The Oasis- at midnight, our first full day in Cairo was jam-packed with the city's highlights.

After an early morning start, we made our way to the Great Pyramids of Giza before the heat and crowds showed up. Walking around the pyramids, we had ample time to take in the fantastic feat of engineering and venture into one of the tombs of the smaller pyramids on site. The city has crept up almost to the foot of the pyramids and local touts are there trying to gouge tourists for everything from camel rides, posing for a pciture OR taking your picture, and even went as far as to stand in front of the entrance to the smaller tombs taking money from unsuspecting foreign tourists thinking they were paying admission. If you go here, note that the small burial chambers are FREE and only the Great Pyramid requires and entry fee.

The burial chambers are not for the claustrophobic or out-of-shape tourist. We were prepared to crouch down, almost on our knees to go down the sloping wooden gangway that led to the undergrounf burial chamber. Narrow and dark, this small entry way is also the exit with people travlling in both directions. it gets a bit tight so even though I am not remotely claustrophobic, it gets a bit overwhelming with the heat and close quarters. There is also no place to stand upright until you are in teh burial chamber. It was a great experience to visit but the fresh air was wholly welcomed by the time Mom and I resurfaced.

After our up close visit with the pyramids, we drove just down the road out into the desert to climb onto a camel for a ride back towards the pyramids. This was one of the overall highlights of the trip and I highly reccommend it. The views were spectacular and because it was early in the morning, the heat wasn't unbearable yet. A guide led my camel with another member of our tour group down the sand dunes (which are sadly littered with garbage and debris) to the base of the largest pyramid. Beautiful views of the pyramids as we approached and of the other camels in our caravan.

We made a stop at teh Sphinx, which just as everyone tells you is smaller than you might expect. The Sphinx area complex is relatively new offering a light show at night. We opted out of this having done something similar at the Parthenon in Greece some years ago.

After the pyramid it was off to lunch for some BBQ chicken before heading over to Old Cairo to visit the Hanging Church and Ben Ezra Synagogue. The Hanging Church was impressive as were the winding and narrow alleyways leading to the mosque. Next was a stop at the Egyptian Museum.

Painted a horrible salmon colur, the museum has some wonderfula rtifacts, but it must be toured with a guide since none of the exhibits has any sort of sign or label to let you knwo what you are looking at. We had one of the best guides I have ever had in all my travels who made the experience very enlightening. The crown jewel of the museum is of course the mummies and King Tut's treasures. The exquisite jeweller and furniture ranging from beds and thrones to chariots were remarkable. You could easily spend days in this museum and not see everything.

Last stop of the night was the Khan el Khallili bazaar. Armed with suggestions from my boyfriend who spent 6 months living in Cairo and family who call Cairo home, I knew the sort of trinkets we would be able to find in the bazaar. I found it very similar to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul with the same variety of all manner of knick knacks and clothing, jewellery and other goods. Other than bartering for some scarves, we breezed through knowing that we'd be back on our final day in Cairo, post-tour when we were staying with family.

Throughoughly exhausted, we were glad to have opted out of the light show at the Sphinx in order to relax and have dinner back at the hotel. A whirlwind day but very rewarding and memorable.

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Photos

Guard at the pyramid
Camel guard in front of the pyramid

on the great pyramid
sitting on the huge building blocks

Burial Chamber
After all that hard work, we reached the burial chamber

From afar
The point we began our camel ride

rachel
in front of the pyramids!

Heather
Heather on her camel

Camel close-up
Camels all seemed well cared for

My guide
My guice with my camel, Minnie Mouse

Sphinx complex
This is where the light show takes place