Day 12: Pyramids of Giza

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October 7, 2009

Breakfast in Egypt was a little more mainstream with pancakes and eggs. Dalia and Kamel met us as agreed at 8 a.m. for the short ride to Giza and the pyramids. There are three main pyramids here and six smaller ones for the wives. We arrived early enough to beat most of the tour buses and get the overlook mostly to ourselves for the classic pyramid pictures. Dalia posed us in several ways and shot a bunch of pictures. She then lead us to one of the camel owners and negotiated a ride for us and more pictures. Never pay the guy until you get off the camel or the price can go up!

After some explanations from our guide, we had 45 minutes to wonder the pyramids on our own. It was a mixed blessing as we were constantly harassed by people selling stuff. You had to be very careful even about taking photos of people and their animals as they would come up to you looking for payment. We tipped one of the guards who let Judy climb on the rocks on the roped off pyramid for some photos. Seems you can do most anything with a little baksheesh.

Kamel next drove us back down the hill to see the Sphinx. The poor thing got his nose shot off by Napoleon and his soldiers in one story. We bought some postcards from one of the little boys there for a dollar. He wanted lots more but if you walk away they change their price quickly. Judy likes to talk to folks and if you engage in a conversation with these people they think you are buying something from them. Oh well, we survived the onslaught and got our photos. Just outside the sphinx we stopped in a local shop for a couple of sodas before hopping back into the van.

The step pyramid out in the desert about 20 miles away was our next stop on the tour. This was the first pyramid built in Egypt and it has six distinct steps or layers to it. It was started to get warm but we spent a good 60 minutes checking the pyramid and surrounding ruins out. There were fewer vendors here but still a nuisance. Everyplace you go requires a ticket but they are not too outrageously priced. Most are around $10-12 a person and the ticket themselves are very ornate and colorful souvenirs.

Our guide asked if we wanted to stop at a carpet school. I asked Judy if she had any intention of buying a carpet because otherwise it would be hard to get out of there alive. She was interested in something for the hallway or bathroom so we stopped and had a look. On the first floor, are children and young adults working on the looms making the actual carpets. They make three types of carpets at this place: silk, wool and woven cotton. The silk carpets are woven to at least 300 knots per square inch up to 600 and can take two months to weave a single square yard. We were next lead upstairs for seats and tea to drink. Before us, they laid out a selection of their carpets for us to view. We told them what we liked and didn't and they ran around getting more designs for us. The silk carpets are "magic" carpets as if you spin them 180 degrees around the colors and intensities change. These guys were constantly spinning them for us. We played the part and found a silk one that we liked. Judy hemmed and hawed and got the price dropped several hundred dollars before we pulled the trigger and bought one to take home, a small hall runner silk carpet with a pattern similar to what is in my home office.

We decided to skip lunch and instead make one last stop at a perfume parlor. This place was very neat. Once again we were seated and offered tea. They then brought over these glass bottles filled with different essence oils. We got to smell and try several of them on our skin. These have no alcohol in them as was demonstrated by lighting a match and putting in it the bottle. Because they have no alcohol and are pure oil, the scent lasts much longer on the body. We bought a little package of six bottles that we had filled with different scents as gifts for Christmas.

Our time in Cairo was up now. It was at least a 3 hour drive to Alexandria to catch our waiting ship and we didn't want to be late. We bid farewell to Dalia and headed out of Cairo with Kamel at the wheel. Driving in Cairo is insane and much worse than Athens. The lines on the road, if there are any, are merely decorative and serve no prupose. With cars zooming all over the road constantly blowing their horns, people boldly walk out into the street across many lanes of traffic to get to the other side.

Along the way, Judy and I wrote postcards to friends to be mailed from Alexandria. We saw some crazy sites along the highway. There was no police escort on the road to Alexandria. This road was quite nice being mostly three lanes across . Our driver was flying along at 120 km/hr along with people still trying to cross the road and donkeys and horses in the far right lane. We saw several pick up trucks stacked precariously high with pigeons, tomatoes, boxes or trash. Even one truck had a big pile of trash in the back with a man laying on top of it all to keep it from flying away.

We reached the port in plenty of time to head to an early dinner on the ship. Tonight was open seating and we didn't get our waiter, Royston, as our usual table was in use. It was a very good meal as usual. Tonight we had surf and turf with a crabmeat appetizer and cherries jubilee for desert. I am not looking forward to seeing how many pounds I put on after this cruise. I am hoping that the large amount of walking we are doing is helping in that area somewhat.

Tomorrow we sail for Italy.

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Photos

Pyramids of Giza
Riding a camel by the pyramids.