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Published: September 16th 2006
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Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza
Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza Egypt is an Islamic country, something which is sometimes difficult to reconcile with the Western understanding of this ancient land of heiroglyphics, Phaorahs, and pyramids... It's also a very Christian country, with a historical connection to the Judeo-Christian tradition and a strong Coptic community. Copts are Orthodox Christians not dissimilar to Russian, Greek and Serbian Orthodox Churches...
We quickly discovered the Egyptians to be a gregarious and friendly people, who absolutely adore children and were bemused by the fact we'd left our four at home on this trip... Cairo is a city to experience just in walking around the streets, interacting with the everyday Cairenes who live there. Full of contradictions you see BMW's next to donket carts, policemen with kalishikovs and military uniform next to boy on bicycles with massive baskets of bread on their heads...
A word on safety, this city is VERY safe, in that the people experience a certain degree of freedom to express discontent, and the fact that they have been on a state of terrorist high alert since the 1975 war with Israel. There have been a few serious incidents over the last few years, most notably the 1997 massacre of 67 people
Antique grafiti
Antique Grafiti inside Kefren's, Giza at Hatsheptuts Temple in Luxor and the bombings recently in Sharm el Sheikh. That said, every shop and corner store seems to have metal detectors. They have quite efficient screening (and certainly more consistent than others) at their airport, and good controls at major sites. Anywhere you go on this planet requires some awareness and common-sense on your behalf, and an understanding that sometimes things just happen. Be informed, be aware, and relax....
Cairo comes alive after dusk... As the suns falls and the cooling breezes flow through the city from the life-giving Nile, the people of the city come out to socialise. The city has "midans" at the intersections of roads and these traffic islands are like small parks. Around the souks and shopping precincts, they fill with families and their children, eating, resting and talking. Children are a big part of Egyptian life and they are clearly very loved. The streets are strung with coloured party lights all year round in a similar way to the Christmas decorations we enjoy just a short time each year.
Again, smells are a part of the experience, and the air is filled with the scents of ripe tropical fruits
Kefren Burial Chamber
Kefren Burial Chamber from the juice-wagons set up at every corner, freshly baked breads and pastries, and of course, of coffee and sheeshas of the 'ahwa' (coffee-houses). These ahwa line every every street and are as essential as the Mosques and the Nile itself to modern Cairo... Men sit and drink coffee or the sweet minted Egyptian tea 'chai' and take sheesha, which is not an illicit drug as some naive travellers assume. The sheesha's sweet smell is deceptive but comes from soaking the tobacco in fruit syrup. The tobacco is then inhaled through a water vapour using a hookar system. The technique is rhythmical and if you take the time to sit and observe the gentlemen, the ritual of sheesha and coffee or chai, and pondering of their backgammon or chess, it is almost meditative.
Travelling by car in Cairo is one of those tests of will, because you are certain the first time you are an Egyptian taxi-driver's passenger that he is actually trying to commit suicide with you in the vehicle but lacks the driving skills to do so... After a few trips however, you notice that there is a method to the madness that dictates, for instance, that
a two lane road is actually 5 lanes because of the lines or 7 if you include the sidewalks! However, you will notice that no one wants to hit anyone and the apparent impatience is really very patient! Good luck trying to wear a seatbelt, though. It is compulsory for the driver, but he will probably tell his passengers not to touch in case they "wear it out"!!
To travel to the area known as Coptic Cairo, you can choose a train, river taxi or normal taxi. For every where you need to go to and every mode of transport is cheap, and even cheaper with the exchange rates from major Western countries. In any case it is not far to get to and worth the treck for a different view of Cairo. Try to ignore the gimmicky sections, and enjoy the maze of alleyways with tiny Churches, and ancient historic sites such as the Hanging Church.
I took to wearing the scarves I had bought Hijab-style after the first 24 hours in Cairo just to protect my hair from the smog. I noticed though, that in my long skirts and blouses and with the scarf, we didn't
St George Convent
Icon in St George Convent. This is a "working convent" and was very special to us as St George is Boban's family Patron. get hassled... Was it that Boban's suave Serbian complexion was being mistaken for Middle Eastern? We soon had this confirmed in Coptic Cairo on trying to enter the only remaining synagogue (a tourist site) and I had a kalishnakov shoved in my face! The guard started yelling at me in Arabic, and as I stuttered in my English-Australian accent to ask what the problem was, they stopped and stared... "You're English?" "No, well Australian... " "Sorry, you can't come in - no Muslims!" Boban and I parted our shirts to show our crosses, and were allowed in. It seemed they assumed I was Iranian...
It's easy to think the Pyramids almost look a little too theme-parkish viewed from a distance... and wonder if the heat and crowds will be worth it upon hearing tales of tour-bus nightmares... True, there are too many buses, and the taxi fare will double when you ask to go to the Pyramids and the hassle is definitely worse than anywhere else in Cairo.
However once inside the plateau, walk around and marvel at the feats of human creativity. The city goes literally right up to the foot of the Pyramids, with a shopping
Hanging Church
Hanging Church - said to built over the cave that sheltered Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus when they fled to Egypt centre car park a few hundred metres from the foot of the Sphinx. And yet, they stand in the Desert and nothing for hundreds, maybe thousands of kilometres stands behind. The shear size of these structures is impressive, the base blocks are over 6 feet high, dwarfing everything that has come to gape or make a buck in their presence... It is impossible to explain without sounding cheasy, but they radiate an energy, and are truly facinating.
Down inside though, the air is anything but cool as you might have imagined. These are tombs and essentially nothing was designed to come out, and these days entry shafts are even smaller due to the protective boarding on the limestone stairs. Definitely leave the heels and the backpacks at the hotel... Inside, I began to get a new perspective on my life, on viewing the Italian adventurer Balzoni's antique graffiti inside Kefren's tomb...
Why is the most common question asked of the Pyramids, followed by who? The day we were there a team of archaeologists discovered a new chamber in Cheops and series of tombs around the site... It is amazing that even though the excavation and exploration of Egypt and her antiquities has continued for so many hundreds of years, there is so much we still don't know, and so much left to discover we don't even realise we don't know about yet!!
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