Blogs from Giza, Lower Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 2

Today, we set out to explore the famous pyramids in Egypt. The pyramids were tombs created by Egyptian Pharoahs. The Egyptian pharoahs believed that they would become gods in the afterlife. To prepare for the afterlife they erected temples to the gods and massive pyramids tombs for themselves filled with all the things they would need in the next world. While the pyramids of Giza are the most famous in Egypt, there are more than 130 other pyramids discovered scattered throughout Egypt. One such pyramid is the step pyramid in Saqqara. The Step Pyramid in Saqqara The step pyramid in Saqqara was built by the Pharoah Djoser in 2700BC. It was planned by Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian vizier who became known for his incredible achievements. The step pyramid at Saqqara is considered the oldest complete stone ... read more

Still trying to figure out a route and what to do or what to skip in this country…why am I having trouble you ask? Mainly because I was not supposed to plan this part of the trip. I was supposed to be an accompanying passenger with a friend who didn’t make it over. So I didn’t look up any information about anything in Egypt expecting him to keep his word and bring the plan (including my own up to date guide book I lent him). Soooooooo off to the pyramids of Giza today to see what kind of shit can go wrong…Well….it was supposed to be a simple 1 Egyptian Pound (1/8th of a dollar) to ride the subway allllll the way to Giza (a suburb of Cairo) and then a simple ticket purchase to wander ... read more

Egypt was fascinating. We were unsure even the night before if we were going to call. Other ships had cancelled, but we we so happy with HAL for not doing so. I'm sure they were checking security, as there had been a breach of the American Embassy wall several days prior and embassy murders in Libya. A Cruise Critic group of 20 of us did an overnight tour with Ramses Tours, which for we singles was less than 1/3 the price of the HAL tour (same hotel), in a mini-bus. 3 hours from Alexandria to Giza the first day was a long trip, but there was a pleasant roadside stop. Our guide gave us lira to use the toilets (common in the middle east). Our destination was the pyramids at Giza. When we came around the ... read more

At last! We could see the Pyramids of Giza from the pool area of our hotel as we crossed from the section of the hotel where our room is located to the restaurant for breakfast. Our first glimpse of the pyramids was very exciting. There was an extensive array of food available from the breakfast buffet, but we were too scared to eat about half of it!! We're not sure about eating fruit that isn't peeled, dairy products and anything uncooked. We met Ammar in the lobby at 8.15am and he introduced us to our Egyptologist, Shereen, who will be taking us to the sites in and around Cairo over the next couple of days. We were taken first to the Ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, 20 km south of Cairo, on the west bank of ... read more

*yawn* Last night was not an ideal sleep. I spent all night will terrible stomach cramps and this morning I keep running back and forward to the bathroom because im having a debate with my body... I don't want to spew, but it wants to. I just want these terrible stomach cramps to go away! I have a little bit of water left, so chow down some ammonia tablets because on the back it says it gives a fast effect of relieving stomach cramps... And all that other stuff. Im really hoping it just stops me from spewing! Ya know, I thought because I'm a tough kiwi girl I could have handled this awesome Egyptian food! I head downstairs and have a cup of tea with Kai and Shantelle, grab some water and head back upstairs ... read more