Blogs from Giza, Lower Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 4

Our first full day in Egypt was a real highlight of the trip as we visited the pyramids at the Giza plateau. Although our scheduled visit on the tour was not until the end of the holiday we had a welcome change to see them at the start (due to some protesting in Tahir square). There are three main pyramids Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus and the sight of them did not disappoint. Breathtaking in sheer size, creation and craftmanship and surprising to think that they have been there for thousands of years while the city of Cairo and Giza have built up around them. We had the opportunity to go inside the Great Pyramid of Cheops. It was amazing inside. We climbed steeply up into a chamber near the top of the pyramid. Inside we discovered ... read more

Our tour guide, Melanie, met us in the hotel lobby. Our destination was Giza, again. This time we were to ride horses around the pyramids. T's experience with horses is long. She grew up in Canada on a ranch. Her family owned them and she rode them throughout childhood and adolescence. My experience is much less extensive. I've ridden a few times, mostly on docile animals that could have probably been ridden as successfully by a sack of flour. A horse whisper I wasn't. Traffic wasn't too bad. Before long we were in a neighborhood next to the pyramid grounds. In an US real estate advertisement this neighborhood would be given the affluent moniker of "horse property". In Egyptian reality, it was as densely packed as the rest of Giza, many brick and cement block buildings ... read more

Salaam a leikum, habibi! I have made my way out to Egypt, the land of pharaohs, and I am in love with this country! Cairo is the capital city and it’s a bustling place with rich culture pulsing through its veins. There’s colorful markets drizzled around every corner. There are huge mosques with beautiful white domes. And even though the city can be really crowded, it’s still easy to duck into small alleys where there are friendly food vendors cooking up some delicious shwarma. At night time, you can feel the electric energy vibe through the entire city. The lights are all on but with a dim to give the streets a calming glow. I see people selling every kind of goods to anybody. I see moms and dads taking their excited kids out to ice ... read more

Wow. That'd be a pretty good description of day 1 in Egypt! We started off this morning with a quick breakfast in our hotel (for the most part breakfast was really good) before hopping on our bus to Giza. Suddenly, while we were driving along some random street, a pyramid jumped out of nowhere; a few moments later and a second one became visible. Now we have all seen the pyramids on TV, and know what they look like. We all also know that they are really big. Our first impression, though, wasn't that they are really big, it was the they are frickin' huge!  Absolutely magnificent structures! The pictures really don't due them justice, but we will post photos anyways.  In the vicinity of the pyramids there are many merchants trying either to sell you ... read more

18 June 2010 1740 (GMT +3) Giza, Egypt I apologize once again for my break in communication, but there just hasn’t been all that much excitement in the last week. I’ve basically been occupying myself with school and trying to stay out of the sun. I got a little burned in Alexandria, as I’m more likely to apply aloe vera gel afterwards than sunscreen beforehand. Plus, here in Cairo, most afternoons it has been over 100 degrees. It’s the kind of weather that makes you want to sit under the air conditioner with a bottle of water and not move. So, I thought I’d take few minutes today to write about one of my favorite subjects, food. There is certainly plenty of it here in Egypt, of many different varieties. Here is a random assortment of ... read more