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Published: December 22nd 2009
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A word or two from Egypt,
After the worst possibly array of flight connections, delays, and airports, my mom and I arrived in Cairo, Egypt. We stepped out into an oven, haggard, into the bright, hot daylight. We were pegged immediately. Swarmed by bartering taxi drivers, all offering us inflated prices to our hotel. I began bargaining, but felt meek in the heat with the sheer exhaustion of over 24 consecutive hours of transit. We settled on a slightly inflated price, deciding it wasn't worth the bother if it meant that we would get to the hotel and we could shower and sleep. Unfortunately, settling on a price did not result in the actual taxi. This was our true introduction to Egypt... like so many other countries; our western expectations left us bewildered and frustrated. We were standing directly in the sun, no sunscreen, and aware of our flushed flesh.... soon to be burned... waiting for the taxi, "just a minute away", to arrive.
After five or ten minutes I was loosing my patience, and I went back to the man we had bartered with, he was smiling and nodding, reassuring me "only a minute or two" as I
into the pyramids
(sorry - no cameras allowed!) approached. I confirmed that it was two minutes, not more. He reassured me. I told him then that I would wait two minutes and then take another taxi if he did not have his in front of me. Sudden backpedaling spilled out of his mouth. "Two minutes, five at most. You see the taxis cannot wait here, the taxi is just around the corner, but the airport is big and they are directing the traffic. He is on the way, just a few minutes, just a few meters...” We waited another 5 minutes and I started make motions for another cab. The man who had been all but ignoring my impatient glances suddenly rushed to me and began his seductive talk. He was convincing and English rolled off of his tongue in a smooth manner, leaving no room for interruption. I was trying to interject and protest, when the taxi finally arrived, and we made our way to the hotel. All we could think of was a refreshing shower, new clothes, and much needed sleep... and finally, after the taxi driver navigating the city with some running commentary en route, that's what we got.
The next morning, our travel
alarms startled us and we were pressed getting to the pharmacy for mineral replacement packets before we departed for the pyramids and the sphinx. As we found ourselves winding through the city for the second time, we were in awe of the hustle and bustle, the reckless driving, and the local women covered head to toe, many of them in full burkas. With all the distractions, it was even more shocking to suddenly see the pyramids towering over the city. Unlike so many of the pictures of the pyramids isolated with sand and desert surrounding them, these magnificent structures contrasted the new city buildings in the forefront of our view.
We wound around those new buildings, and found the sand and desert stretching on behind the pyramids, now truly feeling like we were in a different world. We made our way through the tour groups and paid our fees. There were hundreds of tourists around, but somehow, it didn’t seem that way. Perhaps the mere size of the pyramids, making all of us so small and insignificant, gave perceptive and a feeling of insignificance, almost mistaken as isolation. The feeling must have been shared, because there were only hushed
murmurs from the other tourists, and as we wandered from pyramid to pyramid over the expansive area. The tourists dispersed and in certain moments, I did feel alone.
We roamed through the sand, finding different views, locals, tourists, and even camels. It had to be done - the pyramids in Egypt seen from the comfortable seat of a camel. As we wandered and explored, pure astonishment washed over us. We I climbed down into the pyramids and it was breathtaking... The colour. The detail. The overwhelming amount of carving and impossibility of the work. The height. The meticulous work on each etch... It was incredible and difficult to take in all at once. Oh, and the heat as we descended into that buried preservation of history, my goodness the heat enveloped us. In some of the pyramids, we could only stay a few minutes at the bottom for fear of passing out. After hours of wandering, we tired ourselves out and were ready for our first falafel and the long night train to Aswan.
The night train was easily forgotten when we arrived on the cruise ship. We had a nice comfortable room on the ship. There was
a wonderful two-leveled deck, with a pool on the upper deck and the ever-changing view. We spent the day relaxing and recuperating from the heat and exhaustion the hot weather perpetuates and enhances. We arrived in Aswan fairly early and were able to make our way through the markets before the afternoon sun became unbearable. We roamed the local streets, bartering over spices and jewelry - impressed with the contrast to our daily life.
In the afternoon, we took a felucca to float up the Nile, pausing at a little house that served local coffee and had a tiny shop. Waterfront dune property on the Nile, complete with a safe areas to swim. We had to stay close to the shore with the vicious current, but it was lovely to share the experience with locals. I must admit though, I was slightly self-conscious swimming among the local women, who had jumped in fully clothed, still covered head to toe.
I found some local children and we raced up the sand dunes, turning and running down from time to time. We laughed and smile, sharing the entire experience wordlessly. There was a path that led to the top of
the dune, overlooking the Nile and I went straight up - loving the challenge and the view, the nature and the wondrous difference of the land I looked out over. We finished our night with more water - dinner and a dip in the deck-top pool, staring at the stars as we continued our cruise up the Nile.
Abu Simbal was our next stop, the amazing Egyptian temples, rescued from the surrounding lakes. We wandered through the temples, through the heat, continuously amazed by the detail, the colour, and the feat that these preserved buildings unveiled. We wandered the streets, and a typical village. We bartered our way through markets, one day becoming the next. We visited the Temple of Edfu, cemeteries, and local markets and streets. We continued on to Luxor, and barely survived the heat.
On our sixth day, we woke extremely early to catch the sunrise and take a donkey to the Valley of the Kings - of course. This idea sounded better before we saw the miniature donkeys we were to ride. The poor things lugged us to the temple, and we opted not to have them wait and take us back, but rather,
to wander the Valley of the Kings, still as awed as the first day, and then find a vehicle to take us back.
Our final day was upon us, and we wasted no time, we woke to catch another sunrise, and then took a carriage to Karnak Temple. We were out before the worst of the heat to tour the expansive ruins. I enjoyed the tour, but the question that floated in my mind the whole trip still haunted me - how had a civilization managed to create such things? What were their methods and how could they possibly have accomplished everything I saw such a long time ago? The questions were still floating in my mind, even as we had some drinks in Egypt with some fellow travelers, Robin and Jeff, overlooking the city for our final night in Egypt…
More to come, as always,
Trish xx
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