Cairo and the Pyramids of Giza

---

Today we woke up in Cairo, Egypt. I went to the balcony and admired the view of the Nile, however, it was impossible to see the skyline of Cairo (if you can even say Cairo has a skyline), due to the thick fog. We showered and packed up our bags in preparation for the sleeper train we needed to catch at 8:30pm. As we got ready, the phone in the hotel rang. It was the concierge desk calling to inform us that they accidently did not charge us enough for our train tickets and we needed to come back down to sort everything out. At the concierge desk I signed for additional money and was assured that the tickets would be ready before we left.

From there, Michael and I hit up the executive lounge that I had access to because of my Gold Marriott status. We were the only non-Arabic’s there and we definitely were the only tourists. We filled our stomachs with green veggies, potatoes, peppers and pastries. We also took 4 waters for the road and 2 strawberry drinks. These drinks are amazing. They literally have real fruit mashed up and no preservatives. So good.

We headed down to the bell captain to hire a cab for the day. We arrived at a deal of 350LE for the day. We explained to our cab driver that we would like to ride camels when we are at the pyramids. He drove us to a fairly nice stable about a half a mile outside the upper gate to the pyramids. I was under the impression that we would just hire a camel while we were in the pyramids, but hiring them for the day turned out so much better. We asked how much, and the man told us he would discuss that once he brought out his map and showed us the different routes we could go. We waited patiently until he came back with some pictures. Not a map, but pictures of the pyramids. He explained these were the different lookout points and we choose the ones we wanted. We could have probably gotten them for cheaper, but we ended up making a deal for a guide and 2 camels for 3 hours for 400LE. 120LE was paid for upfront because it covered our admission fees, while the 400LE would be paid upon our safe return to our taxi. I’d read blogs about people paying 400LE for just a 15 minute ride during the high tourist season. This was perfect, because not only did we have a guide, we also had someone to take some pictures. We couldn’t rely on finding other tourists to do so because there were literally about 6 of us there. Everyone else was a merchant or a guard.

We made our way through the security gate. They went through our bags and waved a metal detector wand around us until they were satisfied we weren’t terrorists. After we were safely through the security gate and our camels were patted down, we hopped back on and started heading through the dunes of sand toward the pyramids in the distance. Excavation sites lined the dunes as our tour guide explained that the pharaohs had valuables in their tombs that they intended to take with them to the afterlife. He laughed and continued, “they do not end up in the afterlife, they end up in the Egyptian museum.”

We continued through the sands and the boy, about 10 years old, who was leading our camels, turned and asked me how I was and where I was from in perfect English. I was kind of taken aback. It’s a Sunday, so in Egypt he should be in school, I just didn’t imagine that he’d be so fluent. When I told him that I was well and that I was from the United States, he asked, “what state?” I told him “Pennsylvania” and he asked “Philadelphia?” Woah. There are 10 year old kids in the United States that wouldn’t put that together.
Our tour guide Habeb talked to us as we made our way through the sight. I’d read a lot about ancient Egypt in the few months leading up to our trip, but there is no way I could catch up on 6,000 years of history in just a few months. He asked Michael if he’ll sell me for 2,000 camel and I think that Michael was seriously considering it until he realized how difficult it would be to bring the camels on the plane.

We continued along our way taking a ton of pictures. I don’t think in an experience like this there is a such thing as too many pictures. Michael was shooting video while I was at work with the still photos. The revolution of January 25th really affected tourism in Egypt. While we were standing at the viewpoints for the pyramids, I could tell by the space cleared that there were ordinarily hundreds of people in this space. Today, Michael and I were the only ones. We had each of the lookout points all to ourselves. It’s pretty incredible.

Our camels lead us through the pyramids and we could see little huts built up all around. I asked our guide what they were and he explained that they were for the night watchmen. We got near the base of the pyramids and looking up really is a sight two see. I’ve looked up at massive structures many times in my life, especially considering I live in the city of Philadelphia. The Comcast building is taller than this. But when you keep in mind that these pyramids were built 6,000 years ago with about 100,000 people each without any of the modern day technologies that we have, you can’t help but be astounded. Brick by brick these ancient engineers created these masterpieces with no other purpose but to try and win the grace of the deity of Egypt. They are powerful formations up on a hill overlooking the city of Giza. Down the hill from the middle pyramid, Khafra, you can see the back of the Sphinx looking toward the city. That’s a view you don’t see very often in the newspapers and documentaries. Most publications lead you to believe that the pyramids are farther out in the desert, but from the top I can see the sign for a Pizza Hut. Ancient wonders clashing with the modern world.

We needed to get off our camels now for a chance to touch the pyramids. Getting off and on these camels is no easy task and throughout the day we probably did it about a dozen times. The camels have a personality all their own and sometimes we pretty much had to wait until they were done throwing their little temper tantrum. They would moan and growl as they were pulled to let us down, but then when we were walking around they seemed happy as can be to bring us from destination to destination. We needed to lean back as their front legs collapse to bring us to the ground.

There is a rope around the pyramids, but when we asked the guards let us by. We sat on the pyramids for a little while, marveling at where we were. While there was no line, we decided that we did not need to crunch 6’8” and 6’1” of human down the long 3x3 corridor to the center of the pyramid. We took the alternative and went into one of the queen pyramids close by. We would only need to squeeze through for a short way. It’s amazing how conscious the builders of these pyramids were about thieves. We went down one passage and could see a burial chamber room with broken stone. We were told that this was the fake burial chamber so that the thieves would be satisfied and leave without making it to the real one. They showed where the excavation team chiseled away the wall to another passage way. We headed a short distance through that hole and arrived in a much larger room that was the real burial chamber. The room was completely empty, because most of the artifacts were now in the Egyptian museum (or the British museum… but the Egyptians don’t like to be reminded of that). Regardless of the emptiness of the room you could still see where everything once laid. You could see where the 4 jars of vital organs rested as well as where the tomb was lowered into. I jumped down to where the tomb was and laid in it. I couldn’t help but think to myself, Independence Hall in Philadelphia is one of our oldest history and it’s very protected. You can’t touch anything there. This country has 6,000 year old history and they allow tourist to enjoy at their leisure, touching and climbing around as they please. It’s definitely a different culture, and one that I definitely appreciate during my trip.

From down in the tomb we could hear our tour guide calling up the passage ways, “Michael”, “Michael”. When we emerged from the tomb they were ready with our camels, but now a ton of merchants knew Michael’s name and were swarming him with souvenir trinkets. Haha, Maeve is too difficult for them to remember. I just kept getting called, “My princess”. Not a bad substitute, I have to admit.

From the Queen’s pyramid we made our way by camel to the Sphinx. The Sphinx is a massive stone statue at the end of the passage way leading from the middle pyramid, Khafra. The face of a man, hair of a woman and the body of a lion. He was carved from one stone that was transported all the way up the Nile from Aswan around 4,000 BC. Aswan is an 8 hour train ride from Cairo; imagine how long it would have taken by boat considering how heavy that rock is. The condition of the statue, with the exception of the nose which Napoleon took off during French occupation at the time, is incredible. There were beautiful blue skies at the top of the pyramids, but as we descended the skies turned grey. We entered the Sun Temple at the base of the Sphinx. We were the only ones there. As we weaved our way through to the actual statue is started raining. RAIN! In Egypt???! It only rains about 5 times a year in this part of the world and we’re standing in the middle of a storm. What was originally a mist of rain was soon gigantic raindrops. The Egyptians were all screaming and running for cover while Michael and I stood out enjoying the rain and taking a few more photos. We made our way back to the camels and rode back to the taxi through the drenching rain. Water was collecting in the street as if it had been raining for days. Huge puddles appeared that we rode around. We realized that there’s no drainage system for the water. The Egyptians would just wait until the stand soaked the rain up. Anyway, every piece of me was wet.

We paid the men for the day and returned to the taxi where we headed off to Mena House to meet a friend of a friend for lunch. We arrived still soaking wet and found Patricia waiting for us. We said hi and exchanged the goods we brought from home for an international cell phone to use while we’re in Egypt. We ate in a beautifully designed restaurant that overlooked the pyramids. It was very nice.
Once lunch concluded, we took a short tour around the hotel which was designed beautifully in an effort to impress during the inauguration of the Suez Canal. From the ceiling to the rugs each room was specially designed.

After lunch we headed back to the cab in hopes that he would bring Patricia home a few blocks out of our way back. The cab driver refused as he was contracted by the hotel to make specific stops. Pat and the driver exchanged some words in Arabic that ended with Pat getting out of the cab and hiring another to take her home. It didn’t make much sense to not be lenient, especially in a country that so strongly relies of “beeshesh” or tips. We drove back to the hotel in silence. We paid the driver as agreed and went back to the hotel to check in about our train tickets.

The tickets were ready, yay. We picked them up and grabbed our luggage for the trip to Aswan, Abu Simbel and Luxor. We left one of our backpacks with the bell man to pick up on our return and took the other with us to the train station. So we were traveling light: Just a small bag and our backpack. We stopped by the bakery in the hotel to order some sandwiches to go. We weren’t 100% sure if we would be able to get food on the train.

We got a cab to the train station and when we arrived I found it hard to believe this was a train station. I wrapped my scarf around my head; this definitely didn’t feel like a tourist spot. It looked like the dumpster side of a worn down warehouse building. The cab driver understood my confusion and explained that we needed to go through the doors up to the left. Still, this place gave me the creeps. Once inside the train station we could see crates stuffed with live chickens, children curled up in the corners, men on mats saying their prayers and transit police bunched up smoking, talking and laughing. We asked for directions to our platform and when we arrived we stood close together with our bags on our stomachs in an effort to avoid any pick pocketing. The clock on the wall felt like it wasn’t even moving, Michael and I were that anxious to get out of there.

Finally, the train arrived. Allllllllll Aboard! We attempted to get on and were stopped. Our tickets were for car number 10, this was car number 1. Ooo, jeeshh, just our luck. We started running down the platform just hoping that the train wasn’t going to pull away without us on it – the other trains that had come through during our waiting didn’t stop for very long before leaving again. We got to the train and were welcomed by the conductor. He showed us our cabin and explained that dinner will be around in about half an hour. We sat in our car and as the train was pulling away, all of the lights went off. Yikes. As if the train station wasn’t creepy enough. Now we felt like we were on the Orient Express from the old movie. We immediately locked our compartment door and fumbled around in our bags until we found the flashlight that I had packed. Don’t know why I packed a flashlight, but it seemed like a good idea at the time and I’m grateful I did. About a half hour later the lights came back on and our food was served; Beef and fish with a side of rice and bread. The beef was disgusting and neither Michael nor I ate it, but the fish was pretty good.

We asked the conductor to lower our beds and we fell asleep pretty quickly. What a great first day in Egypt.

---

Photos

Camels at the Pyramids
Michael and I were the only tourists at each of the lookout points. Overall there was maybe a dozen tourists at the pyramids.

Comments

[Eric]

Height Difference
Holy crap, is that guys just abnormally short or is there some photo magic going on here?