currency in Egypt = the Egyptian pound - currently at about 5.37 to the dollar
We woke early Wed morning an had breakfast at the hotel buffet (no pork sausage or bacon of course - although there is beef bacon everywhere....) After eating, we headed down to begin our tour that we had set up through Mustoufa the day before.
First stop - Memphis. This was the site of the first capital of Egypt. Here we saw a huge statue of Ramses among other artifacts (many completely open to the elements, just standing outside). There was, as always, the police presense.
Kenton and I did get a great picture with a few of them (they were, of course, armed), and then after offering to pose for the picture and taking it, they of course asked us for money. When we said 'oh...we don't have any Egyptian $$', they said that the American dollar would be fine as well....We ended up keeping our money and leaving some disappointed (and one fairly angry) guards behind us. This was not the first or the last time we had such an experience.
Also looking for money there (as well as everywhere in Cairo) were women and men standing outside of restrooms holding toilet paper hostage. They shove a small wad in your hand as you walk past and ask for money. Most of the time I ignored them or said I didn't have any. In Memphis, I told her, with a smile, that I had my own and showed her the Kleenex in my purse. The old woman shook her head and said, 'no, money to use the bathroom'. I told her I didn't need to go that badly so I'd use it for free. :o)
After Memphis was the Tomb of Mereruka (northeast of the Step Pyramid), then on to Saqqara, the largest necropolis (city of the dead) in Egypt. We saw the Step Pyramid (designed my Imhotep), it was the first of the Great Pyramids. I don't know if you can truly understand how enormous they are unless you are standing near it. Truly - even pictures do not do it justice. This is especially true when you think of the fact that these were built around 5 thousand years ago!
After Saqqara (or Sakara...there are apparently 6 ways of translating everything from Arabic to English which totally confuses me when I'm trying to remember how to spell things and what they are called!), we visited the Oriental Carpets and Tapestry School. There were many of these types of schools as we drove near Giza.
At the carpet school, we learned how the handmade Oriental rugs are made and got to watch the children, women, and young men making them. It was pretty amazing to watch. They start around 11 years old (well, that's what they told us, but some looked younger) and the youngest work only 2 hours per day (or so they told us anyway - they made it a point to tell us this over and over so they obviously know child labor issues would cause issues in selling carpets...). I even got to try making a couple of knots on the loom myself!
Of course next came the part where they try to sell you a carpet...
After the carpet school was the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Again, you really have to see it I think. Amazing. It is the largest of the 3 Giza Pyramids - over 450 feet with almost 2.5 million gigantic stone blocks, each one taller than a person. I will never understand how they built these back then. This is the only survivor of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.
Once again, the police are here as well, once again with their assault rifles (just assume from now on that there are police everywhere - oh, also, they use mirrors to check for bombs under the shuttles, vans, etc when you pass the security checkpoints outside the hotel.)
Inside the Great Pyramid presented more of a challenge than I expected, even after hearing Ken's warning (this was his 4th visit to Cairo). In order to get to the funerary chamber where the sarcophagus is, we had to go through a fairly athletic process. We climbed steep 'steps' which are really boards (nailed?) into a smooth surface at a high incline, we had to squat/duck walk through passages, and up and up...and I'm not going to lie, it's probably not the safest. The railings leave plenty of room to fall through. Then, once you're ready to go back out, it's right back the way you came, and there are people going the opposite way at the same time, both ways.
We saw the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx - the other 2 of these pyramids are the Pyramid of Chepren (2 feet shorter than teh Great Pyramid) and the Pyramid of Mykerinus (last to be built at Giza). All around these are tombs of the pharaohs' family, officials, and nobles. The Sphinx was made in Chepren's image to guard his tomb. Kenton and I also went through Valley Temple of Chephren which has an alabaster floor and many huge, smooth granite columns.
Next, our tour guide took us to a restaurant which I cannot remember the full name, but I know it was something...Peace. It was a nice enough restaurant and the food was very good. From here we went to Flower Cotton where we were shown how to wear Egyptian style headdresses and bought some Egyptian cotton clothing (great quality) at great prices.
After the cotton store, we were on to the Merit Papyrus Institute where we saw a demonstration on how papyrus is made and bought a few as well. Upstairs from the institute was the Merit Center El Bazaar where we did some shopping (I of course got an Egyptian cat figurine - come on, you all knew I'd get one...)
After being gone since around 8am, we finally returned from our very full day tour at about 7 in the evening and took naps before ordering room service and going to bed.
Also to note:
We could hear the prayers from the mosques each day from our hotel room. Unfortunately, Kenton also heard the construction crew across the street from us most of the nights. For some reason, they seem to only work at night; they fire up the bright spot lights and make a lot of noise, then go silent during the day. I slept right through it all, but the first night Kenton needed ear plugs...
The weather was beautiful the entire time we were in Cairo - in the 70s and then cool at night. I wore a sweater quite a bit of the time and was really comfortable. This is interesting to me because - #1 it was about 111 degrees in Cairo a week ago and #2 the weather is so different in Dubai. (It was a warm 95 degrees when we returned)
We woke early Wed morning an had breakfast at the hotel buffet (no pork sausage or bacon of course - although there is beef bacon everywhere....) After eating, we headed down to begin our tour that we had set up through Mustoufa the day before.
First stop - Memphis. This was the site of the first capital of Egypt. Here we saw a huge statue of Ramses among other artifacts (many completely open to the elements, just standing outside). There was, as always, the police presense.
Kenton and I did get a great picture with a few of them (they were, of course, armed), and then after offering to pose for the picture and taking it, they of course asked us for money. When we said 'oh...we don't have any Egyptian $$', they said that the American dollar would be fine as well....We ended up keeping our money and leaving some disappointed (and one fairly angry) guards behind us. This was not the first or the last time we had such an experience.
Also looking for money there (as well as everywhere in Cairo) were women and men standing outside of restrooms holding toilet paper hostage. They shove a small wad in your hand as you walk past and ask for money. Most of the time I ignored them or said I didn't have any. In Memphis, I told her, with a smile, that I had my own and showed her the Kleenex in my purse. The old woman shook her head and said, 'no, money to use the bathroom'. I told her I didn't need to go that badly so I'd use it for free. :o)
After Memphis was the Tomb of Mereruka (northeast of the Step Pyramid), then on to Saqqara, the largest necropolis (city of the dead) in Egypt. We saw the Step Pyramid (designed my Imhotep), it was the first of the Great Pyramids. I don't know if you can truly understand how enormous they are unless you are standing near it. Truly - even pictures do not do it justice. This is especially true when you think of the fact that these were built around 5 thousand years ago!
After Saqqara (or Sakara...there are apparently 6 ways of translating everything from Arabic to English which totally confuses me when I'm trying to remember how to spell things and what they are called!), we visited the Oriental Carpets and Tapestry School. There were many of these types of schools as we drove near Giza.
At the carpet school, we learned how the handmade Oriental rugs are made and got to watch the children, women, and young men making them. It was pretty amazing to watch. They start around 11 years old (well, that's what they told us, but some looked younger) and the youngest work only 2 hours per day (or so they told us anyway - they made it a point to tell us this over and over so they obviously know child labor issues would cause issues in selling carpets...). I even got to try making a couple of knots on the loom myself!
Of course next came the part where they try to sell you a carpet...
After the carpet school was the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Again, you really have to see it I think. Amazing. It is the largest of the 3 Giza Pyramids - over 450 feet with almost 2.5 million gigantic stone blocks, each one taller than a person. I will never understand how they built these back then. This is the only survivor of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.
Once again, the police are here as well, once again with their assault rifles (just assume from now on that there are police everywhere - oh, also, they use mirrors to check for bombs under the shuttles, vans, etc when you pass the security checkpoints outside the hotel.)
Inside the Great Pyramid presented more of a challenge than I expected, even after hearing Ken's warning (this was his 4th visit to Cairo). In order to get to the funerary chamber where the sarcophagus is, we had to go through a fairly athletic process. We climbed steep 'steps' which are really boards (nailed?) into a smooth surface at a high incline, we had to squat/duck walk through passages, and up and up...and I'm not going to lie, it's probably not the safest. The railings leave plenty of room to fall through. Then, once you're ready to go back out, it's right back the way you came, and there are people going the opposite way at the same time, both ways.
We saw the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx - the other 2 of these pyramids are the Pyramid of Chepren (2 feet shorter than teh Great Pyramid) and the Pyramid of Mykerinus (last to be built at Giza). All around these are tombs of the pharaohs' family, officials, and nobles. The Sphinx was made in Chepren's image to guard his tomb. Kenton and I also went through Valley Temple of Chephren which has an alabaster floor and many huge, smooth granite columns.
Next, our tour guide took us to a restaurant which I cannot remember the full name, but I know it was something...Peace. It was a nice enough restaurant and the food was very good. From here we went to Flower Cotton where we were shown how to wear Egyptian style headdresses and bought some Egyptian cotton clothing (great quality) at great prices.
After the cotton store, we were on to the Merit Papyrus Institute where we saw a demonstration on how papyrus is made and bought a few as well. Upstairs from the institute was the Merit Center El Bazaar where we did some shopping (I of course got an Egyptian cat figurine - come on, you all knew I'd get one...)
After being gone since around 8am, we finally returned from our very full day tour at about 7 in the evening and took naps before ordering room service and going to bed.
Also to note:
We could hear the prayers from the mosques each day from our hotel room. Unfortunately, Kenton also heard the construction crew across the street from us most of the nights. For some reason, they seem to only work at night; they fire up the bright spot lights and make a lot of noise, then go silent during the day. I slept right through it all, but the first night Kenton needed ear plugs...
The weather was beautiful the entire time we were in Cairo - in the 70s and then cool at night. I wore a sweater quite a bit of the time and was really comfortable. This is interesting to me because - #1 it was about 111 degrees in Cairo a week ago and #2 the weather is so different in Dubai. (It was a warm 95 degrees when we returned)
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