Well, I’ve gotten some sleep, have turned in laundry to get washed, and have until 1:30pm today on my own, so here’s the big catch up on the last 2.5 days. It’s a long one – so sorry.
On Saturday night, went with my new Longhorn friends (or Aggies, depending upon which t-shirt is being worn) to the Khan al-Khalili bazaar. It’s an enormous market that winds through the streets of old Islamic Cairo. Lights were strung everywhere, people were elbow to elbow milling around and it was just so full of life. During Ramadan, everything’s very quiet and often closed during the day. Nighttime is another story. As soon as the sun goes down and everyone breaks that day’s fast, the entire city comes to life. There were tons of sidewalk cafés open, the mosques were very busy, and probably hundreds of shops. It was so much fun, but also tiring at the same time. Those girls from Texas can shop – especially once I showed them how to bargain with the locals. I have to say, I’ve learned some skills on this trip and they as well as the shopkeepers were pretty surprised. I bought nothing. There was nothing about King Tut masks, belly dancing costumes, Great Pyramid snow domes or little sphynx statues that appealed to me. Oh well, I’ll find something eventually.
The next morning, I set out with an English speaking guide and a driver to Giza, Saqarra and Memphis. The day was a bit diappointing – here’s why. The girls went separately with a Spanish speaking guide and I was on my own. This is the first time that my tour company had used this guide (a friend of a friend I heard) and he was terrible. First of all, he kept wanting me to look at his clipboard while he pointed at charts and drawings and he talked. Whenever I’d look up to see the pyramids, he’d get upset and tell me to pay attention. He actually started quizzing me like I was in school. Then he would offer to take a picture of me in front of whatever and then want to go. Totally not my style. I like to walk around, observe the scene, take photos and just soak in the atmosphere. This guy didn’t even want me to talk in between pyramids at Giza. Apparently, the car was a gift and I needed to use it. I argued that it was 100 yards or so between pyramids and that I like to walk. I even told him to take the car and I’d meet him there, but no. He got upset so I complied. Here I was at one of the 7 wonders of the world and I was there less than an hour. That includes all 3 big pyramids (there’s actually 9 there, but the other 6 are kind of in ruins), the sphynx and the “panoramic viewpoint”. He kept saying that Giza was not interesting. I disagree. Then it was off to Saqarra.
On the way, I wanted a bottle of water. The car stopped and I went to get out. But the guide insisted that I give him the money so that he could buy it for me – he’d get a better deal. When I pulled out 5 Egyptian pounds, he told me to give him my 100 pound note. He took off and came back with two bottles, one for me and one for him. This is the first time this has happened to me and I have to say that I was a little take aback. More on that later.
Saqarra is the place of the famous step pyramid, the oldest pyramid that they know of. It’s in a complex with a few other decaying pyramids, some fabulous tombs, and views of the bent and red pyramids and a series of 3 pyramids that are the newest of them all. A little aside: the bent pyramid was the first attempt at a non-step pyramid. It didn’t come out so well and the pharoh demanded a redo – that is the red pyramid. The bent pyramid was never used for anything. Anyhoo, I had to stand inside an entryway while he pulled out the clipboard and started in again. When he started the testing portion of the program, I tried to nicely joke that I didn’t come half way around the world to take quizzes and he finally backed off. I walked around a bit and asked a couple of questions, but he didn’t really answer (or couldn’t). There was an area below toward the bent pyramid that looked really interesting, but he told me that it was forbidden to go down there. There was another decaying pyramid with a large entrance and handrails that looked open for visitors, but he told me that it was forbidden to go in there as well. I then said that I wanted to walk around a bit and take photos. He reluctantly agreed and then went to sit in the shade and talk on his phone.
Well, sure enough, I saw other groups going down toward the tombs with their guides. I followed and went into the tombs along with another small group. So much for not being allowed. In one I lingered and an old man came up to me and told me to take a picture. There were signs as we entered saying that photos were not allowed in the tombs, so I said no. He grabbed my camera from me, smapped some pictures and then demanded money. I had nothing with me (my bag was in the car), so he was SOL. I have to say though, I kept the pictures. I’m not sure I have a clear conscience about that.
Afterwards, I walked over to the step pyramid and saw the workers that are restoring it. They had just got a big stone on a cart and were set to get the stone up a ramp to the pyramid, old Egyptian style. I just had to watch that and snap some photos. Soon after, we left.
Next up was Memphis, once the capital of ancient Egypt. There’s not much there but some relics that have been unearthed from various places. There is the alabaster sphynx – something my guide told me was far more important that the sphynx in Giza because it’s much more in tact. There’s also a building with a very large statue of Ramses II. There’s no legs left, so they have the statue lying down, but I have to say it’s pretty impressive.
After that, the guide wanted to take me to some shops to do some shopping. I didn’t want to. He then wanted to take me to an expensive restaurant so that we could eat and I said no. I really didn’t feel like paying for his lunch, too. I then asked if they could take me back to Giza and explained that I wanted to spend more time. The answer was no. I then asked them to drop me at Giza and explained that I would take a taxi back to the hotel when I was done. I was told that it was closing at 2pm because of Ramadan and since it was already 1:00, there would be no time. Instead, I was back at the hotel by 2. Oh, and since Micheal (the guide) handled the money all day, I had only 20 pound notes left for tips. That’s a bit outrageous of a tip, but that’s all I had and I really wanted to get away from the guy.
Later, I found out the following: the ticket office closes at 2, but I could have been there until 5 since I already had a ticket. Also, when the girls arrived back at the hotel (at 5:30), they not only were taken in multiple tombs at Saqarra, they were taken in the pyramid that I was told was off limits. That pyramid was completely full of hieroglyphics and stunning inside. They went inside a museum at Giza that I didn’t even know existed. Instead, I hung out in the hotel lobby waiting for the internet router to get fixed and for the tour operator to arrive – for 6 hours until it was time to leave for the train station to take the overnight train to Aswan. The tour operator was a little upset when I told him about the day. He handed me 100 pounds to make up for the tip and the lost time. When I come back to Cairo (and I have some extra days at the end), he’s giving me a car with no guide for a day to take me where ever I want to go so that I can do whatever I want to do. This gives me some extra time in the Egyptian Museum (I have a day scheduled as part of the tour, but hear that it is not enough) and I can go back to Giza and experience it properly.
I’m going to keep the train ride portion of this short, though the ride was not. We were supposed to catch a 10pm train (the girls and I) and be in Aswan the next morning. The train was 1.5 hours late to arrive and to make a very long story short, did not arrive in Aswan until sunset the next day. Apparently there was a train ahead of us on the tracks that kept breaking down and was backing up all trains behind it. We spent a lot of time sitting on tracks either in stations or in the middle of nowhere. We did have AC, but the trains are relics from the British era and could use a little help. And bathrooms that work a little better. And a little communication with the passengers would be nice, too. We did meet this wonderful Egyptian girl named Zaha. She was fascinated with us and we sat for a couple of hours with my Arabic phrasebook having a conversation. Like many that I met in India and Nepal, she loves the WWF. It is way more popular in other parts of the world than in the USI -- don’t get it. Anyway, she lives in Aswan and came by our hotel last night to make sure we were OK. We were.
After showers, we went out and walked along the Nile for a bit and found Aswan’s answer to the bazaar. It was more low key, but nice all the same. We stopped for dinner and I went back to the hotel while they went out shopping. The girls got up early today to go in the escourted convoy to Abu Simel to visit the great temple. It’s down near the Sudani border, but apparently spectacular and well worth the trip. I slept in and will go tomorrow. We all go on a dam, city and island tour this afternoon and then they take the evening train to Luxor. I have another night here and then start my felucca sail. I’ll have two nights on the boat as we sail downriver to Luxor. I’m then going to have 3 nights there before heading back to Cairo and then possibly a night or two in Alexandria.
By the way, my brother sent me a link to a story on CNN about some German and Italian tourists getting kidnapped in Egypt. They were at a camp in the western desert much like the Bedoin camp that I stayed at in Jordan. It was just inside the Sudani border in an area that has no border patrol. The kidnappers are demanding $6 million dollars for their release. I am going to an area just south of Aswan where there are armed guards and everything. The border in this area is highly patrolled. The escorted convoy goes several times a day every day and has had no problems, so don’t worry. I’m not.
Despite the stupid guide and my train ride, I have to say that I really like it here. Egyptians are very nice people and the atmosphere is great. I had been told by some on the tour in Jordan that Egypt is filthy and poor and very difficult. I just don’t see it. There is a little bit of garbage here and there, but for the most part, it’s fine. And while people don’t have as much as we have in the US, they certainly have way more than the Nepali. Difficult? I don’t think so. Those Aussies apparently have never been to India.
We then went off to the citadel, passing the area where a rock slide recently destroyed some homes and killed some people. Besides beautiful views of all of Cairo (and pyramids in the distance), there are two significant mosques. One is from about 1500 years ago and is a very good representation of early mosque design. The other is the mosque of Mohammad Ali, also known as the alabaster mosque. Amazingly, they allow visitors and even allow photos on the inside. How nice is that? They have very large capes available for women that they do not consider appropriately dressed, but I was allowed in as I was dressed. Everyone was very welcoming and even spent time explaining their religion to me and the significance of Ramadan. I had already read all of this, but it was nice to hear it from the folks running the mosques. The interiors are extremely beautiful, but very open with little furniture. I took the best pictures I could in the light, so be sure to have a look.
