We arrived at Cairo International Airport at about 0630 and were greeted by one of the Karnak Tour operators. We finally had someone that held up our names when we arrived, even though they spelt our last names wrong (Deusnip and Sakdhoe). This guy did everything for us! At one point he went off with our passports while I was sorting out our visas. I shouted at Alisa not to let anyone go off with our passports! (Oh and by the way, for any South African travellers – do not bring the Rand at all, it is so hard to exchange it – no one will do it) But all was good and we were shuttled from the airport to our hotel – The Nile HILTON!!!
And for those of you that were wondering…it does flush the other way here!!! LOL
We were staying at the Hilton hotel on the Nile on the 6th floor but our view was overlooking the city and the Egyptian Museum. All we did was sleep when we first arrived and when we woke we decided to explore Cairo a bit before our tour actually starts (Sunday). Crossing the streets here are really a nightmare!! They have no real road rules and the whole road is almost a free-for-all and traffic lights seem to pretty lights that change colours! As well as this, I have to get used to them driving on the opposite side of the road. There are so many times when I look the wrong way and get ready to cross only to be stopped by Alisa. They also love using their horns here. Every driver uses their horns for anything from warning that they are overtaking to just warning a pedestrian not to cross – it makes the streets really noisy. We decided to walk over the Nile on one of the bridges that lead to one of many islands (the Nile is so wide that islands are actually formed!). While crossing the bridge Taxi’s kept slowing down and beeping at us to give us a ride. One actually stopped on the bridge and held up traffic!
Me standing by the Nile with the Cairo Tower in the background.
We made the classic mistake that tourist’s make and pulled out a map and that’s when we met Sammy. He introduced himself and spoke English and when we told him we were from NZ he started talking about how he served in the war with a soldier from Hawkes Bay (he was pretty old). We told him that we were interested in going to the Cairo Tower but he informed us that it was closed for renovation so we told him we would like a bank. He led us further away from our hotel but we trusted him. Being Friday, we were told that most shops were closed due to everyone praying and banks and such would resume service after about 1pm and so instead he led us into a papyrus and perfume store… Here we met Amed and he was the owner (“apparently” Sammy’s nephew) and he stated that they were an official Ministry of Tourism store.
Amed and Sammy.
He offered us Egyptian tea and cola as well as an Egyptian dish that had rice, noodles, pasta, lentils and sun-dried tomatoes. He continued to show us reviews of his store written by Australian and New Zealand travellers. I was a bit suss about this place because he was showing us all these things and also because many of the official documents and plaques has little spelling and grammar mistakes. Someone also told me that everybody in Egypt claims to sell you “original” papyrus paintings but its not. But we stayed on and that’s when he started his sales pitch for papyrus. We had no intention of spending any money at all but decided to see what is available. We ended up really liking a huge piece (roughly 2.5m x 1m) titled Judgement. It depicts the story of how when a person dies he is led to judgement to see if he was good or bad. His heart is then put on a balance scale opposite the feather of justice. If the heart is lighter than the feather then the person was free from sin and was good so the heart was preserved for him for his after-life. If the heart was heavier then he committed lots of sins and his heart was eaten by one of the protectors of the scales of justice. There was another smaller papyrus telling the coronation of Isis that Alisa really liked because of the colours. Amed kept making offers to us for both and because of Alisa’s indecisiveness the price kept dropping and before we knew it, we bought both pieces! But we left the place a bit wiser about how they work and operate.
We got back to the hotel and decided to play squash then take a dip in their slightly heated pool. It’s winter here but the temperature is in the 20’s and still the water is heated! Later that evening we went downstairs to the hotel café and smoked an apple flavoured shisha (hubbly-bubbly).
The next day we just lazed by the pool in the warm winter sun after enjoying a lovely buffet hotel breakfast. After lunch we decided to take a stroll through the city on the other side of the hotel before Alisa’s parents arrived. This time we were a lot wiser and wary of people trying to drag us to their shops. But we were to be taught another thing about these cunning locals. They learn a little phrase from so many different languages that if you tell them you’re from NZ they say “Kia Ora, Haere Mai” and if you say from SA then they say “Goie Dag. Hoe gaan dit?”
That night there was an Egyptian wedding at the Hotel and they had a huge celebration in the lobby so we joined in and had a bit of a squizz...
The next day (Sunday) was when our tour actually started and so did the relatively early mornings… First stop for us was the Egyptian Museum, which was right next to the hotel.
The Egyptian Museum.
We weren’t allowed cameras into the museum, which sucked, but it really was amazing inside. (The following photos are therefore complimentary from the web!)
One of the many vast halls in the Museum.
The Scribe. One of the most interesting statues due to the fact his arms weren't stiff by his side (like most of the others) and the eyes were made from clear stones which were quite real looking.
When they found Tut Ankh Amon tomb there were 3 gold plated wooden boxes inside each other before you finally get to his body. The largest box was about 3m high by 4m long and 3m wide. Above shows a seperate box containing the Alabaster jars containing his organs.
Tut Ankh Amon's body was also found within 3 sarcophagi, each more elaborate. The one above was the outside one made of gold and weighing about 2 tonnes!
The Alabaster jars that held his organs.
We were, however, rushed through the museum due to our tight schedule but managed to do all the important things. If we had to stop for one minute in front of each exhibit it would take more than nine months to see everything so we got the highlight tour. All the exhibits weren't displayed, there are still thousands stored away. We saw all of Tut Ankh Amons treasures and different statues and such. We also realised pretty quickly that all these tourist destinations also have an extra part that you pay for if you want to go and see it and in the museum, it was paying to go and see the royal mummies. We ended up paying and saw Ramses II and some of his descendents as well as many others.
The mummy of Ramses I.
From the museum we drove to Giza to see the world famous Giza Pyramids. We made a little detour though before getting there and went to a papyrus factory to see how papyrus is actually made. We were taught how to spot a fake and Alisa and I started to wonder about our and whether we were ripped off. This guy also scared us by saying that they charge tax at the airport for fakes and then later on he said they confiscate it. This made us doubt his credibility as he was also selling papyrus paintings and so just wanted us to buy from him. The guide is also in on this as he gets commission for anything we buy from the place because he brought us there.
An amazing sight on the horizon.
We finally get to the Pyramids and I am just amazed at how close it is to civilization. I thought it was out in the middle of the dessert because that is how it is always depicted but they are just in the backyard of the city. I was in complete awe at these wonderful structures – to actually see one of the wonders of the world (not all pyramids are on the list of wonders of the world. Its only Cheops Pyramid at Giza due to its sheer size and elaborate chambers and tunnels).
Shailen's expression pretty much sums it up! This is Cheops, the biggest one.
Alisa and her family were a bit disappointed as it wasn’t what they had envisioned – it was a lot smaller than they thought and also because the pyramids were just outside of a town, whereas they thought they would have to drive for miles through desert to get to them.
The Giza Pyramids consist of 3 main Pyramids. The first and largest pyramid (here and all of Egypt) was Khufu’s, otherwise known as Cheops by the Greeks. The second was Khufu’s son, Khafra, aka Khephren by the Greeks. The third and smallest pyramid belongs to the grandson of Khufu, Menkaura, aka Mykerinos by the Greeks. There are 6 much smaller pyramids – 3 next to Cheops’ and another 3 next to Mykerinos. They were used for their partners.
The reason that pyramids were built and the Ancients revered the shape was because the sun always illuminated all sides from above, and they worshipped the sun! The sun (God name: Amun Ra) was seen as a life cycle as such - in the morning, it is born and then makes its journey to pass as sets.
Cheops used to be 10m taller but bits were stolen and used in building other monuments by later conquerors of Egypt.
You can see the outer white limestone still visible on the top. Cheops pyramid also had the same outer cover thus they used to be smooth with paintings and hieroglyphics. It is also thought that the tips were covered with gold.Notice Shailen sporting his new belt with the spinner!
Once again we found that there was an extra price to pay to go and see something and that was to go into the pyramid. As the entrance into Cheops was closed due to it being full, Alisa and I went into Khephren’s (her parents didn’t want to go). If you are claustrophobic you do not want to go down!!! The walkway leading down is only about 700cm across and 1.4m tall and as soon as you got away from the opening you can feel the heat and it was really stuffy. After walking downhill for about 8m and then uphill for 10m you suddenly come out into this great big cathedral like room. On the wall was graffiti from the Italian discoverer of the tomb entrance, Giovanni Belzoni, stating his name and the date, 3rd March 1882.
When we came out of the pyramid we also decided to take a camel ride as we were told that they would take us to a nice spot to get a panoramic shot of all nine pyramids. Our guide told us that it’s too far to walk there so we barter with the owner of the camel and agree on a price and off we go. We get to the viewing place and waiting there is this guy that has bottles of soft drinks and he just opens them and hands them to us. Later on we find out that he wants us to pay for it but we didn’t have any money so we didn’t – but that’s what they do. We were really disappointed as the vantage point was an easy walking distance away and our guide knew it but instead left us to pay and ride. But we were glad that we had a camel ride in Egypt.
Shailen on Michael Jackson......
And me on Mosses.
That white blip near the bottom is actually Alisa. Guess they are pretty big huh?
Upon returning to the pyramids, the kid that took us blatantly asked for a tip. This was our first introduction into the tipping culture in Egypt. Everything that they do, you are almost expected to tip. We have to tip each guide that takes us, each driver and everyone that does anything for us.
The sphinx was a short walk down from the pyramids and once again the Dewsnip’s were slightly disappointed as they thought it was larger than it actually was.
The Dewsnip Trio at the Sphinx.
Me and Shailen and of course the Sphinx.
This brought an end to our packed day so we decided to relax at a nice authentic Egyptian restaurant. Alisa’s Dad and I went to the toilet at the restaurant before eating and there is a guy minding the toilets waiting for a tip outside. Then after our meals, we got our bill and it says that a 12% service charge has been added as well as a 10% sales tax (beverage and food were charged separately), so we didn’t leave a tip thinking that that was the service charge. The waiter looked disgusted that we left no tip and was about to say something as we walked off but decided against it.
That was our last night in Cairo as we left for Luxor the next morning (we will be back to Cairo though)
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