Oh Whey Oh! Cairo Blog---Warning VERY LONG!

All the old paintings on the tombs
They do the sand dance don't you know
If they move too quick (oh whey oh)
They're falling down like a domino

All the bazaar men by the Nile
They got the money on a bet
Gold crocodiles (oh whey oh)
They snap their teeth on your cigarette

Foreign types with the hookah pipes say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian


Okay so Cairo wasn't exactly like the Bangles sang about in "Walk Like an Egyptian", but it came pretty close! We arrived in Cairo after a very long and pretty eventful journey at around 2am. We got off the plane and our transfer driver was waiting for us at the gate. It was the best $12 we ever spent. He ushered us right through customs without them even taking a second look at us! We then jumped into our very modern, air conditioned van and met our driver that would be with us for the duration of our stay. It took about 45 minutes to get to our hotel. We drove through the local areas of Cairo and surprisingly at 3am the city was bustling! Our only guess is that it's too hot for them to run their errands during the day, or they are busy working their fields that they are out socializing and selling their goods at night. There was one point that reminded me of Jerome Avenue in the Bronx while riding under a highway with shops and people milling about.

When we got to our hotel, which was right across the street from the Pyramids, it was both comforting and troubling to see that our van was stopped at the entrance where bomb sniffing dogs went around our van and a security officer went around with a mirror. Also, there were metal barriers blocking the entrance and tire spikes. You weren't getting into our hotel unless you were a-okay! By the time we got checked in and settled, it was about 4am. We had to be up at 7 to have breakfast and start our tour!

On 3 hours of sleep we met our tourguide, Mahmoud in the lobby and began our journey into the ancient times! Mahmoud would be our tour guide throughout the trip and was really helpful. In Egypt, it's compulsory for school children (not all children attend school though) to learn English. He then decided to attend the University where he studied tourism. Here he abandoned Arabic and learned only in English! Needless to say, his English was FANTASTIC!

Our first stop was Saqqara. This was the first pyramid. It isn't in the same style as the famous pyramids of Giza it was a step pyramid and had steps leading up to the top of it. There was a whole civilization here. The king would have ceremonies in square and there were several tombs here. We even saw a bonafide celebrity! He was the man who is responsible for all of the pyramids. Today, watching Discovery, we even saw him on TV!

Next Mahmoud took us to the City of Memphis. Honestly, there wasn't much to see there except an outdoor museum and a giant statue of Ramses II. Mahmoud explained to us that the ancient Egyptians lived by the sun and thought it was symbolic of life. As the sun rises in the East and sets in the West so did the Egyptians. They made their homes on the East of the Nile and their tombs on the West side of the Nile.

The next stop was the one we were waiting for. The Great Pyramids of GIZA! It's really hard to appreciate just how large these things are until you stand next to them. To think that these were created with the bare hands of men (10 million at a time) with no machinery. I honestly thought that the people that built the pyramids were slaves but Mahmoud told me that they were built by Egyptians who took 3 month shifts in creating them. It was considered an honor to build the tomb of the king.

At the Pyramids our guide helps us to arrange a camel ride which I can say was something that I was really excited to do, but was really scared doing! We got the pictures we wanted though, but I can say that I will never be riding a camel again! For a nominal fee you can even go inside the Pyramid. Mike and I were really excited to do this until we ACTUALLY got in there. We had to crawl down a shaft that was about 50 feet long and was about 3ft by 3ft. Once we got down the shaft there was a small hall where we could at least stand. The air was thick and hot. Ahead of us was another shaft similar in size but this time going up. I started up the shaft, but didn't hear Mike behind me. I turned and saw him standing in the resting hall and could tell he didn't want to continue. I was also a little nervous so we headed back out the way we came. Mahmoud told us that there wasn't anything actually in the tombs anymore, just an empty room, so we weren't missing much.

From here we went to see the Sphinx. The Sphinx is actually only 60 feet tall but still quite impressive! Here we stopped for a photo and then headed back to the van where we rode in style back to the hotel. We were exhausted! We took a quick nap and then headed for dinner at the "TexMex" restaurant in our hotel. Then off to bed! Saturday had another day of touring ahead!

After a very restful night's sleep we started our day again. Mahmoud met us at the hotel with our driver and we were off to the Egyptian Museum. While King Tut's treasures on a touring exhibition, there are some things that the museum wouldn't give up, like the famous mask of King Tut and the actual tombs. The amount of gold in that one museum in that one exhibit was insane! It was almost surreal to know that we were seeing artifacts that were THAT old in in that good of condition. The interesting thing about Tut was that he wasn't really a famous king in Egyptian history. He was 19 when he died and really is only famous for having an intact tomb.

Driving into Downtown Cairo was an experience in itself. The city is pretty impoverished. People living in large, run down building and some even still ride mule driven carts--on the highway. The cars are REALLY old and not well taken care of. Our guide, I guess realizing our amazement of this told us that Egyptians just live very simple lives. He was VERY western, but I suppose it comes from his industry. The funniest sight we saw was a woman in a dress and head scarf pumping water from a public well and talking on her cell phone at the same time!

Saturday night we went on a Nile River dinner cruise. This was kind of a let down. We thought we'd be able to go on deck and see a bit of Cairo from the river. Our floating restaurant didn't really let you go outside. The food was okay, as was the entertainment. They had a "Whirling Dervish" who spun in a circle for about 15 minutes spinning his skirts and doing a bunch of tricks, and then they had a belly dancing show. The boat pretty much did a circle and went about 3km. Oh well! There was bound to be something that was less than impressive!

Ah Sunday. We decided to take advantage of the heat and sun and sat out by the pool for the day. Realizing how pale we have become we lathered up the sunscreen! It was really nice to be able to sit in the sun and heat after living in the London cold and rain! Our flight was VERY late Sunday night and our driver was coming at 1AM to pick us up. Luckily we got upgraded on the first leg of our journey and spent the 4 hours from Cairo to Amsterdam in business class! Lay flat seats that turn into beds were KEY! By the time we touched down in London and back in our flat it was around 11AM. We were exhausted. Mike fought through the day and stayed awake. I couldn't make it. So now I suppose I won't get a good night's sleep! Oh well, it was certainly worth missing a few hours sleep to see one of the seven wonders of the world and experience Cairo!