Travelblogue – Egypt Part 1

Growing up in the US, one never expects to say the words “Let’s go to Egypt for the weekend.”  Mexico, yes. Bahamas, yes. Maybe even Jamaica or the Caymans if you live in certain parts of the country. But never Egypt. However, if you live in the UAE – why not? We had a “gotta get outta here” moment, and started looking at a map. It came down to Jordan for Petra or Egypt for Pyramids, and the flights to Egypt were better. So I booked it.

Immediately we started hearing from our friends. They either loved it or hated it, and they ALL had strong opinions. Those who hated it told us “They hate Americans,” “You’ll get ripped off,” ‘It’s very dangerous” and so forth. The ones who loved it spoke in glowing terms of the amazing history, relics thereof and art. Now that we are back I will clarify… We found first hand that the hater’s first statement is dead wrong, and we already knew that the second two are true of just about anywhere you go if you aren’t careful, and don’t use common sense. As for the lover’s comments on the history and art… truth.  And incomparable. Egypt is amazing.

We arrived and were greeted prior to immigration by the local agent’s representative, who processed our arrival visa and walked us through passport control. He then handed us off to the owner of the tour company who waited for us with one of his drivers outside the airport. What a fantastic individual! Jimmy is Cairo born and raised, speaks great English, and has an absolutely encyclopedic knowledge and incredible love of Egypt. We knew right away that we were in great hands. He gave us a lot of background and history of Cairo as we made our way to the hotel.

Cairo is not what one would call a pretty city. It’s not the cleanest place I’ve been to (nor the dirtiest) and it is very large. In fact, it’s HUGE! Cairo proper is home to around 10 million people, and the entire metro area is more than double that, making it the largest city in the Middle East, the second largest on the African continent, and number 15 overall worldwide. The population is dense, with around 60,000 people per square mile, most living in unfinished buildings. This gives the city an air of poverty that is misleading. Turns out that local law states if your building is unfinished, you don’t have to pay taxes on it. The result is this massive amount of unfinished buildings that upon closer examination are covered with satellite dishes – a luxury not seen in truly impoverished areas.

We got to our hotel totally exhausted (more on that later) and were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. The next morning Jimmy and his driver picked us up at 8:30 and off we went to Giza. I have no idea why, but in my head Giza was going to be in the middle of nowhere, a long ride away. Wrong. Giza is a suburb of Cairo, and the city actually creeps right up to the edge of the Giza Pyramid Complex. We entered the complex and began to learn about how the pyramids were built. Note: I came here believing they didn’t actually know for certain, and seriously thinking that aliens were not a bad theory. I mean these things are monstrous! The Cheops (Khufu) pyramid is 146 meters tall (just shy of 480 feet) and uses 210 layers of stone. The stones used to build it were largely cut on site and weigh between 15-20 tons each at the bottom, decreasing to between 1.5-2 tons at the top. A hair cannot slide through the joints and this was built around 2450 BC (not only Before Christ, but also before concrete, conveyor belts, and cranes.) The architecture is mathematically precise, with the entrance oriented almost perfectly to true north. It has remained standing strong for well over 4000 years. So seriously, HOW did they do it? Here’s what we know: It was NOT slave labor. The people who built the pyramids were craftsmen from all over the country. There were thousands of them, many well respected in their fields. There had to be not just builders, but also scientists and mathematicians because they were able to create a structure that has lasted, largely intact, for this long.  The structure supported enormous weight, and allowed for adequate ventilated access when the time came to bring the sarcophagi into the appointed chamber(s). They moved much of the stone from place to place on sleds, which were pulled by however many were required for the weight. One person poured oil along the pathway to ensure the rails would glide easily. They also used fulcrums and levers with counterweight to lift some of the stones into position.

I chose to go inside and see the King’s Chamber. It is not an easy climb! The path is well maintained and lit, but the fact that a whole lot of it is done while you are bent over makes it difficult. If you have a bad back or bad knees I would not recommend it. BUT… If you choose to give it a go, it’s totally worth it. The   chamber is a rectangle with a flat roof, completely lined in 60 tons of incredibly smooth red granite from Aswan. There is the remnant of his sarcophagus still there, broken and without a lid. The room is not decorated in any way, but is spectacular for it’s size and the red granite lining.  Most of these tombs of kings and pharaohs were robbed centuries ago, and very little remained when they were ‘discovered’ over the past couple of centuries. It is the design and the genius of the building that we get to admire today.

When I came out of the pyramid, we rode around to a knoll not far away to take some silly photos. Afterward we made a complete circle around the pyramids ending up at the Sphinx. This is the first known sculpture carved out of a single piece of stone. The carvers created it by removing the stone around it.  This dude is pretty beat up, but still amazing in the details.

We left Giza, stopping for a bowl of Kushari to eat along the way to our next stop. This is a traditional Egyptian dish that one can find about anywhere.  It consists of lentils, rice, and noodles with tomato sauce and is accompanied by choice of garlic sauce or chili sauce – or both.  It’s delicious!

The second part of our day 1 was spent in Saqqara and Memphis. Saqqara is a huge burial ground that was used when Memphis was the capital of ancient Egypt. You can see a lot of progress in building styles and materials here, including what they believe to be the very first pyramid built in Egypt. It is not nearly as big as any of the big 3 pyramids in Giza, and was done in more of a step down style, using much smaller stones. Inside the tomb of Ti the writings on the walls were very well preserved, and some even had color remaining. I took the stooped hike inside one of the underground tombs here and was rewarded with a chamber that had stars (or starfish) carved on the ceiling, and in part of the access tunnel. Here the sarcophagus had been raided as well, but carvings were still visible at the bottom of it, below where the mummy would have lain.

Our last stop before heading back into Cairo proper was to see the enormous statue of Ramses II in Memphis. Indeed it was huge, but still such detail.

I cannot begin to describe the overwhelming amount of history and beauty we encountered today, and we still had a full day to go! Jimmy took us to a very small (3 tables) local restaurant for dinner. The female owner is an excellent cook, and does something different every night. When it is gone it is gone. The rule is that they will bring whatever you want but you have to eat all they bring. It was close, but between the 3 of us we managed. I have no idea what all we ate. There was a lot of food, and almost everything was wonderful. The total tab for dinner was in the neighborhood of 10 bucks, including tip.

Egypt’s economy is in a big slump right now, and the cost of goods is extremely low. I would put eating out and hotel prices on par with Thailand, and just a pinch more expensive than India. Which means it’s truly inexpensive at the moment. The economy has been largely dependent on tourism dollars, which have for the most part dried up since Arab Spring and the large protests that unseated Mubarak in 2011. One of the things I noticed is that the Egyptians take great pains to make sure you know and feel you are safe and welcomed.  They want (and need) those tourist dollars to return.

This is the end of our Day 1, and therefore Part 1 of this post.  I will follow up soon with Part 2, which includes the Egyptian Museum, Coptic Cairo, and the GIANT street market.