Egypt Part I : Dec. 12 - 20
Cairo: Monday December 12, 2005
We actually had a good chance to sleep in this morning as our flight was not scheduled to depart until shortly after noon. Check in was a breeze and after some airport shopping at the duty free, we were off on our flight back to London Heathrow from Dublin. Our first task on arriving was to find a customs office to stamp our tax rebate forms. We were eligible for a couple hundred Euros in taxes from our various Christmas purchases. We were leaving Europe and wouldn’t be back anytime soon, we hoped.
We finally got the stamp but were told we had to be through security before we could arrange for the reclamation. After trekking through the terminals, we ended up in Terminal 3 and found the check in desk for our Air Egypt flight. Brian was looking at his watch by this time as he only had an hour and a half to get onto a business call. He had planned to log onto one of the wireless networks available on the other side of security and use the SKYPE network. He was hopeful because even though the ticketing counter wasn’t yet open, there were only 10-12 parties in front of us. Eventually the counter opened for check in and we managed to hit the first snag of the day. Everybody in front of us was going home to Egypt (i.e. no tourists) and they had huge bags. The weight limit on bags for the flight was 30 Kg. per bag. We spent the next hour and a bit watching everybody in front of us re-arranging their baggage contents in the middle of the floor or running off to buy other bags from a nearby store. The kids laughed at the name of this store: “Excess Baggage”. We eventually made it into the check in and headed off for security. On the other side we found the tax return place and after throwing the credit card at Deb, Brian dashed off into the duty free stores to make his call. The plan was that we would meet up at the gate later.
Brian managed to get onto his call and show up at the gate on time. He got cut off as there was a repeat of our Paris airport incident with an unclaimed bag. In London however when they respond, they also seem to turn off all the wireless networks in the area so Brian was locked out of his call. Despite the bumps we managed to get on the plane and were off to Cairo. The flight was largely uneventful and we even managed a movie (Perfect Man) which Sierra loved.
We arrived in Cairo only 30 minutes late and were soon heading off to customs and immigration. We still needed to purchase our visas before entering the country. As we walked through the doors into the entry hall we spotted the representative from our tour company. Castle Tours was recommended by previous travelers and has certainly lived up to the praise we had heard. Our agent took our passports and walked us up to the visa counter where 3 minutes later we were done. No paperwork. No mailing in your passports. No forms. Nothing. From there we were whisked through the VIP immigration line and went to collect our bags. The immigration officers did the double take at Brennan and passed him through with a chuckle. This seems to be a re-occurring theme. He really needs an updated passport photo.
Bags in hand we headed out to our van and our driver (Sami) who would be with us for our time in Cairo, and we were off to our hotel. Despite the early morning hour (1:15 am) the streets were crowded and we got our first exposure to the honking and rally driving for which Cairo is famous. Also nobody drove with their headlights on. Drivers just flashed them from time to time to get somebody’s attention. It was eerie whizzing about Cairo in the dark with just parking lights. Our hotel was in Giza, across the Nile on the west side out by the Pyramids so it took about 45 minutes.
We were staying at the Sheraton Royal Gardens for the 3 nights in Cairo and it was a wonderful place. The rooms we had were adjoining and were huge. We cranked the air conditioning and settled in for our first night’s sleep in Egypt.
Tuesday Dec. 13, 2005: Egypt
With our late arrival the night before we decided to push back our tour start until 10:30 this morning. That gave us a chance to sleep in a bit and grab a bite of breakfast. The hotel was pretty quiet, and was only about ½ full. Our driver and our guide, (Ibrahim), for the next 3 days were waiting for us right on time. Security in Egypt is high with extraordinary care and attention being paid to looking after the tourists. After passing through the hotel metal detectors and past the armed guards outside the hotel, we were off.
Our first impressions on hitting the street were of smog and traffic. Cairo with a population of over 20M is one of the largest cities in the world. Its streets just can’t cope with the traffic. The sands from the desert and the old cars contribute to very heavy smog.
Our first stop was to be the Egyptian Museum with its ancient antiquities, and we got to experience once again the rally car racing style of Egypt. How people can fit cars into some of these small openings in traffic at the speeds that they do surprised all of us. Just as amazing were the people managing to cross the streets amidst the non-stop traffic. All Brennan could say was “I am so glad I don’t have to learn how to drive here!” Egyptians must realize this as well because drivers can’t be licensed until they are 21 years old.
We finally reached our destination and because of the slightly later than normal start we missed the crush of tour buses that usually hit the museum first thing in the morning. The museum itself is huge, and without Ibrahim pointing out the highlights and walking us through we would have been lost and missed out on a great deal. After a quick tutorial on the gods and hieroglyphics the kids were becoming pretty adept at deciphering some of the main themes on the various statues and sarcophagi around the museum. They learned to tell the gods by their animal heads and their different shaped head dresses and could tell the difference between young gods and kings and old ones (young ones have hair hanging over their shoulder).
The highlight of the tour was unquestionably all the antiquities from King Tutankhamen’s tomb. These were up on the second floor at the back of the museum. The solid gold inner sarcophagus weighing in at >110kg and his famous death mask also of solid gold, were the centerpieces of the display. We also saw all the furniture, jewelry and weapons that were to accompany him to the afterlife.
The ancient Egyptians believed that evil would enter a person’s body through the weakest points (toes and fingertips) and the kids thought it was pretty cool to see that they had designed gold slip covers that went on Tut’s fingers and toes during the mummification.
Another highlight for the kids was the collection of mummified animals. Forget simple cats and dogs, there were horses and cows, birds, crocodiles, monkeys and snakes as well. After a very short 2 hours it was time to leave the museum and hop back in our van. Our next stop was to be a papyrus store.
We were very pleased with this stop as one of the items Debbie and I had been talking about purchasing had been some Egyptian artwork done on papyrus. After an informative demonstration, and the customary welcome drinks we got down to some serious haggling. Forty five minutes and one shipping fee later, we left very happy with our 3 purchases. Debbie and Brian got a larger piece copying a judgment day ceremony from the Luxor temple, while Brennan got one of the Egyptian calendar and Sierra purchased one of the Goddess Isis.
We hopped back in the van and let Sami work his driving magic as we made our way to the highlight of the day, the Great Pyramids of Giza. The only remaining works of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, the Pyramids were built 2500 BC in the 4 th Dynasty by Cheops and his sons. The Pyramid of Cheops and the second pyramid of his son dominate the skyline from miles around. The third pyramid was placed slightly further out and was somewhat smaller than the first two.
This was the highlight of trip for Brennan and he wasn’t disappointed. They are spectacular. Our guide Ibrahim has his master’s degree in Egyptology and had worked for several years as an archeologist on various sites around Cairo. As we stood gawking at the sites he brought us up to date on the latest theories about the pyramids’ construction and the work force used to build them. Soon it was time for our visit inside the pyramid. The entrance and interior of the largest pyramid is much more susceptible to damage and traffic and only a very limited number of visitors are allowed each day. We opted instead to tour the second pyramid and after purchasing tickets (just across from the pyramid entrance), we started our descent. The corridor down, across, and up into the burial chamber was steep, narrow and very warm. Inside we saw the stone sarcophagus and the various air vents that led to the top. In our travels we have visited several burial sites and tombs but this one was far and away the most eerie. I’m sure most of it was due to the knowledge of who had been here before and its age. Anybody with even slight claustrophobia issues would not have been able to complete the walk through it.
Emerging back into the light we began to work our way past the ever present touts and vendors that fall on the tourists. Our guides were terrific during our time in Egypt at keeping the worst of them at bay and the kids got very good at dealing with even the most persistent sales persons. Getting back into the van we headed off for a short 5 minute drive to the edge of the eastern desert (the Sahara) to get a view of the overall pyramid site. The view was spectacular.
It was also here that we ended up doing our camel ride. With the drop in tourism from some of the recent attacks in Sharm El Sheik, many of the vendors have dropped their prices. We ended up having some fun, with a sunset ride to the some other viewpoints. Sierra was at first terrified at the thought of riding by herself and requested the “nicest” camel in the group. She was helped on to the kneeling camel and hung on for her life as it stumbled to its feet. Still looking terrified but determined, she had to stand by and watch as the rest of us mounted up. The ride was a lot of fun and even Sierra began to relax, as the guide led her camel along. We did the obligatory group photos in front of the pyramids which turned out well and then it was time to head back. Brian and Debbie engaged in a bit of a race, bumping along. We probably didn’t look that elegant on camel back but at least we didn’t fall off either.
Our last stop at the site was the famous Sphinx. Before entering the monument site, Ibrahim spent some time explaining the construction of the monuments and dispelling some of the common theories behind the famous broken nose of the Sphinx. It wasn’t Napoleon who knocked it off! As we wandered around the monument with the Pyramids in the background, Brennan managed to sum it all up very nicely with his “Wow, we are finally here. This is … Wow!” It’s not too often that Brennan is rendered speechless but there you go.
It was getting late and it was back into the van and off to dinner at a small local place that Sami knew. Dinner was fantastic and the kids immediately gravitated back to their favorite Sheesh and Chicken dinners that they remembered from Turkey. Though slightly different from the ones they remembered, they were a huge hit and we managed to return back to the hotel happy and well fed after our day of touring.( NEXT PAGE )