An Incredible day in Giza, at the Pyramids

What an absolutely fantastic day we had, visiting the pyramids, sphinx and cruising down the Nile.  We boarded our bus for a 2 hour ride to Cairo, a city of 25 million people.

 

On the way to Cairo  all desert

  This absolutely huge place contains the equivalent of three-quarters of the population of Canada clustered around the Nile River.  The general impression one gets of the city is troubled, evidenced by the huge number of partially completed buildings where construction has stopped, the  several block long line-ups for gasoline, and garbage strewn about everywhere.  The new government has, apparently, not improved matters for the ordinary citizen of Cairo. 

 

Modern cairo

 Giza, which is the name given to Cairo on the other side of the Nile, is much the same.  This is the same city that was once known as one of the most beautiful in the world. What a change there has been!

Crossing the Nile

We were surprised to see that the pyramids we visited were not far out in the desert but were right beside the suburbs of Giza. The pyramids are incredibly huge, remarkable in that they were built 4700 years ago. 

 

The pyramids (4700 years old)

 

Gail with her friend

John and Gail with friend and pyramids

 Recent evidence has revealed that these gigantic structures were built by workers who toiled eight hour days, were very skilled and well paid for their labours, contrary to the popular myth that slaves were used, as in the movie “The Ten Commandments”. When completed, these pyramids were covered with a limestone plaster that made them shine in the sunlight.  The second pyramid still has some of the plaster near the top.

 

Plastered top of middle pyramid

 The largest of the three pyramids has a base that will hold all of the major churches in the world (St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s, Notre Dame, etc) with room to spare. Absolutely breathtaking structures! Off in the distance, twenty miles away, you can see three more pyramids, including the step pyramid.

Step pyramid and others, 20 miles away

 The only problem with the whole experience is the persistent, annoying, abrasive vendors.  You literally cannot take a single step without being accosted by someone trying to sell you something.  We somehow got tricked into having our pictures taken by a local who owned a camel, and then tried to extort $50 from us because of the effort he made.  We gave him ten dollars, while he tried to wrestle more out of John’s wallet.  It’s a very good thing that John was bigger than he was.  One of the women on our bus wasn’t so lucky and was very upset when she got back on.   

There are, obviously, problems with the local economy and tourism has decreased dramatically, probably because of how tourists are treated by these locals.

We then took a short trip to the Sphinx, an equally impressive structure.

 

Sphinx - also 4700 years old

 The Sphinx, also about 4700 years old, sits beside the mortuary.  This is the building where all the work was done in mummifying the Pharaoh. Afterwards, the body was taken in a procession to the pyramid along a mortuary walkway that is still there. I wonder how many of our modern day structures will still be around in five thousand years? 

 

Gail with Sphinx and pyramid

 

Mortuary walk

 

John and Gail at the sphinx

Once again, vendors, including many children, are everywhere. It seems that anything can be purchased for a “dollah”.

Next we were taken for a brief shopping stop at an elegant store.  It was interesting to note that outside the store were armed guards, protecting the shoppers presumably since they were stationed by our buses. 

 

Guard near bus

  Most of the goods were quite expensive, and Gail managed to get a charm (bust of Nefertiti) at a very reasonable price.

Finally, about 2 PM, we arrived at the docks for our Nile River luncheon cruise. 

 

Nile Cruise Boat

 We all boarded a large ornate boat and were provided with a buffet lunch and a show, the highlight of which was a very agile belly dancer.  During our two hour cruise we got to see a good part of central Cairo.

Guess who?

Cruising the Nile

As we left town, in heavy Sunday traffic (the weekend is Friday-Saturday in Arab countries), we drove through some interesting areas of the city.  It seemed very strange to us to see so many animals (horses, donkeys, sheep and goats) wandering about, farm carts pulled by burros, and open markets selling produce and meat right at the side of the major roads.  This is very different from what we are used to, even though we live near St. Jacob’s Market.

At the side of the road

Along the way out of cairo

On the trip back, our guide, Dina, told us that we should send a message back to the western world that Cairo is a great and very safe place to visit.  We would echo that, but first they have to do something about aggressive vendors and the garbage in the streets.

We arrived back at our ship, humbled by what we had seen and very tired, after 6 PM.