Sunday, August 9, 2009

A Brief History In Egypt

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We were envisioning dreams of pharaohs and kings when we boarded our red-eye flight from Johannesburg to Cairo. Instead, we got a screaming baby five rows in front of us and no sleep. Our hostel sent a driver to pick us up at 6:30am and, for once, he was actually there (unlike in India) complete with our names on a card. The car pulled up in front of a dubious-looking building in downtown Cairo 20 minutes later and we started scratching our heads. There was no sign for the place (Hostel Brothers) to be seen, and the building our driver led us inside seemed quite old and deserted. We followed him into the 1930’s elevator, got off at the 4th floor, and everything was just fine.

Our room wasn’t quite ready so we waited about an hour in the main lobby. Luckily, Mohammed and his crew made us feel at home, and we collapsed on the couch, also taking advantage of the free wi-fi. By the time our room was ready, we were on the verge of passing out, and we spent most of the day asleep. Our one activity was to arrange a dinner cruise on the Nile for that night, complete with a belly-dancing show. The cruise was okay. Usually we don’t go for things like “dinner cruises” but we decided since we were only in Egypt for one week, it was okay to be a typical tourist. We called the dancer a booby-dancer rather than a belly-dancer, shaking her boobs more than her belly, but the guy in the skirt that spun like a never ending top made up for it.



The next morning we headed off to Giza with “Egyptian Bob” (our driver for the day) to see the famous pyramids. Somehow we beat the tour buses and crowds (it wasn’t that early), and welcomed uninterrupted views of the Sphinx. And yes, it’s true – the Sphinx really is a lot smaller than envisioned. Impressive nonetheless.

By the time we strolled up to the Pyramids of Giza, the sun was out in full force, and so were the tourists. Again, impressive but sadly, what got our attention the most, was how badly the site is managed.

We’ve been fortunate enough to see many great historical monuments in our travels thus far, and the pyramids are by far the poorest maintained. It seems to us that the government is more focused on restoration than preservation.

We witnessed guards being bribed so ignorant tour-bus tourists could climb onto parts for that “great” photo (in fact, it’s depressing how many visitors just have no idea of the greatness of these sites) and the parking lot for the big buses is 25 feet away from the pyramids. It’s amazing, but you can see portions of the pyramids affected by exhaust and smog. We’re hopeful that some of these practices will change so future generations will be able to witness one of the great Seven Wonders of the World.


Looking past the negative, we thoroughly enjoyed our time there, and, for the first time in our lives, felt as if we were in a true desert slogging through the sand.

Next on the itinerary were the Sakkara pyramids, or step pyramids, which are even older than the Pyramids of Giza. Here you are allowed to go inside one of the pyramids (without an additional charge –amazing!) :

and witness just how claustrophobic the insides are! Some of the hieroglyphics at the Sakkara site were well preserved and it was hard to comprehend that they were done so, so long ago:

After finishing the sites at Sakkara, the heat was unbearable, (remember, we’d travelled from the intense heat of India’s summer, straight to South Africa’s cold dead of winter, and now back to the searing sun of the Middle East – it’s draining), and we were starving. We ate at a pretty well-known place in Cairo called Felfela. A little pricey (for Egyptian standards), but the food was good, except for the extra protein in the form of a bug that made it into Anna’s dish.

Khan Al Khalili, Cairo’s main market and tourist trap, pulled us in the next day. We scoped out what was on offer and got an idea for prices, but didn’t pull the trigger on any purchasing. Instead, we ate lunch and took a cab to the Egyptian Museum.

It seems as though anything and everything from ancient Egypt is in this museum. It’s not particularly huge, just crammed with stuff! Seeing the contents of King Tutankhamen’s tomb was mind-boggling. “How exactly did they make that, how did they fit it into that other thing?” The highlight, however, was the Mummy Room, which of course costs extra. It is a little creepy at first, but very interesting. We’re just sure that’s not how the ancient kings and queens meant for their bodies to end up. After a few hours in the stifling hot museum (we think their A/C may have been broken), it was time to get ready for our train ride.

When we first arrived in Cairo, we had no idea what to do in the short span of one week. We considered diving at the Red Sea, but our budget considered otherwise. In the end, we took Mohammed’s advice to visit Luxor for a few days, and continue our historical sightseeing.

The overnight train ride to Luxor has been the best we’ve had yet, as we had our own compartment complete with towels, soap, and sink. We boarded the train an hour late at around 9pm, were promptly served dinner that was included (think airline food), and then lights out. We were woken at 4:30am, served a horrible breakfast consisting of 5 different dry breads, and by the time we were finished, we were in Luxor.

Again, we were met by a person from our hotel, and jumped into a taxi for the 2 minute ride. We slept okay on the train, but considering it was only 5:30am, we decided to nap for a while before waking up to lunch. We walked around town, stopping in to EgyptAir to re-confirm our flight from Cairo to Casablanca, Morocco, and good thing we did. For whatever reason, even after speaking to representatives twice on the phone, Ryan was not confirmed and had no seat, while Anna was all squared away. This has happened several times with our round-the-world tickets through Star Alliance carriers. Luckily, we’ve always been able to get on our flights, and this proved no exception.

That night we headed out for a drink on the rooftop terrace of Alibaba, where we enjoyed a sheesha session while watching the happenings of the square below, including a loud, musical wedding procession. We woke up in the Nefertiti Hotel to a nice breakfast of juice, coffee, cereal, bread, butter, jam, and an egg – all included in the price of our room. Then we hopped in a van with 3 other tourists, and crossed to the other side of the Nile for some more sightseeing. The first stop – Valley of the Kings, where we saw underground tombs of Ramses IV, Ramses IX, and Horemheb.

Next was the Temple of Hatshepsut, a huge temple built by one of the most powerful women in ancient Egypt.


Lastly was Valley of the Queens, where we saw tombs of Chamuas, Titi, and Amen Khopshef. And of course we made the obligatory stop at an alabaster and papyrus workshop on the way back to the hotel.

That evening we went out to dinner at a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook by the name of Chez Omar. The food was tasty and we left filling satisfied, until Anna woke early the next morning with a case of food poisoning. Ryan got off lucky, even though he tasted Anna’s food. Needless to say, Anna spent the entire day in bed trying to rid her body of the evil toxin. She was barely feeling well enough that evening to catch the train back to Cairo, but she pushed through and we made it back to Cairo in one piece.

Our last day in Egypt was mostly spent recuperating while sitting in the Hostel Brothers reception, as Anna was still feeling a bit out of sorts. We did manage to make it back to the market for some last minute bargaining, however. Next thing we knew it was time to catch a taxi to the airport and hightail it out of Egypt and into Morocco, where a luxurious apartment awaited us in Marrakech!

We don’t have a ton of photos from the historical sites as they are not allowed to be taken in the tombs or the museum. You all will just have to go to Egypt to see for yourselves!

2 comments:

Brent said...

Ryan and Anna,

It sounds like Egypt was a pretty good visit all around. Samantha and I especially enjoyed the picture of Anna standing between the two pyramids. On to Morocco, huh? Casablanca? That should be a pretty great stop off. Where are you off to after Morocco?

Hitanshu said...

Interesting. I came here to check for any candid reviews on Hostel Brothers, and I'm glad I did. I guess, you'd recommend it again, right?