| Submitted by: Mark NowakUnited States |
| Submission Date: 11 February 2005 |
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A '0' is a raised dot, '1' is pretty much a 1, '2' is like an upper case Greek gamma, '3' looks like an upper case Greek gamma with a kink in the horizontal bar which makes it look like a lower case omega, '4' is like an upper case sigma, '5' is like a 0 (which could be very confusing), '6' looks like a 7, '7' looks like an upper case V, '8' looks like an upsidedown upper case V and '9' looks like a 9. We saw these numbers on license plates and Egyptian money, but it was helpful that Latin numerals are used on the flip side of their money.
We took a crowded ferry across the Suez Canal. It was pretty neat. On the other side we had a bathroom break -- not the best facilities. While we were there, we were able to see a couple of ships go down the canal. I think we just went through or passed by Ismailia (which was the town used as the base for the construction of the Suez Canal) from there as we continued on towards Cairo. We drove by numerous Bedouin camps. Their homes were like tents or shacks. Sometimes we'd see a home with a white flag hanging above it. Sahar told us that meant that a girl available for marriage lived there. Every now and then we would see empty apartment buildings built near the road. Sahar told us that the government had built them for the Bedouins, but the Bedouins didn't want them. They preferred their meager tents which were more conducive to taking care of their animals. We also saw cone-like structures made for birds by farmers.
Our hotel, the Mena House, was actually southwest of Cairo in Giza, so we had to go through pretty much the whole city to get there. We passed by the airport, crossed the Nile River and got into some pretty heavy traffic. Cairo contains some 18 million people and is Africa's largest metropolis. Egypt itself has about 60 million people. One other thing about Egypt is that headlights seemed to be optional -- if they can see well enough by street lights, then they tend not to turn on their headlights. I had read that they use their horns liberally, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. The street we were on turned out to be called Pyramid Road because it goes right to the pyramids.
The Mena House was actually just a few blocks from the Pyramids -- seemingly just across the street! The Mena House used to be a palace. It was built so close to the pyramids so that visiting dignitaries could have a fantastic view. While waiting for our room keys, we were treated to a welcome drink. We had to surrender our passports for the night to have them registered with the police. I didn't much like that, but there was no way around it. I ended up having to ask for mine back for a while to exchange some money. The exchange rate was about 3.38 Egyptian pounds for one U.S. Dollar. Sahar told us that if we wanted to leave the hotel grounds, we should check with her about the places in the area because she just wanted to make sure we didn't get hurt. If her intention had been to scare us into not leaving the hotel, she couldn't have done a better job than she did with that statement.
My room (number 135) was huge. I joked it was large enough for gymnastics. I called Sara before joining Shelley and her mom in exploring the hotel. Shelley's room actually faced the pyramids. A very expensive and elaborate Egyptian wedding was going on. Sahar had told us to check it out, that Egyptians love to show off the way they celebrate. I was surprised at just how true that statement was. We just wanted to catch a glimpse of the proceedings, but we were constantly being invited in for a better look. They had a band, video monitors, music, chairs which reminded me of thrones for the happy couple and special lighting. One of the waiters wanted to show us some of the special rooms in the hotel. I knew this would involve a tip. We let him lead us around, show us a few ornate rooms, tell us a little history and say how Shelley's mom looked like a queen and how Shelley and I looked like a princess and prince. I tipped him 20 Egyptian Pounds (about $6 -- too much) for the three of us, but it wasn't enough for him. He wanted a 'gift' from the 'queen.' Lois ended up giving him another 20 pounds. After that, we called her the queen.
We were hungry, so we ended up eating outside at the Greenery. We had some soup and pizza -- and some Ruby of Egypt rose which had us hysterical before we turned in for the night.
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Sunday, March 5
EGYPTIAN MUSEUM, PYRAMIDS OF GIZA, MEMPHIS, SAKARA
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Although the rooms were definitely spacious, I was less than thrilled with the bathrooms at the Mena House Hotel. The water pressure in my room was pretty awful, but I was able to work with it -- after I got used to the yellow water. Yuck. At breakfast inside the Greenery our remaining 26 people met the new 13 people. The new people included a young woman who seemed to be around my age -- always nice on a trip. Ahmed Amer, our tour director, briefed us on Egypt and the tour and signed us up for optional excursions. I believe I may have been the only one to sign up for all of them ($253). These included the excursion to Abu Simbel near the southern border, three sound and light shows, a tour of Old Cairo and a special dinner cruise on the Nile including belly dancing. We were warned to avoid drinking tap water. I had a classical civilizations class in college years ago which covered Egyptian mythology. My notes from the class were with me, and I often reviewed them to get a better understanding of what we were seeing.
The sun was shining and it was quite warm (which pretty much describes the weather for all our days in Egypt). Our first stop was the impressive Egyptian Museum where we saw many of King Tutankhamon's treasures. The museum was quite crowded, and it was difficult to hear Sahar talk. The size of our group made getting close to our guide not easy. Sahar explained many of the famous artifacts which included layers of boxes in which King Tut was found, his mask and his golden chair. The ankh was the symbol of eternal life and the scarab beetle was the symbol of health and prosperity. The beetle impressed the ancient Egyptians with the way it could roll a ball of dung much larger than itself and make other beetle be born out of it in the desert. We learned that a pharoah wearing a crown that looked like a champagne bottle meant he was the king of Upper (or Southern) Egypt and that a crown that looked like it could hold a champagne bottle (kind of like a chair) meant it was from Lower (or Northern) Egypt. Southern Egypt is Upper Egypt because the Nile flows down from there. Other symbols included the lotus flower and vulture of Upper Egypt and the papyrus and cobra of Lower Egypt.
I was wondering when we were going to see some mummies. I asked Sahar, and she said that if I wanted to see them, I'd have to go to the Mummy Room in the museum. Surprisingly, it wasn't part of the tour, and I'd have to go alone and pay 30 Egyptian pounds (about $9). I left the group, rushed across the museum, found the room, bought my ticket (wished I could get the student discount) and entered. For me this was the best part of the museum. There seemed to be about a dozen mummies encased in glass throughout the room. Ramses II, who reigned 67 years (1304-1237 B.C.), ruled over both Upper and Lower Egypt and lived some 3200 years ago, was there. I could see some of his hair and part of a tooth. He is the likely candidate for being the pharoah during the time of Moses. If not him, then one of the other mummies in the room is likely to have been that pharoah. It was pretty cool. Ramses literally means to be from or be born of the sun god Ra.
Mummification was a very interesting process. Many of the internal organs were removed and placed into jars -- the brain was sucked out through the nose. The heart, however, was kept in place.
Our next stop took us to the pyramids of Giza. Their shape derives from how it reminded the ancient Egyptians of rays coming from the sun. There are actually about 80 known pyramids in Egypt. We drove by the three main ones: the Great Pyramid of Cheops (2700 B.C.), Kephren, the son of Cheops, (2650 B.C.) and Mycerinus (2600 B.C.), the smallest of the three. The very summit of Cheops (about 140m) is not quite intact. Kephren has a higher peak than Cheops, but it is built higher on the hill, so it is still smaller. It has an intact peak and its top still has some limestone that used to cover the granite of all three pyramids at one time. It was obvious how much the limestone would have once enhanced the splendor of the pyramids. We passed all three pyramids and stopped. We were given the option of riding camels to Mycerinus. The cost would be 7 Egyptian pounds which was supposed to even include the tip. Many of us went for it. A crowd of people surrounded the door to our bus. Apparently, quite a few camel drivers and souvenir sellers wanted our attention. Sahar worked out some deal, and we were lead individually by the hand (actually taken by hand) to our camels.
It was quite a moment to be standing in the desert facing the pyramids with the sun beating down on me getting ready to mount a camel. I was at the end of a roll of film, so I quickly finished it with a shot of the pyramids and one of my Egyptian guide and replaced it in my camera. My guide must have been a teenager. He got the camel to sit low on the ground for me to mount. He then wrapped a red and white scarf around my head. I handed him my camera, so he could take a few pictures of me when the camel rose on its feet. We rode as a group towards the pyramids. For a while I was in the lead. I asked my guide what the name of the camel was -- he said Daisy. While our bus drove past us, I noticed the young woman who stayed on the bus take a picture of me. I tried to take a few pictures while on the camel, but it wasn't easy keeping the camera stable. To hold on I only had the pommel of the saddle.
When it came time to get off the camel my guide was relentless about getting a sizable tip. He wouldn't stop hassling me. He had taken pictures and given me a scarf to wear, so I eventually relented and gave him 10 Egyptian pounds and $1 -- more than the cost of the ride. For the experience it was still a small price to pay, but I was pretty annoyed.
The Pyramid of Mycerinus has three small pyramids next to it which are believed to be those of his queens and possibly daughters. We entered the pyramid and moved down a narrow tunnel which was pretty fun. There was a handrail and the floor had metal bars in wooden planks to keep you from slipping. The tunnel, however, was fairly tight, so when others leaving the pyramid came up, it was a pretty tight squeeze. We went all the way down to the room where the tomb would have been and also saw an area where various goods could have been stored. The place was stripped bare. I didn't even see any hieroglyphics. It was very warm and humid, and the smell wasn't too great. We took a few pictures and left the same way we came -- definitely not for the claustrophobic.
Once outside I finally met Cate, who turned out to be 22 years old and from Australia. She was traveling the world and taking pictures hoping to begin a career as a freelance photographer. We then circled around to the Sphinx which sits in front of the Pyramid of Kephren. The Sphinx is actually a misnomer because the name derives from Greek mythology. When an ancient historian visited Egypt, he thought it looked like the Greek Sphinx, and the name stuck. The Sphinx has the head of Kephren on the body of a lion. It isn't all that big, and it is being reconstructed in spots. We spent some time going through the temple next to it. The temple had a depression in the ground where you could see the coins people had thrown into it. I'll never understand this practice.
Sahar now seemed to be in a rush. I had hoped to go in all three pyramids that day. We were supposed to go in at least two. |
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