| Submitted by: Mark Nowak United States |
| Submission Date: 11 February 2005 |
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Our tickets were good for the two smallest pyramids -- you needed a special ticket to go into the Great Pyramid. Instead, Sahar took us to a papyrus museum (aka, store). I had to admit learning how papyrus paper is made was somewhat interesting, but it seemed insane to leave the pyramids for this. There was little doubt Sahar was getting something out of this. I wasn't going to buy anything in the store, but I did end up getting a great guide book on Egypt for $6 from someone off the street. I resolved to walk back to the pyramids when we returned to Cairo on Saturday and take in the last two before flying home.
Then, Sahar took us to a restaurant where we had to climb several floors before reaching our tables. Dan, a retired firefighter, didn't like the feeling of being in a firetrap, and Glennis didn't like being herded like cattle, so they left. Shelley, Cate and I sat at a table next to a window which faced the pyramids. We would have had a great view, but the sun was so bright we kept the curtains drawn. I had chicken shishkabob, an orange soda and a Pepsi. Cate and Carol (a middle-aged woman also traveling alone on the trip) had been in Cairo for a few days before the rest of us. Cate had taken advantage of this time by going horseback riding which ended up being hard on her back.
With all the stops we were making at shops and how many people would come up to us trying to sell us souvenirs and how many people wanted baksheesh for EVERYTHING I made up a game for myself. The object was to see if I could get off the bus and get back on with the same amount of money I had when I got off. Believe me -- it was a very hard game! Eventually, I got better at it. I started to feel as if being in Egypt was like being hooked up to a money milking machine. I know that'll offend some people, but I have never felt so pressured with requests for money -- both in intensity and sheer number. I mean it was very difficult to tell if someone was genuinely being nice to you or just wanted something from you for his efforts.
We drove some 15 miles south of Cairo to Memphis on the west bank of the Nile. The ride itself was interesting in that we could see how people lived along the Nile. The city was founded by Mena (or Menes) in 3100 B.C. at the start of the first dynastic period. Around 2700 B.C. it was the first capital of the united Upper and Lower Egypts. We saw the fallen 40-ft statue of Ramses II and the Alabaster Sphinx. The statue is in a building which has a balcony that lets you view it from above. Ramses II started the practice of having his name engraved into his statues and works to prevent those who followed him from merely wiping off his name. Almost automatically (mindlessly) as a group, we drifted over to the single souvenir kiosk on the grounds. Remembering my game, I said out loud, 'Why am I here?' and started to walk towards the bus which prompted some of the others to do the same. A couple of school kids had come up to the fence and started asking for money while tapping the palms of their hands.
Our next stop was Sakara, a huge necropolis in the desert. It's named after Sakkar, one of the gods of the dead. The oldest known pyramid is there -- the Step Pyramid of Zoser (whose named meant 'The Glorious') which dates back to 2800 B.C. We arrived technically after the complex had closed. Quite a few determined guards told us we couldn't go inside. Not to fear -- Sahar went into an office with a few of them. When they came out, the men were smiling, slapping each other on the back and clearing the way for us. I wonder how much she had to bribe them. The dogs trotting around in the desert gave the area an eerie feeling. We explored the mastaba of the nobleman Ptah. There were many rooms with painted hieroglyphics on the walls. You had to pay to be able to take pictures. Sahar had to repeatedly tell people not to touch the walls. We had to go through the Temple of Zoser to reach his pyramid. The Step Pyramid was impressive, but no one was allowed inside. It originally had four steps, but it was thought that it needed more so it ended up with six.
Sahar explained the surrounding structures to us including one that was built deep in the ground. It seemed to be a kind of pit with at least one tunnel going into it. We strained to look down it, but Sahar said that you couldn't see the bottom. That sounded like a challenge, so I tried to get my head as far as I could until I did see the bottom. I then noticed that you could climb around for a better view. Shelley and Cate followed me up and around the structure where we looked around until we were called back. We found what seemed to be the small entrance of a tunnel that led into the pit. Putting our hands inside it, we could feel significantly cooler air. We started to feel like mountain goats. You had to pay to take pictures in the temple, or I would have taken some. I missed the liberal photography policy in Israel where you could take pictures freely in most places.
On our way back into town around sunset we stopped at a rug factory where we could see children working on rugs. It was another store stop, but at least I didn't feel we were cutting out sites this late in the day. Sahar had told us that if the children invite you to sit down with them, it just means that they love you and that they would be disappointed if you don't sit with them. It was far more likely that they wanted baksheesh. I had to admit they were very cute, so I sat down next to this cute little girl who stepped me through one of her procedures. Then she extended her hand to me so that people behind us couldn't see and quietly said baksheesh. I had taken her picture, so I felt obliged to give her something, so I gave her an Egyptian pound and lost my game. Then she wanted more for her friend, an older-looking boy who I thought probably didn't do as well with tourists because he wasn't as cute as she was. At this point I got up and walked away.
The sun had set while we were inside. We drove back to the Mena House to get ready for an optional dinner show. Many people who had initially signed up for it backed out. Perhaps they were just exhausted from the full day of touring. I wanted to do something afterwards, so I told Cate I'd call her when we got back. As it turned out, only seven of us made it to the dinner -- Shelley, Dan and Glennis, Norman and Vera, and John (our group's official shopaholic). Both in Israel and Egypt John had to avoid metal detectors because they could activate his defibrolator for his heart. As it is, it still went off once and sent him flying across the room. I called Sara before dinner.
The seven of us took a small bus to the Nile where we boarded our boat for dinner. While we waited for the boat to cast off and for dinner to begin, a band played and a male singer sang songs that reminded me of Las Vegas. After a while, the boat cast off and went up and down the Nile in Cairo while we ate for about two hours. Dinner wasn't all that great. It was a buffet. There was quite a rush to the dessert table. I remember talking to Dan and Glennis about interfaith relationships. The entertainment included a man performing what I think was Turkish dancing and a female belly dancer. The man worked up a sweat basically doing a lot of spinning and performing neat tricks with his clothes. He mostly spun his skirt into a disk over our heads to some very cool music played by an oriental band. The belly dancer was okay. She pulled people on stage to dance with her including for a while just Norman and me (fortunately I had had beer with my meal). Norman got behind the dancer and motioned to me that we should move in on her from both sides. We did just that. It was fun.
The boat docked, and we were back at the hotel around 10:30. Shelley was too tired to do anything when we got back. I called Cate at 10:40, waking her up. She too decided against doing anything. I called Shelley to let her know she wasn't missing anything. For a while I just paced back and forth in my room trying to think of things I could do, but eventually I surrendered and went to bed.
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Monday, March 6
OLD CAIRO, ALABASTER MOSQUE, SADAT'S TOMB, CAIRO -> ASWAN
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The day started with an optional tour of Old Cairo. No matter where I sat on the bus Dan would often joke by saying something along the lines of, 'There you go again -- taking the best seat on the bus.' We visited a Hanging Coptic Church where an image of the Virgin Mary of miraculous origin in a column and a painting of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus with eyes that seem to follow you around could be seen. We were told that the Louvre in Paris had offered six million dollars for it. We saw the home (now submerged) where the Holy family stayed when they escaped Herod's slaughter of male children. I have to admit I wasn't as into seeing these sites after everything else we had already seen. Amazingly enough, we also stopped in a store. We also stopped in a synagogue. We visited the Sultan Hassan Mosque which was built between 1356 and 1360 and was one of the largest in the world. It was very impressive. Once again we had to take off our shoes to visit it. Shelley and Cate made an effort to cover their heads in the mosque, but Sahar told them it wasn't necessary. It was customary to tip the guy at the door for watching your shoes.
We also saw Saladin's 12th century Citadel and visited the beautiful Alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali. Again the shoes came off. Sahar pointed out a huge clock given as a gift from France for some of the objects France took from Egypt. Unfortunately, the clock has never worked. It was around noon in the mosque, and there were some people praying. Cate came up close to me apparently because some Egyptian guys were giving her some unwanted attention. She and Shelley both were the recipients of that kind of attention while were were in Egypt. Sahar took us to Cairo's bazaar. The streets were narrow and packed. If you buy a bottled drink on the street, you have to drink it right there so that the vendor can have the bottle back. Sahar took us to a restaurant and told us to meet back there after lunch. She told us that we could walk around on our own and find another place to eat, but she couldn't vouch for the food at any other place -- she was very good at guiding us with fear. Shelley wanted to walk around and check out the shops. She wasn't all that hungry, but I was. I ended up meeting Cate inside and treating her to lunch. We both had chicken shwarma.
When everyone was back on the bus, we headed for the spot where President Sadat was assassinated, a viewing stand, which was right across the street from his tomb and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a monument to the 1973 war. This was near the airport. I paid Sahar for Sara's cartouche on the bus. I was one of the few people who was actually satisfied with the work. Apparently, quite a few of the cartouches weren't made the way they were ordered, and some were missing the 18K gold stamp of the government. Many were returned to be redone. The other annoying part of this was that while we were driving through the city Sahar was running her gold business instead of talking about the sights around us.
We got to the airport around 4:00 PM. The door at the center of the bus didn't open this time, so we'd have to go through the front -- a clear signal to reach for one's wallet. I tipped both the bus driver and Sahar each ten Egyptian pounds when I got off the bus. Getting Cate's 1000-speed film around airport x-ray was an issue every time we had to take a flight. Our flight 500 miles up the Nile Valley to Aswan had a stop in Luxor. By the time we arrived in Aswan, the sun had gone down and it was pretty dark. We had to identify our luggage before we could leave for the hotel, and my bag was about the last one collected which had me a little nervous while I was waiting. Cate and I sat towards the back of the bus. |
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| Copyright © - "Mark Nowak" |
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