Cairo...Day 2: The Pyramids

We were up early with the sun and ready to rock by 8! On Friday morning, Mr. John gave us a glimpse of all that we would see on our Saturday excursion. But as he said, the pictures just don't serve it justice. The terms enormous and gigantic describe something seemingly minature in relation to the pyramids. For sure, you have to see it believe it! The method to create these wonders of the world are still unknown and even world reknown scholars have been stumped when trying to recreate them; hence the reason it's called Wonder of the World!

First glimpse of the Giza pyramids!

  

This is Romney our tour guide. In Egypt, in order to be a tour guide you must complete
your "University Work" consisting of 4 years and then train to be a guide for 2. This is
his 7th year as a tour guide and his second year in Cairo. Before he was working in Aswan
and Luxor. When we return to Cairo, we plan on using him again!
SN: This is only 1 of his many GQ poses...too cool for school..

The Nile Bridge


Stop #1: Through the town of Mit Rahina to the Mit Rahina/Memphis Museum

This is called a Tuk-Tuk. In addition to donkeys and riding 6 to a motorcyle, these are a popular form of transportation in the town of Mit Rahina.

Statue of Ramesses II. This statue lays exactly where it was found. Instead of transporting this object to a new location, archeologist decided it would be best to build the museum around the sculpture.

The gentlemen who stand guard for Ramesses

You never know what you'll see. "Each day is different..." Romney

In a later post, I will discuss the celebration of Eid. It will be quite graphic. So, in preparation if you have a soft stomach, don't read that one!

What appears to be traditional bread is not so traditional. Romney stated that this is the modernized way of making bread. And in some ways was disgraceful to the heritage of the village. Bread was considered a family secret and was made by women to feed their familes. Honestly, I prefer the arabic bread, actually Indian bread over the Egyptian bread. It reminded me of a big english mcmuffin. Now, if McDonalds severed this bread with equal servings for an english mcmuffin, then in that case, I think I'd go for it!

The Ankh represents the old capital, Memphis, and how the River Nile connected the north and the south. Cairo wasn't always the capital of Egypt and thus this is why the Ankh is so important to Egyptians. It rempresents the crops, the river and unity of the country.

Stop 2: Sakkura.

This is the Bent Pyramid. It is actually the maternal pyramid to the Giza lineage. I find it interesting that it is the only pyramid with majority of it facing in tact and that it was created with a bend in the middle of it. My interpertation:
Women bend over backwards to make ends meet and will prevail the test of times!
WHAT YOU SAY!

Her too!

Looks can be deceiving. What looks like small, minature bricks....

ARE HUGGEE! It was interesting climbing the hill to take this picture.

Now, on to the Red Pyramid, the second older pyramid in Egypt. Even older than the Giza pyramids!

Kandance and I decided to climb inside this bad boy. Boy, that was a bad idea! LOL
We got a work out, cleared out our sinus cavities and made a few friends!

I'd only imagine it was about a football field! Okay, atleast to the 50 yard line!

They created stairs so that you could view the back room. It had been invested with bats
 and this is why it smelled like ammonia.

Tight spaces everywhere! Although, I wouldn't allow myself to accept this in the moment,
I felt clastraphobic and anxious. I wanted out of that smelly place, but I wanted to be sure to
take it all in so that I would remember it!

Stop 3:  Dashur 

 

Yes, this is a pyramid; even older than the Red pyramid.  Let's say this was their trial and error, tweaking project.

And so was this one. This is called the Step pyramid, wal-lah! (really) Very fitting!

Only a part of the wall remains to the compound that use to surround the Step Pyramid. It was
a place where the King had to prove he was fit to serve as the king. From what I can remember
he had to go through a series of activites to show he was brave, in shape and mentally
competent.  These figures were copied BY the Romans. They came, saw and duplicated!
Made of marble and limestone they are very glossy and well, solid..

Always a softie for an animal! Kandance and I asked Romney how much it would cost to
purchase a donkey. He asked the driver and the driver said "1000 pounds..." Somewhere like
$167.00, I said I'd take a white one.  And at the top of the landing, there stood my White
donkey all alone, waiting for me! They are such faithful animals.

So, I wasn't supposed to take this picture, but Romney suddenly need to talk to another tour guide!
"D'you get it?" HEHEHE! He was great!

Stop 4: Unfortunately when we arrived at Dashur, my battery started flashing! I just knew this would be the case! One stop away from the Giza Pyramids and the camera wants to call it quits! We ate at a really nice outdoor restaurant, which I did not capture because I was trying to save power for atleast one photo at the Giza. Romney promised that he'd bring us back to the GP, so I took what I could for day one!

 My handsome boy! I want to believe he risked his life to save my life! If you know anything about animals, the smallest bit of stress or anxiety can cause them to become fatally ill,  depressed or die immediately! As we were coming around the backside of the 2nd pyramid we came accross a gate that had been put on its side by the guards of the Giza. The best  description would be to compare it to jail bars, 5 feet tall and about 100 feet long. (see the next photo) Romney was concerned about the camels prior to crossing the "bridge," however the owner stated the boys had done it before.

My camel was first and appeared to cross the bridge with ease. However, I felt his back leg wobble and it got stuck in between the bars. Images started racing through my mind of what I couldnt see and I immediately began to feel an urge to cry. But I figured this wouldn't help and that I need to keep the camel as calm as I could, animals sense your emotion! "Okay baby, calm down, I know...oohhh kay....relax..." Even 10 feet off the ground and with no true sense of protection, I leaned all the way forward and started rubbing his neck. I could see the look of pain on the owners face and truly began to hold back tears as I coaxed the camel to calm down.

His legs buckled and according to Romney I looked as if I was holding on to a moving bull. Trying to put aside my frightened emotions, I told the camel he would be okay. Then, I felt weightless as the camel sat down and within seconds I was jerked back as he stood up and jumped out of the gate. The owner told me that the only reason he was able to get out was because he was worried about not hurting me. He walked away with a gash; I was afraid he would break his leg or injure his ankle. Once I unmounted, I went over to his face and told him "Assif....Shukran..." (Sorry, thank you) I even gave him a camel neck hug! I assume he told me "Okay, no problem" because he started moving his mouth and tongue and gurgaling.

(After the fit with my camel, I looked all around for a way to get the other camel over! I found a small area that was not covered with the bars!)



Kandance and I....We arrived too late to venture into the Sphinx...but we'd return 2 days later!
Who goes to the Giza and doesn't see the Sphinxmen!



After a long day, khallas! (finished, silent k) This is one of the final pictures my camera took before it to said khallas!