Quick Background
When we put Egypt on our short list of our travel itinerary, we knew we'd get the most out of it with a guide.
In April I met Ngan for lunch in the Upper East Side, NYC. We have a good friend in common, Isabel, and had met in London when we both lived there back in 2003/04. Ngan is extremely well traveled and connected, and I knew I could benefit from picking her brain on Vietnam & other corners of the world. Turns out she & her family had just come back from a trip to Egypt over Spring Break. She highly recommended the tour company (Memphis Tours) & guide (Sherif) they used, both of which made for an amazing trip. Done! No further research required on Egypt tours! I value Ngan's opinion tremendously, and immediately booked us on our Cairo tour.
The tour we picked included one day at the Giza Pyramids, one day exploring a rural farm, and a final day in Cairo (Egyptian Museum, bazaar, etc.). Just as we were about to finalize the booking, my parents confirmed they'd join for this leg of our travels. The itinerary worked for them, so we finalized the arrangements. We were fortunate to be able to get the same guide, Sherif, that Ngan & her family had so highly recommended.
Giza Plateau Pyramids
Sherif met us in our lobby at 7:30am, bright & early. With our super driver, Ayman, we were ready to start the day! Our hotel (Le Meridien Pyramids) was within site of the pyramids, so it was a short drive over.
Seeing the pyramids up close delivered a massive WOW for all of us. This Wonder of the World delivered in spades. Surreal to be staring up at the real deal, from ~2500 BC! Mind boggling.
We visited the Great Pyramids of Cheops, Chefren (son) and Mykerinus (grandson). Sherif talked us through the mummifcation process and pointed out the causeways used for transporting the bodies to the Funeral Temples. We learned why pyramids are the shape they are (they mirror the shape of the Sun God, Ra's, rays hitting the peak & emanating outwards). The Great Pyramid of Giz (Cheops) was the world's tallest structure for about 3,800 years until modern skyscrapers. The ingenuity of the Egyptians' craft to built the pyramids is remarkable.
Camels!
It's hard to be at the Pyramids and not be tempted to ride a camel! Especially when the camels can journey out to a point that provides you a stunning view of 9 pyramids. All six of us opted in; even Grammy who was originally thinking she'd pass. I'm so glad Grammy joined in the fun, because I guarantee you our camel ride will be one of the most memorable parts of our 2.5 weeks all together!
Prior to mounting the camels, our 24-year old guide, Saud, gave us one tip: lean backwards! PSA: Mounting a camel is harder than you might think! You hop on while the camel is seated. The camel then brings itself up to a standing position & you have to do everything in your power/muscles not to tumble over forwards. How? By leaning backwards with all your might :)
We had four camels amongst the six of us; my Mom & Dad each had their own, and me & Doug each had one of the girls seated with us. Saud walked us about 15 minutes out into the dessert, and we peppered him with questions all the while. How old do camels live? About 25 years old. What are the names of some of our camels? Michael Jackson (that was the most memorable). Are they male & female camels? Only the male camels give rides; once a female camel has a baby she doesn't have enough strength for giving rides (bogus if you ask!). How much water do they drink? These camels drink 3 times a day, but camels can generally go ~2 weeks without drinking or eating.
Photo Session
Saud had us dismount to take pictures at a point where all 9 surrounding pyramids were visible. Doug & Paige's camel knelt down and proceeded to topple over, throwing both Doug & Paige off in the process! Thankfully they fell off to the side of the camel, not under it! Phew. They dusted off and we proceeded to take some truly epic photos. Saud has been doing this job 6 years, so he's a pro at orchestrating awesome (albeit somewhat cheesy) pictures like these:
Also, it's worth noting that camels were way less stinky than we thought they'd be! They also spit way less than you're led to believe. They were generally pretty awesome, cute (in their own way) creatures. Especially when they were just chilling in the sand, without any humans on top of them. I think we all left with a newfound like for camels :) I mean, look at these guys:
Sphinx
Next up, the Famous Sphinx and Valley temple facing the great statue. Not as big as I personally was expecting, but still an incredibly impressive structure and exciting to be standing by the real thing! Turns out Zahi Hawass, one of the world's preeminent Egyptologists, was down next to the Sphinx leading a small (= very expensive!) tour while we were there. Zahi gave Obama a tour of the pyramids back in 2009: check it out. Sherif immediately spotted Zahi in his signature cowboy-type hat. Us Bohaboys had never heard of him, but my parents had seen a few documentaries featuring him & his work, so they & our guide got a kick out it.
Papyrus Paper Making
Prior to lunch we were unexpectedly taken to the Payprus Paper Institute. This spot wasn't specified in our original tour, but I'm a big fan of everything related to paper, so I personally didn't mind one bit.
We were ushered to one of a few tables in a big open room and offered us a welcome drink (cardamon spiced coffee, yum!). We were introduced to a man who would walk us through the process of making paper from the Dr. Seuss looking papyrus plant. But first: coffee. They start by peeling off the exterior of the stem, and then slice the interior into strips of about an inch or so. They put the strips under a rolling pin to extract the natural water & sugars from the plant, and help make it stronger & more flexible. These strips then soak in water for 6 days, after which point they are placed between two pieces of carpet and arranged in an overlapping grid to make the paper. This is placed under a press for another 6 days, and voila, you have papyrus paper!
Various artwork is painted onto the papyrus paper and displayed on the walls, available for purchase. We got caught up in the moment of it all, and ended up wheeling & dealing to get three prints. The girls were totally into and both had strong opinions on what they wanted. Paige had a harder time ultimately deciding on one, whereas Sadie knew from the get go & didn't waiver. We ended up with one which told the story of the Final Judgement (S&D), the Tree of Life (Paige) and the Golden Mask of King Tut (Sadie). We even had our four names added in heiroglyphics to the Final Judgement print. My parents walked out empty handed. The style of these prints isn't exactly our norm, but we did really enjoy learning about the process & hopefully they'll find a nice spot in our who-knows-where-it-will-be home someday :)
Sakkara, aka "Step Pyramid"
After lunch in a traditional restaurant we visited Sakkara, aka the Step Pyramid. It's worth mentioning that there were police at each "attraction" we went throughout the day. You have to register with the Tourist Police at each entrance, provide the number of people visiting & their nationality, as well as where you've been prior & where you will go next.
Sakkara (also seen spelled Saqqara) is considered the very first pyramid and the first large stone building in history, built over 4700 years ago. As impressive as the Giza Pyramids were, both Doug & I found Sakkara even more beautiful. In part, I think it was because of the beautiful area between its outer wall & the pyramid itself, filled with columns. There was just something extra impressive about this pyramid & its complex. This video gives a good idea of the scene:
At Sakkara we also entered the Burial Chamber of Mereruka (a senior official) and the Tomb of Ka Gmni. Sherif brought to life impressive hieroglyphic scenes. We learned that you read hieroglyphics in the direction you'd feed the animals. The sophistication of Egyptians' storytelling & reverence through hieroglyphs is incredible.
Memphis
Our final sightseeing stop of the day was to Memphis, the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, and now an open air museum. Stand-outs were the Memphis Sphinx and a statue of King Ramases II from 1300BC that they found face down in a riverbed.
It was a fantastic & full first day in Egypt! Incredibly vibrant place, full of such a rich & impressive history. I don't think any of us will ever forget that feeling of seeing the pyramids in person :)
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