10/6/2000 --
We are staying at the Sun Hotel. My first impressions were that it was a
really shady run down place, but the people here have been friendly and very
helpful. The hotel caters mostly to tourist and has set up package deals
for traveling and seeing the sights in Egypt. Yesterday we woke up at 7:30
to get ready for our big day. The cab driver was going to pick us up at
8:30 and we are going to spend the day touring the pyramids around Cairo.
The cost for 4 people was 60 pounds or about 15 dollars.
We meant our cab
driver Abdula up at the front desk. He seemed very firendly, but it is a
little scary trusting your life to a random person. We headed down to the
cab with our backpacks filled with equipment. After we got in the cab we
unload all of our camera equipment and went to work taking photos. Jesse was
up in the front seat wiith the Nikon D1 from Rowe Photo. One of his first
pictures is of a military guard with a large rifle hanging from his
shoulder. Luckily we were moving fast, the guard didn't seem very happy
about having his photo taken. The cab ride in itself was quite an
experience. I guess that outside the US no one pays attention to the
stripes on the roads. We found ourselves three or four cars wide on two
lane dirt roads. Numerous times we would pass a car with a large truck
coming down the road at us head on. Every time I couldn't imagine that we
were going to make it. At the last second the other two cars hit their
breaks and we darted back into our lane just nearly missing the other cars.
This happened over and over and was just the normal routine for driving here
in Cairo.
Some of the other differences include the use of the horn. On
average a car honks its horn at least 10 times a minute. Our driver honked
at the cops, cars he was passing, donkeys in the road, or just because he
was bored. It was really pretty fun. Also the cars drive with the lights
off at night and only flash them if there is something in the way. A night
crossing the street the car flashes the lights and honks the horn and you
jump between lanes of traffic.
The first pyramids we visted were the pyramids of Saqqara. The pyramids of
Saqqara were built during the Third Dynasty of King Djoser around 2700 BCE.
These pyramids were designed by Imhotep and were the first to use the
limestone construction and served as a basis for the design of the other
pyramids. Saqqara belongs to the Memphite necropolis which extends from Abu
Rawash to the north to Dshshur in the south. The name Saqqaara might be
derived from the ancient name for the local god of the dead: Sokar.
One of
the thigs I found most surprising about the pyramids is that they are right
on the edge of the desert. I had always imagined them out in the middle of
desert. In reality they sit just at the edge of the very green Nile River
valley and the city is less than a mile away.
Our next stop was to the pyramids of Dahshur. This area is not a very
popular spot for tourist since it only opened up about 6 months ago. In the
past the aera was closed because the location of the pyramid is near one of
Egypt's primary aircraft radar defence sites. After winding trhough many
roads and bribing several guards we made it to the Red pyramid, so named
because of the reddish colour of the local limestone used in its core. The
Red Pyramid is of particular interest because it served as the link between
the step pyramid and the true pyramid. We climbed 28 meters up the side of
the pyramid and then 28 meters down a small shaft to the center of the
pyramid. Then we went through a small tunnel to another chamber. Then we
climbed up 8 meters of stairs and through another tunnel to the burial
chamber. When this was built they really must not have wanted anybody to
get in here. It is an eerie feeling being so far under rock and stone in a
chamber that held a mummy for thousands of years.
Our next mission was to get lunch. Abdula knew a nice place to stop that was
on the way to Giza. Saqqara Restauurant for kabob and oriental style rice.
The highlight of the experience was watching them cook the pita bread in the
wood stoves. The young girls handed us a fresh piece from the oven and it
was the best I have ever tasted. Our meal started with the fresh bread and
several wonderful dips that I can't describe and don't know the name of. We
enjoyed a coca-cola outside under a leaf roof. The main meal was chicken
kabob much like I am used to except the spice flavor was a little different.
Overall an excellent meal for a the great price of six dollars.
Tommorrow I will finish our story of riding camels around the great pyramids
and watching the sunset over the desert.
Today we went to Islamic Cairo (no more Islamic than the rest of the city)
is the old medieval quarter, and stepping into its neighbourhoods is like
moving back six or seven centuries. This is the most densely populated area
of Egypt, and probably the whole Middle East. The area is filled with tiny
alleyways, mud-brick houses, small markets, goats, camels and donkeys. There
are mosques and temples everywhere and the air is filled with the pungent
smells of spices, smoke, and animals. We took a little time out to buy some
new clothes and a few trickets to take home. It was a very moving
experience unlike anything I have every seen before. It has been hard for
me to grasp these peoples way of life, and the conditions they live in.
