Our day visiting pyramids

Caveat: This is a little light on the pictures since it is taking forever for me to upload them. And once again Jack’s computer has a much stronger internet connection than mine does. So much for the Macbook Pro being better than the normal Macbook.

Today we woke up rather early to catch our mini bus ride to the Pyramids of Saqqara and Giza. We ate breakfast in the hotel again, bought some water for the day and boarded our van. Accompanying us on our journey was a couple staying at the same hotel. They were from Greece and had spent the last week in Cairo. Nikki (not sure how to spell it) was the wife and she spoke some amount of English so we were able to chat on and off.

The museum entrance

The ride to the Step Pyramid at Saqqara was about 50 minutes. Once there we bought our tickets (half off because we were students) and visited the museum for twenty minutes. In the museum, we learned some of the history of the pyramid. It was the first stone structure on the planet and built for King Djoser. His architect, Imhotep, designed the pyramid and ended up being buried there himself. I should note that Imhotep was probably one of the smartest men of his time as his title was not just chief architect but also royal vizier, special counselor to the king and a myriad of other titles. The museum also held the oldest arch (not sure I would call it an arch, more a ceiling), the oldest roof, the oldest snake frieze, possibly the oldest mummy, and the oldest columns. Since they did not have the technology to create independent support systems, the ancient Egyptians just carved the columns out of the wall and painted them a different color to give the illusion they were columns. Unfortunately, we could not take pictures in the museum but take my word for it, it is rather surreal to be looking at something from 2700 BCE. 

The entrance to the pyramids

In a tomb. We found out they sacrificed over 1000 cows for the princes and family members.

The Step Pyramid!!

Here you go Stephen

At the pyramids there are “guides” who immediately seek you out and start leading you around. Ours showed us to some tombs and told us to take many “photo pictures”. So many in fact that Jack had to tell him he was out of room on a camera. One other thing I would like to point out at this point: if anyone ever asks where you are from and you say America the next thing out of their mouth is “Obama good, ya?”. Naturally, this is a nice thing to hear so I am happy to tell people we are from the USA and not cop out like our guidebook says and say we are from Canada. However, one person just started name-dropping the last couple of US presidents and saying they were all good. One other man actually asked us our opinion on the Egyptian president (we have no idea who he is or what he has accomplished) and we responded with “Yes, he is very good!!”. Luckily for us, this was the correct answer. So far on our trip I have said I am from Washington, Washington DC, and California. It is much easier to just lie then explain the difference between Washington State and Washington DC. I think I am going to try and get in as many states as I can. Next up, New York and North Carolina. After our “guide” (that we did not ask for) showed us around he asked if it was “good information, good photo picture?”. If you hear these words, expect to spend the next three minutes haggling over baksheesh (the tip). I pulled out a five, and he said that was a one handed slap in the face and normally gets 50 per person. I said no and he went on to explain how incredible it was to give such a small bill. Now I read in guides that at most these “guides” deserve 10 EGP which is what he was going to get if Jack and I each gave him 5. We told him take it or we will leave, and finally when I started putting my money in my wallet he took it and walked away.

We then headed to the Pyramids of Giza. On our trip we saw some of the suburbs of Cairo, which even our bus driver described as “poor”. As you can see in the picture, the main mode of transportation is donkeys and it is common to see oxen plowing the fields. Eventually we made it to the Pyramids, at which point Jack and I said we wanted to ride camels. Our Greek friends, especially Nikki, did not. The driver convinced her and we were on our way. Again, the pictures do a better job of depicting what we did then I could in writing. Our guide, Muhammed, was probably in the upper teens and he led us around on a horse. We were also accompanied by a young kid, maybe 10, who led the camel. Muhammed was rather funny and said things like, “Whiskey makes you frisky!!” when he took our pictures and “My mom wants me to get married, but women are way too expensive”. He also gave us the option of seeing a tomb which was a “top secret journey” for 40 EGP each. Dr. Berkey, our Islamic Civilization professor, had told us that if you have seen one tomb you have seen them all so we opted not to do so. We will see enough tombs when we go to the valley of the kings in Luxor. Also, you can go in the pyramids themselves but apparently there is nothing there except for a big empty room as everything has been moved to the Egyptian Museum (which we see tomorrow). We arrived back at the van long before our Greek friends and ended up getting food at a small little store that our driver brought us to. This store was also “top secret” and we could not tell the hotel about it or else our driver would get in trouble. 

Riding a camel, which is surprisingly much harder than a horse. When they are standing up, you really do need to "lean back" or else you will fall face first over the camels head.

Ancient wonders of the world plus me

Eventually the Greeks returned and we had a discussion about whether or not everything we had just done at the pyramids was a fraud. We went through a side entrance for camels and horses that seemed legit, but did not buy our tickets ourselves (the guide did so). Also, some guards along the way demanded money from our guides as if they were not allowed there. Furthermore, the Greeks told us that their guide did not allow them into any of the official areas. I am not completely convinced that it was a fraud but they were and were very upset about it (they did not tip the driver). I should point out that they also had a bad experience earlier in the week they told us about regarding the hotel and the nile cruise the hotel recommended. Regardless, we saw the pyramids and did exactly what we wanted to do. After the pyramids we went to the Papyrus Museum and saw how original paper was made and looked at paintings. Jack bought something, but I did not.

Once back at the hotel we rested for a while and then went out to dinner at a place Lonely Planet recommended. We each ordered the same thing (picture below). After eating, we went to Horeya, a popular bar, and hung out there before heading back here. Our hotel is actually conveniently placed right in between the two metro lines so it is easy to get around.

Some general notes:

You definitely pay an extra price to higher someone for the day as they bring you to all of their friends who probably charge extra. Nevertheless, Jack and I are taking the big picture attitude. We are not that worried if we spent an extra $10-20 today, because in the end it won’t make too big of a difference. Why ruin our trip complaining about prices and looking for every possible fraud when we can just have fun and enjoy what Cairo has to offer? Our Greek friends were clearly not taking this attitude, as they yelled about it in Greek the whole way back to the hotel.

One last thing: I can already tell that the constant haggling of baksheesh for everything is going to be draining, especially when accompanied with the incredible heat. For instance, Muhammed and the little boy asked for at least 150 EGP. We knew that this was way too much, but they still are very good at making us feel awful about not paying more. In the end, we gave them 70 EGP total. It is also hard how for the whole trip Muhammed was extremely talkative and friendly and then for about five minutes as we discussed money he changes completely. After we tipped him, he immediately went back to telling jokes and laughing. And of course when his boss asked if we tipped him and the boy we said no because we knew if we told them yes their boss would just demand the money from them. Before I conclude though, I will finish once again with what every Egyptian says to every American, “Obama good, ya?”.

Alright now for the nutrition section. This is a little light tonight since, as I said, it is taking forever to upload pictures.

Some lamb and rice. I have another picture of pigeon soup that I will try to put up later. (It was really just a broth, no actual pigeon parts) If you are paying attention and wondering where the cucumber is, I already ate it.