FEBRUARY 9 - GIZA PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX

Just a short van ride from our hotel, there are really no words to describe the Pyramids of Giza, survivors of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and, of course, the nearby enigmatic Sphinx with the body of a lion and the face of man.  


 

Anyone with any interest can easily search the internet and find endless information about them.  These were the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure and were a 100-year project which used 15 million tons of stone; 3 million stones each weighing an average of 5 tons each.  The enormity of these structures and how they were built is truly a wonderment.  

Ahmed described a ramp system that was used to build them and, again, any search on youtube will provide lots of videos about how they might have been built.  It is estimated that between 5,000-10,000 people made up the main team of workers as well as seasonal workers.  According to Ahmed, these were not "slaves" but people who were given work, food and shelter and were proud to be working for the Pharaohs. 










We went into what I remember (I might be mistaken) to be a "mastaba" or noble tomb.




 

We then had the opportunity to ride a camel.  Our itinerary includes the following wordage:  "A&K is committed to your safety but would like you to know that participation in this activity is at your sole discretion.  If AT ANY TIME you do not wish to participate in any or all of the activity please let your Resident Tour Director know." Although my heart said, "yes," my brain remained ambivalent.  Michael wasn't crazy about the idea from the get go.  (Remember, he doesn't like heights.)  

When the time came, we chose not to but were very comfortable taking a photo with "Mickey."  

 

Our fellow travelers, Alex, Ed and Vanessa, were far more adventurous and they went off on their camels and met us at the "9 Pyramids Lounge" where we had lunch.  




 

But, first, let's talk about bathrooms.  As I've written many times before in our travel blogs, the worst thing for me about traveling are public toilets.  But, I have to say, that the toilets I encountered throughout our trip were not bad at all.  (As I mentioned in the "Clothing" section, I wore joggers which made things a lot more comfortable and sanitary for me.)  It is customary, though, in Egypt, to pay or tip for the use of the facilities just about everywhere and our guide, Ahmed, provided us with 5 EGP notes ($.32) to give to the bathroom attendants.  We actually left Egypt with two of these notes.  What started out as a necessity for using the facilities in Egypt became quite a joke, thanks to Michael (who also named himself "Gazelle of the Desert"), when he decided to ask Ahmed for "pee pee money." Well, as you can imagine, this became a huge joke to everyone who started asking for "pee pee money." Now, you have to remember that we were all over the age of 60 (with the exception of Ahmed) and here we are, 60 year olds speaking like 4 years old!  Very, very funny.

 

Lovely lady who didn't mind me taking her picture!

 



Lunch, as usual, was fantastic!  Views from the restaurant.




After lunch, it was time to come face to face with the incredible Sphinx!





Tomorrow would be an early day for all of us.  We were flying to Luxor to board the Sanctuary Sun Boat IV.   But this afternoon was free and dinner was scheduled by A&K for all of us at the "Alfredo" restaurant at the Marriott Mena.  Our companions decided to go to the Pyramid Sound and Light Show but we enjoyed a lovely meal before our 4:00 a.m. wake up call.



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FEBRUARY 19 - PETRA

Image
When we booked this tour with A&K, there was no hesitation when we had the opportunity to add Jordan and Israel Ancient Wonders to Egypt & the Nile.  After over 500 days of cruising, two world cruises and visiting over 70 countries, Petra was Michael's favorite place.  How could we go all the way to Egypt and not visit Petra again?   We had visited Petra on our 2016 World Cruise and I wrote about that visit in my blog for that trip. I do have to correct some information contained therein.  We were definitely misinformed back in 2016 - the city was NOT carved out of camel bone.  We were told, this time around, that iron chisels were used and hammers.   Regardless, besides the pyramids in Egypt, this is a MOST impressive city and has been named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.  Again, if anyone has any interest in learning more about this Nabataean wonder, you can always search on the internet.  A great article can be...
Read more

FEBRUARY 15 - SAQQARA

Image
We were very excited about visiting Saqqara , after reading the article, " The Secret Tombs of Saqqara ," in the Smithsonian magazine.  In ancient times, Saqqara was a huge underground cemetery on the west bank of the Nile across from what used to be the capital of Egypt, Memphis.  Some of the tombs located there date back to the 1st Dynasty - 3000 to 2800 BC.  Netflix also had a documentary, "Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb." Absolutely fascinating place.  But, first, breakfast in the Hotel's dining room:   We had been looking forward to our visit to Saqqara because this is where Ahmed said we would comfortably be able to go inside one of the pyramids and we did!         Today, we had a security guard with us.  We're not sure why security is with us on some trips and not others but we were never concerned about our safety.  I felt safer throughout the Middle East than I would be walking in Seattle today.     ...
Read more

FEBRUARY 21 - BETHANY BEYOND THE JORDAN AND THE DEAD SEA

Image
A review of today's itinerary promised to be a very busy and exciting day.   With a meeting time of 9:30 a.m.,  we headed to the Obelisk Restaurant near our room for breakfast.  While perusing all the amazing culinary delights available to us, a young man suggested the milk bread pudding which contained almonds and raisins and called " ummali " that was absolutely delicious.   In the top photo, right in the center (click on the photo to make it larger)  was a unique way to display donuts.  Unfortunately, there were no plain old fashioned donuts that Michael loves.  This morning, we visited Bethany Beyond the Jordan, known as the place of Jesus's Baptism by his cousin, John the Baptist.  "This UNESCO World Heritage Site features Roman and Byzantine remains and is a place of pilgrimage for many." On the road, we learned that more than 40% of the Jordanian people had been vaccinated and 20% received a booster.  Although a peace treaty was reac...
Read more