I Saw the Pyramids!!

Reflecting on the past four days is going to be no easy task, as I am still in complete awe. My mind is trying to process all the information I absorbed, antiquities I saw, and of course, the visit to the Pyramids of Giza.

It was scary at first boarding a bus hardly knowing anyone. This was the first port where Team A.B.A. all went our separate ways… some to Luxor, some to Mt. Sinai, others elsewhere. Anthony, Kate, Erik and Lauren were all on the Overnight Cairo trip… I was on the Extended Overnight Cairo. Although our trip overlapped briefly, I rarely saw them. Even so, I had an AMAZING time! I met knew people, had the best tour guide, the comfiest bed, delicious food and 5-star treatment in addition to all that I saw!

Hannah was our tour guide, and resides in Cairo. Cairo is Egypt’s largest city and immensely overpopulated.  Every 9 months the population of Egypt grows by about 1 million. Because of this, they are slowly attempting to build further into the desert areas. The divide between the rich and poor is immensely large. It was hard seeing the way so many people lived. The standard of living is like none I have ever seen before. There were areas of extreme filth. Parts of the Nile were completely littered with garbage, yet people, children, would be swimming in it. Many, many buildings were unfinished although many people resided in them. It was weird seeing building after building with no windows, etc. And whole residential areas would contain unfinished buildings. It was strange to see. It was extremely saddening. I don’t know how people live that way. I don’t think I could do it. Maybe they don’t know any difference? Seeing the economic status of the country along with the conditions of living has made me appreciate what we have in the states. We are very lucky, and should not take anything for granted. Unfortunately, Egypt is and will continue to face extreme difficulties because of these many issues – especially with the population rising at a startling rate. It is not hard to see that much change needs to occur. Because everything appeared so different, I think I took many more scenic pictures here compared to the other countries. Additional scenery along the way included an industrial area with large salt deposits, agricultural fields and tons of date palm trees – they were everywhere.

Upon our arrival in Cairo, we immediately got to it and stopped at the National Egyptian Museum. It houses some of Egypt’s most magnificent treasures…including the majority of the items found in the famous tomb of King Tut. The wealth that they must have had is incredible, as one could easily see with all the gold! And the superior artistry… WOW. I do not know how to describe everything, but the colors, the carvings, the jewelry, the tombs… I cannot believe what they did by hand! I was sad that we were not allowed to take pictures!

After the museum, we were off to check into our hotel. Where did we stay? Well… SAS put us up at the 5-star Marriott Cairo and Casino! I was super excited and more than pleased! Located directly on the Nile River, I would say that SAS did a job well done.

My first experience with the Pyramids was on our first night, when we attended the Sound and Light show there. It was practically all SASers from all the different trips, so I was more than thrilled that I got to witness it sitting next to great friends, like Anthony and Kate. But, I WISH all my family and friends from home could have been here so we could have shared such a magical moment together. Lasting roughly 50 minutes, I enjoyed the show. However, I do think much more could have been done with it. As Anthony said, “I could make them so much money”, pertaining to the changes he would make. After the show, we encountered much slow-moving traffic, which caused us to be almost an hour late for our dinner! Oh well – I still indulged in our scrumptious buffet at the Marriott even though it was about 11:00 p.m. 

My second experience with the Pyramids was about 6 hours later… as they opened the area to just us to enjoy the sunrise! The 4:15 a.m. wake-up call was SO WORTH IT! It was so peaceful – we were the only ones there until 7:15! Plus, I was able to share the experience alongside Anthony, Kate, Lauren and Erik and Morgan. We were able to get some great pictures – and boy did we take a lot of pictures! We were snap happy with our cameras, trying to capture the perfect pictures with the one and only Pyramids of Giza. The sunrise was breathtaking – but sadly so because much of the way the colors appeared was caused by the pollution. One speaker on our voyage had warned that after spending a day in Cairo, “do not be alarmed when you blow your nose and your snot is black”. It is alarming.

After the sunrise, Morgan and I shared a quick camel ride in the area of the Pyramids. It was like a sneak peek of what we will be experiencing in Morocco! It was fun… a very cool experience. Our camel was awesome, and I loved how colorful his saddles and attire was! It was a little scary getting on and off them, as you slide quite forward and then backwards as they lie down with their 2 front legs followed by their 2 back legs. After that, we drove down closer to the second Pyramid and then the Sphinx. The Sphinx was a little smaller than I had pictured – but still more than impressive. Many people posed in pictures in a way that it appeared like they were kissing the Sphinx, but I didn’t realize this until later so missed out on this great photo-op! However, I did get to sit on a Pyramid! … I do not know what further words to use to describe this experience. I do know that I will never forget it.

Following a little over 4 hours at the Pyramids, we headed towards the Citadel of Saladin and Muhammad Ali’s famous Alabaster Mosque. Removing our shoes, we entered the beautiful mosque filled with beautiful shades of green. We were also able to see the resting location of the body of Muhammad Ali (not the boxer) inside. I actually think I liked it better than the Blue Mosque from Istanbul. And the inside of the citadel offered panoramic views of Cairo.

Lunch was at a floating restaurant on the Nile River located fairly close to our hotel. Called Le Pacha, it was voted Egypt’s best restaurant, as well as one of the world’s top 50 restaurants in 2006. It had a wall displaying pictures of all the recent famous people who ate there… Vanessa Williams was just there. The place was nice and well decorated, and I pigged out yet again… especially on the dessert. Yum.

After lunch, I shifted into my shopping mode to get ready for the El Khalily Bazaar! This is a huge uncovered market popular amongst tourists known for their great deals. We only had one hour – and I definitely needed more time. I flew through the vendors as fast as I could, buying, buying and buying! I have some buyer’s remorse on a few items because I was felt so rushed, but other than that I think I did okay!

Subsequent to a much-needed rest in one of the comfiest beds back at the Marriott– it was time for dinner! And not just any dinner – but dinner onboard a Nile River cruise boat! Entertainment during the delicious meal included a belly dancing show and a Whirling Dervish dancer who lit up. The band and the dancers did a phenomenal job, and made it a point to interact with us as much as they could. At one point the whole room of SAS’s was up dancing and having a great time.

Morgan and I were hesitant to end our final night in Cairo by just going to bed. Instead, we ventured to Egyptian Nights, a hooka bar in our hotel located by the pool. And… I did it! I tried hooka for the first time! Now I regret not doing it in Turkey with everyone! It was good – we got cantaloupe flavor, but I’m sure I would like others better. It was relaxing sitting there, and I got to know Morgan a lot more. I definitely felt out of place though, as for it being a more Western hotel – I felt like one of the only Westerner’s there.

Our last day in Cairo, we were able to sleep in a little later (we received a 7:45 a.m. wake-up call) before enjoying one of the best breakfast buffets I have had. Located at the hotel, they offered everything! Omelets, waffles, pancakes, muffins, bagels, fruit, fresh honey (it was like a dripping honeycomb!)… it was hard to decide! I ended up going with an omelet and tons of fruit. The fruit salad was amazing… complete with apples, grapes peaches and fresh mango! I actually think it was the first time I had fresh mango… and oh it was yummy. Egypt is huge on mango, and we passed many trees on our excursions. And I guess August is their prime time… so we picked the right time to visit.

After stuffing myself, our first stop was to the Sakkara area to see the famous Step Pyramid as well as some tombs. It was about a 45-minute drive from our hotel, and the area largely contrasted the city, as Sakkara was mostly desert. Here is where we saw the Step Pyramid, Egypt’s oldest pyramid… and we GOT TO GO INSIDE OF IT!! Being an active archeological dig, it is off-limits to tourists, but our awesome tour guide got us in! It was amazing. My adrenaline pumped as we wandered inside towards the huge shaft in the middle. I snapped a picture and took a brief video (than got yelled at)… but it felt like we were in the scene of a movie! It was just so exciting. It was a big deal, and you can also read about it directly on SAS’s web page. It states: “Summer Voyagers Treated to Pyramid Tour by Leading Expert. Cairo, Egypt: Current voyagers were given a surprise tour of Pharaoh Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara, a site not open to the public, by Dr. Zahi Hawass, one of the world's leading archeologists. Hawass, who has been featured in numerous documentaries about the Pyramids of Giza and the Valley of the Kings, recently gave a tour of the pyramids to President Obama. Read more about Hawass on his professional website.”

After Sakkara, we continued on to Memphis. The first capital of Egypt (& I think maybe the world), Memphis was small due to the fact that the majority of the city rests underwater. And an Egyptian Law forbids any new building in the city… they are literally waiting for buildings to be so run down the people have to leave so that they can excavate all of the area.

The last stop on our itinerary before our drive back to Alexandria was lunch, at the Meridian Pyramids Hotel. The pyramids of Giza were literally across the street, and offered spectacular views. The hotel was ridiculously nice; I couldn’t imagine how much a night cost.

Upon my return to the ship, Anthony, Kate, Scott, Lindsay and I gathered the energy to go out at about 11 o’clock at night (we had spent some time shopping around the port area)…we couldn’t spend our last night in Egypt on the MV Explorer! I am so glad we did, because it was a great night. Alexandria comes alive… I don’t know when they sleep! We caught a sketchy blue taxi (he was probably one of the slowest drivers in the city)… and went on our merry way to the Four Seasons Hotel. There, we went to a rooftop restaurant by the name of Blue. I ordered scrumptious mango sorbet to accompany the guava shiska (hooka) we shared as a table. It was much better than the cantaloupe one I tried the previous night…it makes me want to try the actual fruit! And… it was monumental because Anthony tried it for the first time, which means we both tried it in Egypt!

My last day in Egypt… I spent some time shopping at the local vendors located directly in the port in addition to visiting the famous Alexandria library. This time, I was able to go inside to witness the astonishing architecture. It truly is a magnificent building. I am glad that I was able to see it before I left!

Some thoughts:

-I have never been through as many metal detectors as I have been here… which at the same time has made me feel both safe and fearful. Security has been high. Immigration and port officers have consistently checked our passports more so than in any other port while walking around with large weapons. A fortress like wall surrounded our hotel, and we had to go through metal detectors each time we entered there as well. While on our Nile River boat cruise, several police boats cruised along side us, as it was a 5-star company popular with Westerners.

-In regards to money…Egypt uses the Egyptian Pound, symbolized as L.E. While we were there it was about 5.5 Egyptian pounds to the US dollar. It was a good rate, but still I felt like a high roller buying items for 50, 100, or even 150 pounds. I am not used to forking over what seems like huge quantities of money! I had to keep telling myself that a 50 L.E. was really less than $10.00. It was also hard to not only keep track of my spending, but also how much to take out of the ATM. I ended up withdrawing money 3 different times trying to calculate how much I would need! And overall, I think I spent a lot more in this port than I have in the others…But who knows if I’ll ever be back to Egypt, right?! Got to live it up!

-In addition to the American food chains I mentioned in the previous post, I also saw a T.G.I. Fridays, a Fuddrucker’s, Cinnabon, Ruby Tuesdays, and Hard Rock Cafe. Weird!
       
-The past few countries I have become thankful for clean toilets! Outside of our luxury hotels, we would have to carry toilet paper, and even pay to use what they call the W.C. And lets just say I went through a good amount of Purell…

-The driving here is just insane, as I mentioned earlier. But… I did learn some ways of the road. With no stoplights, their main way of communication is by use of their horns. Supposedly one honk is “I’m coming”, two is “thank you”, and a bunch of honks is basically not good and is “get out of my way”. It is similar to an idea I had in my younger years – that cars should have a happy face and thank you light on their bumpers. Haha – maybe one day. And our bus seemed to have different tones or rhythms of honking to chose from – we would all be sitting there and then here this ridiculous honk. It was a little weird – we would be wondering what was happening. Surprisingly though, over the course of 5 days I say no accidents. How? I don’ know. We definitely survived from sketchy taxi rides. Kate even had one break down while she was a passenger, and she and someone else had to basically flee from a shady alleyway mechanical workshop.

-It is always a nice feeling to return your passport to the purser’s desk after each port (Although sad that the country is over). I am always stressed out carrying it… knowing if I lose it I am in deep trouble. Three people ended up losing theirs in Bulgaria, and I heard it was an expensive mess trying to get rush passports from the embassy. Fortunately, they were able to get new ones in time for the ships sailing, or they would have had to remain in Bulgaria. How is that not stressful?!

-I love my small group (which we attend the night we leave every port). We discussed our travels and some of the major disparities affecting Egypt – and I heard some touching stories from the group leaders. My favorite was that when they did a previous voyage years ago, they had met a nice Egyptian horse and buggy driver, with whom they got a picture. Well… on their first day in port this voyage, they attempted to find this same man with the printed picture in hand – and succeeded. Within a few hours, they found him, doing the same job – and he cried when he saw them. He said, “My American friends, you came back”. They then spent almost two full days with him – getting to know him and learning his truly heartfelt life story. Listening to them speak really personalized the Egyptian person for me. Even though I constantly saw extreme poverty, I still somehow felt disconnected, or protected somehow. I felt like I was constantly in a bubble or shell, traveling from one five-star location to the next. Hearing this individualized story literally brought tears to my eyes.

-Writing this blog has been like an information overload! I was stressed! I thought about so much while in Egypt – it is hard to remember and gather everything – and then present it in a coherent, organized journal entry. I’m sorry if everything appears all over the place – and I’m sure there is lots I forgot to mention…

Well, it is hard to believe that our 5 days in Egypt are over. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was there… seeing history that I have learned from like the second grade come alive.

Now… 5 days at sea accompanied with lots of papers. Next stop… Morocco!

I cannot wait to see everyone! I miss and love everyone more than I can express.
XOXO
-Erika

P.S. I met an Egyptian movie star!!