From Cairo, part 3

We are back at Deb’s after an exhausting day in Cairo.
Heck, Cairo is so chaotic and impossibly inefficient that just spending the
day doing NOTHING is an exhausting day.

We are back at Deb’s after an exhausting day in Cairo.
Heck, Cairo is so chaotic and impossibly inefficient that just spending the
day doing NOTHING is an exhausting day.

We went to the Pyramids this morning, but due to the Eid, there were
thousands and thousands of Egyptians at the Pyramids. So many, in fact,
that the roads were shut down, and nobody else was being allowed in.

Our driver, Shokri (a former boxer from his army days) said, “Not to worry!
I take you to a friend of mine.” So we drove through a maze of back streets
and entered a tiny room where his friend greeted us and made a phone call.
Then we were allowed to drive through the police roadblock, through the
gates to the Pyramids, and directly up to them and around the grounds!
Debbie was shocked and said she had never been allowed into the Pyramid
complex in a car.

Shokri was a character. His favorite two English words are “trouble” and
“crazy.” “All Egyptian women are crazy, you know, they are crazy! They
give you much, much trouble. So crazy, they are, give lots and lots of
trouble.” While Shokri only has one wife and two daughters, his older
brother has three wives and 11 sons and 1 daughter. His uncle has 23 kids
and six wives.

Understandably, the Pyramids were totally chaotic. But because the mass of
visitors was primarily Egyptians, we attracted the lion’s share of hasslers
and hustlers, offering camel and horse rides, offering to show “secret”
passageways to the insides of the Pyramids… There wasn’t a single moment
of peace, we were literally assailed at all times.

I’m glad I had my first experience at the Pyramids with Justin four years
ago, when it was relatively quiet in the aftermath of September 11. J-P’s
first experience there was stressful, but he was still very impressed. He
even took a short ride on a camel named Charlie Brown.

We also got to see Pharoah Cheops’ funerary ship, which was built out of
massive cedar timbers from Lebanon, and which was used to carry his mummy
downstream to Giza from the palaces at Luxor. The ship was HUGE, with
magnificent curled ends like Viking ships and huge oars 20 feet long. It
was just unbelievable to see! The timbers were easily a hundred feet long
each, and six inches thick. I have no idea how they bent them to form the
boat’s hull. The ship was almost perfectly preserved in its own rock tomb,
and was discovered in the 1970s.

We strolled down to visit the Sphinx after we were done at the ship museum.
The Sphinx is under restoration, so we couldn’t get very close to him. And
he is, undoubtedly, the most popular attraction at the Giza complex, so the
crowds were swarming. But it’s still so incredible to see such a
magnificent monument…it’s one of the most recognizable sights in the
world. Every child from Papua New Guinea to Venezuela knows the Sphinx. I
was also impressed that the floor of the Sphinx’s temple was paved in
beautiful alabaster.

Shokri drove us to downtown Cairo and dropped us off at the Nile, where we
arranged to have a felucca (an Egyptian sailboat) take us out onto the river
where we could eat our picnic lunch. It was chilly (in the low 50s today)
but still so peaceful as we drifted along with the current of this ancient
river that gave birth to the greatest civilization in ancient history.

After that, we strolled along the Nile to Lover’s Bridge, a popular meeting
spot for young middle class Egyptian teenagers, and not necessarily a
romantic destination despite the name. Everyone was dressed to kill,
walking hand in hand. There is no taboo regarding physical affection
between anyone: friends, lovers, family…male and female, female and
female, male and male, they all walk hand in hand, laughing and celebrating.
It was really an amazing place, full of energy.

Then we ran errands to prepare for the dinner party we’re having tonight
with all of Deb’s friends in Cairo.

Tomorrow we’ll go to the Khan el Kahlili, one of the largest bazaars in the
world. It’s many blocks long, many stories high, and its dusty corridors
hide antiques, faux antiques, glass makers, spice vendors, tin
smithys…everything you could possibly imagine…