Cairo

Cairo, Giza and Saqqara

We had a choice, transit the Suez canal or see the Pyramids. We chose the Pyramids.

The ship anchored off Port Suez at 3.0 am. Ships are not allowed to make the transit in the dark. At 4.30 am 5 tenders carrying 800 passengers left the ship in convoy for the port. It was freezing cold. Arriving at the dockside as there was no passenger terminal, each tender emptied its contents onto stone wharf steps from a rocking boat. Reaching the top step we were met by customs officials, where we were directed to a customs shed for a security check of our bags. Once done we made to our way to the 13 coaches, sleepy eyed and cold.

It was a three and a half hour drive in the dawn to Giza for breakfast. We drove through the countryside adjacent to the Canal under heavy armed escort and in convoy. Every coach had its own armed guard in civvies aboard. Although this sounds heavy handed it was all rather low key and handled very well.

The Egyptian guide was very anxious to tell us all about Egyptian history, lots of names, dates and events. His English was excellent. We, the sleepy eyed passengers now warm and drowsy had a hard time keeping awake. He finally realized this and let us nod off.

Arriving on the outskirts of Cairo, Robert was astonished at the growth and expansion since the last time he was there, approx 1978. Many of the new buildings were unfinished and half occupied. The guide explained that a finished building gets taxed. It looks strange to see high rise apartments without a façade and unoccupied apartments without windows. These high rises were in their hundreds. Egypt has a law that prohibits ejection from any property legal or otherwise. There are many illegal houses. These are mainly four storey’s high. They have been built without permit or permission by families. They can buy or acquire bricks and build them upwards as high as necessary. Parents occupy the ground floor while children and their families live above. They add a new floor as required. God forbid an earthquake. Cairo has a population of approx. 20 million. A child is born every 25 seconds. They have real problems but it did not look as bad as India. The streets were relatively clear of rubbish. This appeared to be collected but dumped on the sides the local canals. In some cases the canal was completely covered by floating rubbish and at least one dead animal.

We arrived at Giza and was surprised to see our breakfast hotel had a full view of the pyramids looming over the trees. After a great breakfast we drove to the site of the three pyramids. We had an hour to take pictures, wander round, fight off the vendors, visit the tomb or the recently found and reconstructed Pharaoh’s Nile barge. The tour guide informed us that the tomb visit was not worth doing as there was little to see and it was claustrophobic The line for the boat museum was very long, so we skipped both. He added that the best way to deal with the vendors was ignore them otherwise they became a plague. If you bought something off one, you would be followed around by a hoard of others. Also, whatever we did, we were not to not accept any free gift. This said free gift would then become an endless, bargaining pitch for money. One Dollar’ ‘one dollar’ the ubiquitous shout of the worldwide tourist sites was not quite true in Egypt but would get you into protracted negotiations, if you tried to purchase anything for one dollar. ‘I will take your photograph with my camel for free’ could cost you much more if you took the offer. For us the answer was easy, “Lah, Lah, M’fish falouse“, (no! no! I have no money). It worked every time.

The pyramids are impressive which ever way you look at them. The largest has enough dressed stone to construct a major modern city. It was the tallest building in the world at one time. Two other were only slightly smaller. These were the last to be built. The Pharaohs that followed were buried in the Valley of the Kings to try and avoid tomb robbers. There are over 300 pyramids in Egypt.

We boarded the coach and moved to a higher plateau to view the pyramids together with the Sphinx. Too many people and vendors made it very difficult to view and photograph clearly but it was very impressive.

Leaving the Sphinx and Giza pyramids we drove for an hour to Saqqara to see the oldest pyramid of all, the stepped pyramid built 5000 years ago. The drive was a treat as it was through the market garden area of Egypt. This was created by the Nile flood water and silt, rich dark soil used for many centuries to grow an abundance of cotton, cereal, vegetables, fruit and timber. We could see the farmers working in the field s using buffalo, donkeys and camels alongside modern farming implements. The vegetation was a bright iridescent green in comparison to the black loam soil or the sand of the desert. The farms were well kept and looked very productive.

Arriving at Saqqara we were surprised to see so few visitors or vendors. This is not as popular as Giza but more interesting in our opinion. It was created by Imhotep who practiced making pyramids many times before he was satisfied. This stepped pyramid was his final attempt. It originally had steep sides covered with limestone but he changed his mind. He wanted steps in order for his spirit to climb into heaven. This was achieved by making very large bricks and stacking them, from the base upwards, so that it resembles a tiered wedding cake. The day we arrived it was covered in scaffolding at one side for repairs.

The site was surrounded by a wall enclosing a large square approximately 500 yards across, with many other tombs on the opposite side to the pyramid. We entered the square through a large gate and an avenue of tall columns. These columns were 20 feet tall and shaped like a bunch of reeds. This was the first recorded time this had been achieved in solid stone. This site, after falling into ruin, had been reassembled under the supervision of a French archeologist in the 19^th century. He found all the stones, marked them and had them reassembled. It was his life’s work.

After a 15 minute stroll around the square we were taken to the tomb area. Carefully descending the many steps we entered an area of connecting tombs. There were no sarcophagus but magnificent carvings and paintings.

One tomb belonged to a noble lady, she was represented as a large figure sitting on a chair with her attendants, who were tiny by comparison. This was done to emphasize her importance. The servants and her children were offering her fruit and drink. The surrounding walls depicted the things she was accustomed to and she would like to have accompany her into her afterlife.

The room was approximately 10 x 7 ft. The bottom freeze around this wall depicted life as she knew it. Many papyrus boats were sailing on the water. In the water were carvings in relief of figures of fish, crocodiles, turtles and hippos. We recognized at least one of the fish as common only to the Nile, it has a long snout like a vacuum cleaner. The other fish were detailed and accurately drawn also and would look good on any wall today. Crocodiles and Hippos no longer live in this area and are now confined to the river above the Aswan Dam. The scenes included the banks of the river where fruit trees, birds and larger birds flying in the sky. Also depicted were snakes, buffalo, gazelle, cows and other domestic animals. On the other walls, were vases of perfume, flowers, various foods, wine, lotus and palm plants. One narrow wall had an itinerary of all the items she planned to take with her. All this work was carved in very fine detail and painted in lovely colors. To achieve this, artists would draw details on the plastered walls first, then carvers would follow the design very carefully. The relief work would finally painted. It was a very peaceful scene and a calming atmosphere. This was the finest but other tombs had similar motives. The sarcophagus and mummies are in the Cairo museum. We were very touched with this stepped pyramid and its surroundings. We had seen a documentary on TV months ago. We were very pleased with what we saw as it went beyond our expectations.

We drove back to our original resort in Giza for a very late lunch. Not being so tired at this time of day, we could appreciate the beauty of this hotel which was a converted palace. At the top of the steps of the entrance, stood a band in full Egyptian dress uniform, playing us in on bagpipes, drums and trumpets. The funniest part was the tune they were playing was Jingle Bells, followed by Yankee Doodle Dandy. On bagpipes!

The interior of the hotel/palace was heavily carpeted both floor and walls, marbled corridors and huge crystal chandeliers. The dinning room was immense. The food was excellent and abundant.

After lunch we set off for our final stop for a demonstration of how papyrus was made followed by shopping.

The store had two floors. Downstairs was the papyrus section and on the second floor, jewelry and precious stones.

The papyrus demonstration showed how the stalk of the papyrus plant, which has a thick triangular stem, is made into paper. The outer skin is peeled away and the inner stem cut into thick strips and beaten flat. These are placed in water and left for several days. The longer they are left in water, the deeper colour of beige they become. The strips are removed eventually, squeezed carefully and laid on a mat in a criss crossed, woven pattern to make sheet. Another mat was placed on top and the whole thing put into a press. During the pressing and drying process, the glutinous material in papyrus glued the everything together into a flexible, strong sheet. This was used by the ancient Egyptians for paintings and writing documents.

The store’s first floor had many wonderful pieces of painted papyrus large and small framed and unframed. Very expensive of course.

After shopping, we made our way back to the ship which was now docked at Port Said and was waiting for us.

The 13 coaches had each gone to different places so they set off at a given time to rendezvous at Ishmalia, about 90 minutes drive away. Ishmalia is a town of the side of the Suez Canal. As we approached, an armed Jeep with flashing lights guided us through the traffic until we caught up with the other coaches. Evidently, other armed Jeeps had been holding up the front coaches until everyone had arrived. Suddenly, the road was unnaturally empty and the coaches accelerated to 70+ miles an hour. We continued like this through towns and villages with armed police holding back all the traffic until we passed through. We presumed the road had been closed until the coaches went through. This is how Royalty must travel. What a hoot!

At Port Said we approached the Victoria about 830 pm. It had been a very long and exciting day. It was very cold after a nice warm afternoon. As we got through security to the ship, the Victoria staff including the entertainment director and some officers were stood in a long line waiting to greet us. They had mugs of hot chocolate for us which was very welcomed. Our ship is a class act, and we told them so.