Egypt - A Whole New World (Day 2)

We were only able to sleep a few hours because we had a long day of touring ahead of us. Though, I slept so well in that king-sized, pillow-top bed…four hours in that bed was equivalent to eight hours in my bunk bed on the ship. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to see the pyramids!

The first stop of the day was at Sakkara, one of the first pyramid sites discovered. While there we toured a tomb and viewed/translated hieroglyphics carved into the tomb’s limestone walls. Then we moved to the pyramid…it is different than the Pyramids of Giza because it was a step pyramid (it wasn’t all smooth from the top to the bottom).



After Sakkara, we made a quick stop to the site of Memphis (no, not Tennessee) and viewed the largest remaining alabaster statue along with a sphinx (not the popular one!) and other statues of pharoses…not too impressive.

Next up…the best part of the day…what we all had taken this tour for…the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx! We arrived at the Pyramids and immediately went over to the nearly starving peddlers to score a ride on a camel. Our tour guide had already negotiated enough camels for all of us to ride…and we all went for an excursion through the desert sands among the pyramids. It was so exciting to ride a camel! You don’t realize how high up they are, but they’re almost double the height of a horse. There were flies all over our camel…in fact, one flew right into my mouth (and I freaked out)…supposedly this is good luck just like birds pooping on you! Our guide was handicapped and had a limp…so we were the last of the camels in the trail…I guess we got a longer ride than everyone else!

We rode up on our camels right to the base of the second pyramid, got off and started exploring by foot. We entered one of the pyramids and climbed down a steep ladder into where the tombs were held. You would think it would be cool down deep in the desert sand, but it was quite the contrary…it was like a sauna inside the tomb…and if you’re closterphobic…think again! The tomb was very confining and small…you could only pack about five people inside the middle room.

After going inside the pyramid, we went down to the Sphinx. We took several pictures…and not to forget, got hassled by beggars and peddlers. I was going to by an Arabian headdress and I wanted to purchase it for $1…the guy at first agree and then when I picked out my color and took out my money…he wanted more money. I started walking away and he grabbed me…I started yelling at him…and the tourist police came over and saved me from this guy. Yes, that’s right, Egypt has tourist police to protect tourists…mainly from terrorists, but in this instance it was nice to have someone to help out. Immediately after the brawl, another peddler came up and sold me the headdress for $1…so it worked out nicely in the end…and I got my Arabian cloth headdress.

After the Sphinx, we were bused to the ritzy Meridian Hotel across from the pyramids for lunch and then were driven to a papyrus institute (where they demonstrate how to make the papyrus…and of course sell it too!). Conveniently situated next door to the papyrus institute was a jewelry shop where they were selling cartouches (jewelry with hieroglyphics) and souvenirs. I went to watch the papyrus demonstration and walked through the jewelry shop…and made it back to the bus without one purchase. I figure I have enough souvenirs from these last months to last me for years to come!

My trip to Egypt was a great one…within the two days I was able to visit and see everything I wanted to…and it was nice to have one-and-a-half days off of work!

Egypt - A Whole New World (Day 1)

Like from Aladdin’s words in the song “A Whole New World,” “Don’t you dare clothes your eyes!”

The Jade cruised to Egypt for the first time and I was determined to see the pyramids. I was able to persuade my supervisor into letting me go on a two-day, overnight tour (which means I had two full days off of work…wow!)…and I saw all Egypt had to offer.

We port in a city called Alexandria, the third largest city in Egypt, and to get to Cairo you must take a three hour bus ride. This bus ride was the wildest ride I’ve ever had in a vehicle. In Egypt, there are no stop lights…well, if there is one it’s just a suggestion. There are no lanes…cars drive on the right- and left-hand side. They drive so close to the car in front of them that they have to slam on their brakes to come to a complete stop. And they continuously are honking their horns…it’s worse than New York City!



The ride itself was an experience…but once we arrived in Cairo that’s when the ‘real’ adventure began. Cairo is the largest city in Egypt and is one of the most popular cities to visit…and there was a lot for us to see. The first day we toured through The Egyptian Museum (how original!), visited a mosque (which was across from where the Egyptians excavated limestone to build the pyramids), took a dinner cruise on the Nile River, and watched a laser light show projected onto the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.

The museum was neat, but there were so many artifacts (200,000 of them) that we didn’t have time to see them all. It was interesting to learn of the significance of things like the scarabs, dogs, posture and mummification to the Egyptians. Though, I did see jewelry from tombs (including King Tutahamet’s), King Tut’s coffin made of gold, millions of limestone, alabaster and granite statues…and a replica of the Rosetta stone (the decoder to Egyptian hieroglyphics).



I’d visited mosques before and I wasn’t too impressed with the one we visited. The Blue Mosque in Istanbul was much more beautiful and decorative. The nice thing about this mosque was that it sat up above the city and there were some really nice views. I took pictures of the city…and even managed to view the Pyramids of Giza from afar.



The dinner cruise was amazing…not because of the entertainment or because of the food, but because of the company I was with. The majority of the entertainment staff including our Second City troop and production show cast members were present on this overnight tour of Cairo. They made this dinner cruise hilarious…and well worth the trip. With a little touch of alcohol…everything can become enjoyable…including the Egyptian karaoke singers (who sang hits from Phil Collins, Lionel Richie and Enrique Iglesias…what a combination!) and belly dancer (who danced more like a stripper…and needed a pole in my opinion). The food served was just short of mediocre…I ate hummus and pita. Though, beer (which was invented by Egyptians) that was served, Sakkara, was excellent!



After dinner, we proceeded to Giza to view a light show at the pyramids. The one-hour show began with providing you the background of the pyramids explaining why and how they were constructed. Then, the show took a turn for boring. The narrator started talking about Egyptian lifestyles and reenacted a day-in-the-life of an Egyptian (back in the AD times), which was a little too much. I could’ve done with out the reenactment, but the colors were really pretty…and I got a lot of pictures!



After the laser light show, we retired to our luxurious rooms at the Cairo Marriott situated on the Nile River and passed out…excitedly awaiting tomorrow’s events.