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.