All the Egyptian women Jim works with say not to spend any time in Cairo but it is the location of the pyramids so we pretty much have to. We are met at our hotel, the Hotel Shepheard BTW by Sharf our guide for the day. It takes about an hour 40 mins. to get to the pyramids from downtown Cairo to the Giza plateau... you never really leave the city..... built right up the the pyramids.
They don't disappoint. Another 1,500 years older than the oldest temples and tombs we've seen the mathematics and logistics of their creation is just unfathomable. Massive blocks ( scale provided by Jim and Dave in the photos below) set ascending at precisely 52 degrees and back filled with sand. The king's tomb and further up, two decoy tombs. Finally they were faced with smooth limestone. Most of this limestone is missing having been removed to build mosques after the sixth century ( much like the colleseum in Rome). Shame really they would have been even more spectacular as well as the regular surface being completely out of context with the surroundings. Looking closely at the remaining surface stones reveals tens of thousands of chisel marks, since I think this was before metal, they must have used a harder stone to do it. The effort is remarkable especially given the incredible numbers of people would have been a temporary city with all any city's needs. After the pyramids, the sphynx. Everyone I know who has visted the sphynx has considered it small and unimpressive. I disagree. I thought it was pretty amazing. The afternoon was spent at the Egyptian museum. Full of antiquities and of course, the treasures of Tutankahmun, many of which I remember from the early 80's when they were in Toronto. The guide was a must in order to explain the intricate differences in the various statues, pillars...and I'm afraid I started to experiance information overload. After our tour we were 'free to go' so we took a taxi to Kahn el Kahlili .... the market area established in the 1300's. Crammed full of pretty much any and everything you could possibly need, and certainly even more stuff you would have no use for, its an exercise in dodging the hawkers and still trying to peer into the stalls. Go in and its hard to extricate yourself.
We "happened along" (or were targeted) by a man who led us to the other side of the market where truly, tourists were very thin on the ground. Whether it was because we were with him or not we weren't hassled at all like the other side of the road. This part of the market was half built into the mosque and was very tight though not threatening.
We ended at a spice stall and the result is I am returning with lots of garam masala (nicer, but only a little cheaper than at home). Continuing on we left our "friend" and wandered around aimlessly, or lost if you prefer, until we eventually returned to our starting point. At this point Jim purchased his souvenir for the PCAS girls and we taxied back to the previous night's restaurant since it was so good and cheap.
Four a.m. wake up call so good night.
