Blog Like an Egyptian

Today was too legendary not to write about.  Truth is, I need to write it now so I don’t forget and don’t wake up tomorrow, thinking it was all a dream.

We woke up, grabbed a bit of breakfast and headed for the Pyramids of Giza.  You might have heard of them.  Big, tall, pointy things?  Does that ring a bell?

Camel ride

We arrived shortly after 8 a.m. for our camel rides to the Pyramids.  Yes, I rode a camel through a short stretch of desert to the Pyramids of Giza.

My camel “guide” was a 10-year-old Egyptian named Hassan.  And my camel was named Michael Jackson (other camels’ names: Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Anthony – um, go America, much?).

Getting on the camel was a bit flustering, because the back legs to up first, sending you forward, and then the front legs come up, sending your backward.  But after a few minutes, we were off to the Pyramids.

The trip last 30-45 minutes and was just mind-blowing the whole time.  I mean, at that time, it was about 10:30 p.m. July 3 back home.  The ride itself was slow and uneventful.  I took a ton of photos, and Hassan took more than a few of me riding the camel.  We saw the Pyramids off to our right, and after climbing a few small hills, headed toward them. 

Truth is, riding a camel isn’t much different than riding a horse.  But, you know, it’s a camel.

We headed to the pyramids, where we dismounted – another flustering feat.  But we got off, and I went to tip Hassan 20 Egyptian Pounds, since he’d been so cool.  (That translates into about $4 American dollars, or roughly double what our tour leader told us to tip.  But I’d been so happy, I wanted to go above and beyond for my main man.)

So I gave him 20 Egyptian Pounds, and immediately, he protests – it should be 50 Egyptian Pounds, he said!  He has a family!  He took good pictures!  I was happy!  So why was I being so cheap?

Then, the guy who rentedus the camels came over.  Here was someone on my side, I thought! 

But he immediately repeated several of the same arguments – he took good pictures, he has a family, he’s just a little kid, etc …

So, feeling like a bit of a Scrooge by this point, I pulled out another 20 Egyptian Pounds, tipped him and walked away.

Our tour leader asked if anyone was upset with the tipping process (he must have seen this coming), so I protested a bit.  He went to the tour leader and got my money back.  It was a bit of a frustrating end to an otherwise memorable experience.

Pyramids of Giza

After the camel ride, we hopped back in the van to a site that offers the best views of all the pyramids.  A guide talked about the construction of the pyramids (they weren’t actually built by space aliens … says her), and we hopped back in the van for a closer look.

We pulled up to the parking lot just outside of the pyramids and just gawked at the size.  I mean, these things are bigger and more intimidating in real life than in photos … by far.  I don’t even know how to write about it.  I didn’t get many up-close photos of the pyramids, either, to try and explain it.  Long story there.

We paid 25 Egyptian Pounds to go inside the Great Pyramid.  Yes, I rode a camel, saw the Pyramids and went inside the biggest one there.

The trip was a long, steep descent to the burial chamber.  I had to bend over the whole time, scrunched into the tiny tunnel, holding onto a pair of hand rails while climbing up and up and up.  We climbed up a ramp, with long, skinny bars every few feet – think of a ladder, but with backing.

After about 10 minutes, we ended in the burial chamber, which was pretty intense.  Just thinking about the king who was (at one time) buried there, the history that the room held, the importance of it … it was overwhelming.  Really intense.

The Sphinx

The next stop was the Sphinx.  It was pretty cool, but you can’t get too close to it, and other than our guide giving us background information, there wasn’t a ton to really do, other than take photos.  Still, the history once again blew my mind.

Cairo Museum

The final stop of the day was the Cairo Museum, where we saw mummies of some of the great kings and queens of Egypt, as well as the contents of King Tut’s tomb.  You know that really orante gold mask that you see on postcards and on the History Channel and all?  That’s King Tut.  Yes, I saw that up close and personal, too.

And that’s about it.  Honestly, I could write so much more, but that will come in due time.  I just had to write about how I got to see the hallmarks of Egypt all in one day today.  I will remember this day — and this trip, honestly — for the rest of my life. 

If I didn’t have pictures, I still wouldn’t be convinced any of it happened.  I would probably end up convincing myself that it was actually a dream, and that I didn’t actually ride a camel, get ripped off, climb inside a pyramid, see the Sphinx or check out King Tut’s burial mask.

Tonight’s our last night in Cairo (it’s about 9:30 p.m. local time as I type this), and I’m not sure when I’ll have Internet access again.  If you’ve been checking this blog out, thanks.  I’m sure I will be updating this for months after I actually get back, just between the photos, stories, sights and sounds.

Whatever expectations I had have been completely shattered.  I could never have imagined any of this.