Since the route from Jordan back to Europe took us through Cairo, we decided to “extend” our layover a few days to explore. The pyramids of Giza, a city tour, the Egyptian Museum, and a sunset sail filled our days. Our hotel, which overlooked the Nile, was enormous and western. Security was tight coming and going. Every car was sniffed, every trunk was opened as cars pulled into the complex. Quite a different feel than Jordan. It made us realize we were back in a big middle eastern city. The air in the city was questionable and the views were quite hazy, but we enjoyed ourselves, nonetheless.
First stop – ancient ruins. We pulled into a parking lot with some trailers and wondered where we were. Turns out we were in Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt founded in 3200BC! Located on the banks of the Nile, it was about 10 miles south of our hotel. In an open-air museum, we saw ruins of pillared halls, a complete sphinx with an undamaged face, and a huge statue of Ramesses II, one of the greatest, most celebrated, and powerful pharaohs in Egypt.
Second stop – pyramids. In Giza, a short drive from Memphis, three pyramids dominate the landscape. Three successive generations of rulers each had their own royal tomb. There are also several smaller pyramids belonging to queens scattered around as well. The only word to describe them is massive. Massive stones, massive structures, and a massive amount of engineering to create them! The largest, the Great Pyramid contains about 2.3 million blocks of granite, each of which had to be cut, transported, and assembled. We were able to enter one of the pyramids with a guide to see incredibly well-preserved carvings and paintings. Even the color was still visible! Not to be left out, Giza also contains the Great Sphinx, with the head of a man and the body of a lion. At 240ft long and 66ft high, it is quite impressive. Perspective is fun in Egypt. Mark put his hand on top of the pyramid and even kissed the sphinx.
Crazy thing about the location though, you think you’re out in the middle of the desert, but the city has moved in around one side of the pyramids. A golf course borders the ruins.
Other highlights in Egypt – turns out lots of people raise pigeons on the roof. Why? Because pigeon is a regular thing on the menu. We had it stuffed with rice. Tasted like duck but a lot more work.
We also visited the Egyptian museum which was obviously filled with artifacts. The cool thing though, was that there were so many sarcophaguses - painted, carved, simple, elegant, large and small. Figures, large and small as well. Many of the artifacts appeared to be in original displays with old hand-written identifications - a very interesting museum for sure. Last, but by no means least, we ended our visit with a private felucca sail on the Nile at sunset. It was delightful!
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