Cairo

Cairo is a complete sensory assault, especially after the serenity of Petra. The noise of thousands of horns blaring reminds me of a Las Vegas casino. Smoking is allowed EVERYWHERE, so the smell of cigarette smoke is omnipresent. On the positive side, however, the people are quite lovely and gracious, going out of their way to make us feel welcome. In this Muslim country, we were frequently greeted on December 25th with “ Merry Christmas”. If one must stereotype huge populations of individuals, why not picture Muslims the way we are experiencing them on this trip — as friendly, kind, helpful and warm, instead of envisioning all of them being like the small minority we see on the nightly news?

But enough of that. Let’s get to the magnificent sights from our first full day in Cairo.

Unfortunately, the GEM, the new museum, is still not finished. It was started in 2010, but has been delayed by wars, covid, the Arab Spring. The Egyptians were hopeful that it would be completed by November 2022, the 100th anniversary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. Maybe next year? Or the year after?

Many treasures have been removed from the “old” Cairo Museum to the “new”, unfinished one. Still, there was no shortage of truly spectacular objects in the old museum. In fact, it was hard for me to imagine how more artifacts could have fit into the available space. I actually was glad that there was less to see; it was less overwhelming.

After having the sites pretty much to ourselves in Jordan, we weren’t used to having to wait to view or get a clear shot of a particular object. Even so, it wasn’t bad because the number of visitors was about a third of the normal amount for this time of year, according to Mohammed, our guide.

Once again, I’m not going to post the usual photos of famous items everyone has already seen, like Tut’s gold death mask. Instead, these are a select few of the objects that caught MY interest.

How in the world did they ever get those tomb paintings to line up so perfectly? Well, this unfinished segment shows us. This is the Egyptian equivalent of our graph paper, but drawn on the wall. By the time the wall is completed, those guide lines will have been covered up, painted or plastered over.

Talk about aging well! This papyrus, found in one of the tombs is thousands of years old. The colors are vibrant and the papyrus shows absolutely no sign of wear.

The statue below represents a member of the working class. Look carefully. In addition to carrying something in his hands, he’s also wearing a backpack! I’ll bet it was this planet’s first.

One more photo, before we move on to the pyramids in Giza. Take a look at the eyes of the “seated scribe”. They are made of crystal and are amazingly lifelike, when you see them “in person”. This statue and the one above are carved from wood.

We ended our first full day with a delicious dinner at a restaurant across the street from our hotel. I was particularly grateful for our guide and our security guard who helped us avoid getting run over on our way back to the hotel. No photos of that particular adventure, but I did take one of the view from our restaurant.

Our last day in Cairo was spent visiting the pyramids at Giza in the morning and at Saqqara in the afternoon. We were supposed to have the afternoon free, but because all 9 of us wanted to see Saqqara, Mohammed changed the itinerary to accommodate us. Now, that’s a great guide.

Everyone has seen Cheop’s pyramid, which is the largest of the three great pyramids of Giza. But those aren’t the ONLY pyramids—just the most spectacular. They aren’t even the only tombs. Take a look at these, which are close to the great pyramids. These tombs were for lesser beings, like the pharaoh’s administrators.

I found myself quite taken with the camels and spent as much time gazing at them as I did at the pyramids. They have such expressive faces!

Giza was even more chaotic than Cairo. Fortunately Mohammed prepared us for what to expect. He explained that the helpful men who offer to take your photo expect to be paid. There were so MANY of them! It was hard for me not to engage with the friendly young men, but I heeded Mohammed’s warning. Most wanted me to hold my hand up so that it looked like I was touching the pyramid’s top.

When we moved away from the craziness of Giza to get a panoramic view at a quieter site, we discovered this young man taking a more creative approach.

Our final stop before heading back to our hotel was to view Egypt’s very first pyramid, the step pyramid at Saqqara. We didn’t have much time at the site so we had to choose between entering the pyramid or visiting Serapeum, the tomb for the sacred bulls. I chose the latter.

The Egyptians worshiped one bull at a time. When it died, it was mummified and placed in one of the 24 sarcophagi. Unfortunately, the site had been looted, so there is nothing left to see other than the immense sarcophagi.

It was a tiring day, and we have to be on the van at 4:45 tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Luxor, so it is time to press “publish” and hope for the best.