First Day in Cairo

5-Sep

After a great week with the kids, grand kids, family and friends it is now time to start the Egypt and Jordan tour. Today everyone on the tour will arrive at the hotel, as I got here a day earlier (last night at 23:00) I had the opportunity to do a sunrise tour to the Giza Pyramids. My Tourguide (Naddar) picked me up at 5:30 and he and our driver (Hassan) took me close to the Giza Pyramid complex. It was a nice morning but still dark when we arrived at the camel farm to start the camel ride. Yes, this tour is by camel, they take us into the Sahara dessert with a good view of the pyramids. I have never been a great fan of riding on top of an animal (horse, elephant or camel), and camels are high. When the camel get up or down you have to hold on for dear life 😊 But it is all part of the experience, I was with 4 other Australians in a very deserted Desert on top of a smelly camel!

When we got back to the camel farm, Naddar and Hassan were waiting for me, he spoke very good English and knew a lot about the Pyramids. So the next stop was the actual Giza complex and Naddar talked non-stop to explain everything, at this time of the day it was very quite so a good time to visit (and listen). We walked around the Great Pyramid, and although I’ve seen this before I was still awestruck. Amazing that the Egyptian civilisation was able to build these structures over 4500 years ago.

Built by King Khufu in the Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom (around 2550 BCE), the Great Pyramid was the largest ever constructed in Egypt, originally reaching a height of 481 feet. What is missing is the golden pyramidion that supposedly was on top of the two large pyramids. As with many things concerning the pyramids it is a mystery if they ever existed and where they went. Another great mystery is where is Khufu? The burial chambers in the Great Pyramid have no hieroglyphs or drawings on the walls, his coffin and mummified body was never found. So why build this big monument without putting your name to it? Well, I think more of these mysteries will arise over the next two weeks.

Two of Khufu’s successors also built major monuments at Giza: Khafre, whose burial complex includes the second-largest pyramid as well as the Great Sphinx; and Menkaure, builder of the smallest of the three pyramids at Giza.

In the afternoon Helen from our trivia group arrived, she will also be on this tour and tonight we visited the sound and light show at the Giza Pyramids. Not sure if you remember the James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me” with Roger Moore from 1977. James Bond is being chased by the bad guy Jaws while the sound and light show is on. So that show is still going, it must be worthwhile seeing. They are building a new sound and light show next to the old one, and I think it is time for that update. I looked at the scene from 1977 and it looks and sounds still the same. Nevertheless, it was very informative and worthwhile our short drive their.