Giza

Today was a great way to fully start our tour of Egypt. We left our hostel at 8:30 in the morning with our wonderful driver for the day Egyptian Bob. Now I'm sure bob is not his real name, its probably one he tells foreigners so they dont butcher his actual name. As soon as we met him his first words were "Welcome to Alaska!" said jokingly with a big smile from ear to ear. All three of us knew this guy would be a fun guide to the city of cairo and Giza. As we left the hostel Bob told us a little about himself; he used to be in the Egyptian military and then after 20 some odd years he left and began doing driving tours for the same company he works with now.

The first stop Bob took us to was an Egyptian Papyrus company that makes paper using the papyrus plant, and then sells it to art institutes or individual artists for them to work on. Inside the company building we met Shareef who explained to us how they take the papyrus stems, filet them, and then press them for six days to get thin strips. These strips are then laid together in sort of a checkerboard outline and then pressed for another six days to become finished paper. Afterwards they are sent to the artists.

The papyrus strips being laid out. Very interesting process to make the paper, which is actually quite strong. Below is a finished piece of work.

This was one of my favorite pieces of work that was in the shop. It looks absolutely amazing and all of their artwork is for sale. You can drop some serious coin in this place, believe me.

After the paper company it was on to Giza to see the famed Pyramids. All three of us had been looking forward to this part of the trip since we booked our tickets. Bob suggested we take a camel ride to see them and we obliged. After bargaining with the tour company, and saving a significant amount of money we paid for our 3 hour camel tour to the pyramids. Each of us got our very own camel; mine was called Rambo, Colin's was named Charlie, and Chris' was named Michael Jackson...too soon. If you have never ridden a camel before let me tell you that its an experience in itself. They are much bigger animal up close and when you are sitting on top while the animal is standing you are at the height of seats in a greyhound bus....they don't have greyhound buses here but its a comparison. It takes a little while to get used to riding this beast and also takes some time to get used to its constant flatulence. Camels have really bad manners so you dont want to be directly behind one who is feeling how should i say, a little gassy? Other than that these creatures are strong and sturdy, trusted by the bedouin people of the desert for thousands of years.

My came Rambo...he had bad gas the entire time but lucky for me I was on top of him rather than behind him.

We rode our camels into the pyramid park and after going through security we were off on our tour. Our pyramid guide Hamdi took us through some desert area on the outskirts of the park and after a while we could see the famed pyramids in the distance. Our excitement only grew as we got closer to these engineering and architectural marvels. We all stood in awe, imagining thousands of slaves pulling and pushing stones that weighed on average around 2.5 tons, with some getting as heavy as 15 tons into place. The pyramids when completed stood nearly 50 stories high or around 480 feet but over time this number has decreased a little bit.

What a site this was. To see three pyramids next to each other was an impressive site and much better than seeing them in social studies books. One of my life goals and dreams was to come to Egypt to see these colossal structures and now I can cross that off on my bucket list.

Right next to the pyramids is the also famous sphinx which has the face of a man, head of a woman, and body of a lion. This was also an impressive sight but it was ruined a little because the sphinx overlooks a KFC and Pizza Hut in Giza, literally a football field away. Can you say commercialized area? Yea, I bet that view has Mr. Sphinxy feeling a little hungry.

After the pyramids and sphinx our driver for the day Bob took us to get some good old fashion Egyptian food, falafal sandwhiches. These were well received within the group but Bob had another surprise in store for us. He took us into downtown Cairo to his favorite cafe where he treated us to some shawarma sandwiches, tea and a little hookah. It was his treat to us in his effort to show us Egyptian hospitality. Bob you certainly are a very hospitable man my friend. Delicious food and drink, smooth hookah smoke and great friends made for a very memorable and fun afternoon. We did get some stares as foreigners from locals who were also enjoying the cafe and the great weather but I think it was more of an appreciation that we would go out of our way to really embrace the culture here.

What we have heard from Bob and the two brothers running the hostel is that most tourists come and stay in fancy hotels, go on group tours all day in giant buses and then come back to the hotel to lounge by the pool or watch tv. They would rather eat the McDonalds or KFC in the area than get out of their comfort zone and explore the city. For us this is not the way to really travel. You need to stay in hostels, backpack around and get out and immerse yourself in someone else's culture. Embrace the sights they see from the markets to the cafes, embrace the authentic food they eat no matter how weird it may seem and above all embrace the life they live here in another country. If you dont then your are really just cheating yourself...and who wants to do that.

Well friends another post down but more importantly another day seized. We head to Aswan tomorrow for some interesting activities so stay tuned!