Notes from a Sandy Spot

Today was pointy things day. Breakfast, coach to Giza and then time to wander amongst the pyramids. We opted out of seeing inside as a) by all accounts there is nothing to see and b) the same accounts recall heat, humidity and back breaking short corridors. Instead we ignored instructions to stay between the pyramids and wandered a short distance off into the desert before having a chat with a friendly policeman who pointed out that he could take silly pictures of us holding the top of the pyramids from the position he was guarding. All well and good, but we were somewhat amazed when he wanted paying for the privilege! Baksheesh seems to be very much a way of life here ("nothing in Egypt is free" as our guide kept saying) but when even the cops are in on the act you have to wonder!

Had a wander round the "solar boat" museum which was basically a cedar ceremonial barque that was found buried near one of the pyramids and has now been reconstructed. Most impressive bit of carpentry.

Back to the coach and then a trip down the hill to see the Sphinx [ photo's to come ]. Great views of the Sphinx and the pyramids and although there were a lot of people now that it was a bit later in the morning, it never really felt too overcrowded which was something I had wondered about before the trip.

Next it was off to a ritual fleecing emporium (sorry, Papyrus "Institute") where we had a demonstration of how to make papyrus and then the opportunity to purchase all manner of overpriced (sorry, government regulated) pictures. You half felt that even looking at a papyrus would end up costing you rent as a salesman would appear as if by magic at the mere suggestion of interest in something hanging on the walls. On the plus side, Anne reported the best loos in Egypt so far so perhaps the true reason behind the visit was more sanitory than shopping.

Back on the coach, a simple lunch of felafel with mint yoghurt in the freshest pitta on the planet would, with hindsight, turn out to be one of the most authentic and pleasant lunches of the trip as we wended our way to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo. There we spent a plesant hour or two having a guided tour of the highlights and then some precious free time to go a wandering. The Museum is home to the Tutankhamun cache and never having seen the gold mask and sarchophagi it was really v. impressive indeed. And to think that this was for one of the minor kings ...

Back to the Hotel and time for a quick nap before a "longing" in the bar prior to going out for a group meal. By "longing" I mean briefing from Osama our tour leader ... but boy did he go on ... and on ... and on ... and by the end of it I could probably have told you what we were meant to be doing for almost every hour of every day for the remainder of the trip. If there's one thing that Explore are certainly very good at, it's organisation!

Group meal out was rather nice indeed in a restaurant called felafela which judging by the photos of distinguished patrons, had once been a rather exclusive venue rather than taking coach parties of English tourists! However, that's doing it a disservice as the starters in particular were excellent (Meze style) and a good night was had by all.

So to recap ... day 1 had comprised

1. Pyramids

2. Solar Boat Museum

3. Sphinx

4. Papyrus Institute

5. Museum of Antiquities

6. Group Meal

The prospect of relaxing on this trip looked rather distant indeed ... but maybe the train journey to Luxor would slow the pace down a bit ...

# posted by The Guv'nor @ 2:00 AM