Cairo and Giza, Egypt

This is the last entry for our trip to the Middle East, including India and Egypt.  If you want to start reading at the beginning, click here.

May 6, Monday.  Our last day in Egypt. We began our day at the enormous Cairo Egyptian Museum of Antiquities where all the artifacts from the tombs are on display, including the magnificent treasures from King Tut's tomb. King Tut was a very minor king because he was still a boy when he died, but his tomb is THE deal in terms of archeological discoveries. Archeologists estimate that only about 30% of the tombs have been found so far, which means there is enormous potential, but even that is no guarantee that any future finds will be as extraordinary. Tut's tomb is the only one found so far that was not looted long before there was any thought of preserving treasures for posterity. 

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I was able to take at the museum.  Google it to try to see some of the treasures within.

We left the museum and traveled across Cairo to our next destination.  On the way, we were able to see a little of how the local people live in this very crowded city. 

This is a typical city view in Cairo.

This is, too.  You see a lot of what looks like rubble amid what passes for apartment buildings.

This is typical all through Egypt.  According to the rules, owners don't pay taxes on unfinished dwellings but do once the building has been completed.  To avoid the tax, people leave the upper floors unfinished, with posts sticking up and debris on the upper floors.  In many cases, windows are not even installed, but in truth, people are living in these buildings. Winking and bribery seem to make this system work. We saw this in Sagafa when we first arrived in Egypt, in Luxor, throughout the countryside, and now even in Cairo. It seems this is normal here, but to outsiders, it looks sad, unfinished, and impoverished.

This is a City of the Dead. Families build shelters to use when they come to visit their ancestors in the cemetery.  In today's more desperate time, homeless people move into these shelters, so an illegal slum develops.  Strange to us, normal to them.

After the museum, we proceeded to the Mohamed Ali Mosque, which was built in the 1800s by a king of Egypt. It is supposed to be a replica of the Blue Mosque in Turkey. This one is also called the Alabaster Mosque because much of the exterior was made from alabaster. It was interesting to see an older mosque to contrast with the new ones we saw earlier.  

The Mohammed Ali Mosque

Egyptian tourists 

The exterior of this mosque is mostly alabaster.

In the courtyard, which holds overflow crowds on days of worship.

Beautiful mosaic work

Inside the mosque, these almost look like fairy lights.

Looking up at the dome

Detail, with the symbol of a prophet in the circle.

This is an old carpet and is valued for being part of the Egyptian heritage--
yet worshippers and tourists alike are allowed to walk on it.

Detail of the carpet

This is the staircase the imam uses to descend to worship.

Detail of the alabaster interior

Egyptian Muslims seem to prefer brighter colors and so far seem a bit more relaxed in their dress than elsewhere.

No black abaya for this mom!

When they are about seven, boys are brought to the mosque to begin to learn more about their religious heritage.

Back on the bus to Giza and the real highlights of Egypt.  Along the way we saw many pottery shops.

Then a buffet lunch at the Mena House Hotel.

This is the hotel pool.  Wowza!

Pretty amazing view from the hotel grounds

Imagine looking at this when you get up in the morning!

Flags of many visitor nations fly here.

Then on to the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Seeing them is every bit as thrilling as you expect. The sheer size of the pyramids is awesome.  Even the mass of people--guides, tourists, vendors, horses, camels and camel drivers adds to the atmosphere, although our guide warned us to avoid contact with camel drivers who have been so hurt by the lack of tourist business since the revolution that they have become unscrupulous, sometimes luring tourists aboard for a one dollar camel ride, taking them out into the desert, and then demanding as much as $100 to bring them back. 

When you get off the bus, you are greeted by scores of vendors and other tourists.

Camel ride, one dollar!

I truly love the camels, although I have no desire to ride one.

The three major pyramids here in the distance, along with a very small one to the
right that was a queen's pyramid rather than the large ones for the kings.

Two things are interesting here.  First, you can see a little of Cairo in the background on the right. I had no idea the pyramids and the city were so close! Second, the air quality is not at all good.  I think the dry atmosphere and blowing sand account for most of this pollution.

John is coughing, and so was I.  We think this is still our flu bug, but surely the atmosphere didn't help us!

Handsome devil, isn't he!

Great big pyramids and tiny vehicles.

Some of the trinket vendors.  We had to run this sort of gauntlet everywhere we went.

Here are some of the camel and buggy ride vendors.

Pyramids for one king and two queens.

The Menkaures pyramid

Egyptian tourists seemed to enjoy these buggy rides.

You realize how large the structure is when you see the people and this camel

I love this shot!

Three dollars--for a beaded cap.  Is this a boy or a girl?  I have no idea, but a beautiful child in any case.  Does he/she ever go to school?  What future does he/she have? 

More vendors, with the Sphinx and a pyramid in the background

A real scarab beetle!  It was a gorgeous iridescent blue and over an inch long. No wonder it was a sacred symbol here.

Walking up to see the Sphinx we passed under these massive arches.

Majestic!

Goodbye

An English couple told us at dinner that they were disappointed to see how much Egypt had changed since their last visit six years ago. We were glad to have come, however. We will never come back, but its is a privilege to have been able to see all  these wonders, old and new. The world is such an unruly place that it is impossible to predict how much longer tourism in any given spot will survive. Tourist dollars are a vital part of economies all over the world, from Egypt to Greece to Naples, FL. It is sad to see the profound effect on local lives that a major disruption in tourism can cause. If only we could all get along...and I'm sure we could if it were up to individuals.

May 7, Tuesday.  Up at 2 AM for our six hour flight to Paris, then over nine hours to Atlanta, and finally just over an hour to Ft Myers. Our expected driver was not waiting for us in Ft Myers because he had just been released from the hospital after having an accident. I admit I wasn't at all surprised. His driving at the start of our journey was the scariest of all, and that is saying something. Luckily, it was easy to find a cab to get us to Naples, sick, bedraggled, and exhausted, but so grateful to be home at last. 

Our first two flights were on Air France.  Terribly uncomfortable seats, hard as a rock.  I thought Cairo to Paris was a short leg and didn’t deploy my inflatable seat cushion, but was very grateful to have it on the second.  John wished he had brought his after all.  I expected the airline food to be pretty good.  After all, it was Air France from Paris to Atlanta. Wrong.  Probably the worst airline food I’ve ever had.  Go figure.

On the Cairo to Paris flight I sat next to a young man whose perfect English fooled me into thinking he was American. Instead, he is from Chile, but spent the first eleven years of his life in the States. Now he is an engineer and was returning home from a very short visit to see a couple of Egyptian friends. He had such a good time that he is thinking of moving to Egypt for a couple of years to learn the language and enjoy the culture. His life goals are to travel the world--mostly to backpack in beautiful surroundings, do work that makes a difference, meet the right girl, and eventually marry, have children, and enjoy his remaining years in the peace of his home. Meanwhile, he has discovered a website that enables something called couch surfing. He and his roommate have already entertained male and female visitors from China, Turkey, Sweden, and Germany. The visitors sleep free on their couch for a night or two and move on, a very cheap way for the adventurous young to travel. It would take more courage and trust, not to mention street smarts, than I have, but it makes me happy to once again meet a young person whose primary goals are so globally life affirming. 

I finished this trip of a lifetime feeling that I haven’t really encountered any real people from the countries we visited.  In some of these countries, we truly never met a local person.  In others, everyone we met was paid to be nice to us.  This is quite different from any of our previous travels and more than a little troubling to me.  I usually come home feeling I have met people who are so much like me that enmity on a person to person basis is incomprehensible.  This time, I don’t feel that sort of connection.  Is it the language barrier?  Perhaps.  Is it cultural?  Probably.  Is there any way to bridge the gap between us?  I’m not at all sure.  Where usually we return home feeling any gaps are mere cracks in the pavement, this time they seem as wide and deep now as they did before we set out.  Superficially we came home with good feelings about the countries and cultures we visited, but I can’t honestly say there was any way to probe beneath the surfaces on this trip. I can only hope that people like the young man on the plane can do a better job of shrinking our world and making us all one than my generation has managed to do.