At 12:00am, I woke up and my body was wide awake as much as it can be waking up after four hours of sleep. While I was up I figured that I'd update the blog with the previous days adventures. Around 3:00, I began to see some lights out our window, indicating that we were near Alexandria. After looking out and seeing nothing but water, seeing civilization is an exciting feeling. Seeing a foreign civilization makes it that much more exciting and seeing one of the oldest civilations is simply incomprehensible.
Like we said, today was an early start. We made it up to breakfast by 5:30am and ate with Steve and Janet Ray and another couple. They shared some of their past experiences traveling in Egypt and the Holy Land letting us know what to expect. We got off the boat, boarded the bus, and began the 3 hour ride to Cairo.
The drivers in Egypt are very similar to those in Greece. Even our tour guide told us that the white lines on the street are for decorational purposes and the red lights are like ornaments. So, needless to say, the bus driver had to weave in and out of traffic and honk his horn to let people know that he was getting ready to hit them if they didn't move their cars. Almost immediately after we started driving Katie and I noticed the large amounts of trash that lined the streets of Alexandria. The buildings, which seemed to be housing of some sort, was falling down and dirty. It was eye opening to be in a country that is not first-world as we are used to. Also, groups of military men/police officers were everywhere with large semi-automatic rifles, watching traffic go by. During the long drive to Cairo and Giza, our guide described to us the history of Egypt in preparation for the pyramids. We had already heard much of the same information the day before and many people asked him about local culture. He even pointed out some pigeon roosts that farmers use to capture them since they are a delicacy.
The first stop was to The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. Because we were tight on time, we could only hit the highlights of the museum. There were many tour groups inside which made it very crowded. Each group spoke a different language and ours was the only English speaking tour group we came across. It is hard to even wrap our minds around how old the items in the museum are. We saw statues that were over 4300 years old! Of course, neither of us have seen anything older than 300 years old being in America. One of the main highlights of the museum was the findings from King Tutankhamon's tomb. Many of the items found inside of the untouched tomb were on display at this museum, including the solid gold, perfectly preserved, funeral mask. It was amazing to see how many treasures there were for King Tut and the extreme measures taken to create his tomb, particularly because he died at the age of 19. It is hard to imagine what would have been inside of the tombs of kings who died at a much older age that King Tut.
After the museum, we ate at a restaurant called The Place which is a docked boat in the Nile. The buffet had all kinds of foods from pita, hummus, baked sliced bread with veggies on them, pasta, scallopped potatoes, rice, pork, chicken or pigeon (we're not sure), pot roast, and some desserts. Before leaving we made sure to hit the restrooms. There was an attendant who directs people to the open restrooms. Apparently its customary to tip them, but as Dwight says on The Office, we don't tip people for doing things that we could do ourselves. (Note: We were not aware of this common custom and have since adjusted. We carry small change with us because we now know that this may be the only money the attendants make.)
Next stop was the Pyramids. As we drove, we looked out the window and could see them in the not too far distance. It was neat to imagine living in a country where looking out one's window offers views of the oldest monuments in the world. As we got closer and were able to see people next to them, it was easy to see how large they really are. A human in the fetal position could fit within the volume of one of the stones which make up the pyramids. What was more amazing was to see the largest pyramid, the largest tomb for a single man on the planet. The pyramids are solid less the one or two burial chambers/passageways.
While at the pyramids, we were warned of the vendors by our tour guide. Vendors are very persistant to get tourists to buy their items. As soon as we got off the bus, we understood what the guide was talking about. One of the tactics used was to place an item on top of my arm holding my water bottle saying it was a free gift. We were warned about this one-- once they give it to you they want to charge you for it. Everytime it happened, we told them no and when they persisted I just put it on the ground and started to walk away. Remember that Katie has been mistaken as other ethnic groups before, well today I had my turn. While next to the largest pyramid, a local on a camel came up to me and said "Hello! You look Egyptian!" as he stroked his beard. Of course, I don't have the slightest resemblence to Egyptian. Apparently this is another tactic of the vendors to sell rides on camels or their goods.
After the pyramids, we went to see the great Sphynx which is in front of the largest pyramid, whose purpose was to guard the tomb. Went to a papyrus store that had a demonstration of making papyrus. As the oldest paper, it was made by cutting the reeds into long and skinny strips, crisscrossing them, pressing them, and letting them dry. After the shop, we left for the 3 hour ride back to the ship.
For dinner, Katie and I had Schwarma pita, sliced beef, rice, green beans, and ice cream. We went to Mass afterwards with our group. Then for the first time in over a week, we did laundry on the ship. Nothing like clean clothes again!
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