The Original and Still the Best

Mosques of Islamic Cairo.
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My transit hell was finally over! I arrived in Cairo mid afternoon and after finding a nice, noisy, hotel right in the middle of Cairo I headed straight out to the Pyramid fields of Giza. A place I had wanted to see for years and years.

I think the pyramids are what travelling is all about and I would tell anyone and everyone that they must see them before they croak. They are the original, and possibly still the best tourist attraction in the world – how can you not be impressed by them? I sure as hell was!

It is a very strange feeling looking upon the mummified face of a pharoah who once spoke to Moses himself!

My first glimpse was from the bus to Giza. Peering out the window they appeared out of the hustle and bustle of the traffic. Still miles away, but so massive you couldn't take your eyes off them. As we got closer I got more and more excited. Here I was in Egypt – I couldn't believe it.

Finally reaching the ticket kiosk I couldn't tear my eyes away from the monoliths, they were absolutely huge and I just couldn't believe that man had made these things some 5000 years ago. The Sphinx along with its shot off nose was another sight I could barely believe I was viewing.

Unfortunately the gates were closing so I couldn't get too close to them. For some reason they weren’t doing the night time laser show. But I vowed to come back tomorrow. I headed back, in a bit of a daze to be honest. Things like that really take my breath away. It had happened at the Taj and now the Pyramids. I am gonna be hard to impress now!

I got back to the hotel and met up with a couple of English blokes (always English!). We headed out on the town, drank tea in a local teahouse, played backgammon with the locals and got introduced to sheesha. Over the course of my stay in the Mid East I was to become addicted to the ole sheesha pipe, and specifically apple tobacco. The taste was gorgeous. And the sheesha pipes are pretty cool too! After the teahouse we caught a bite to eat and met some local lads who showed us a night on the town – Cairo style. Not much drinking but plenty of smoking.

The next day I got up as early as I could and along with my Brit companions headed back out to Giza for a full day of Pyramid exploration. I refused a camel ride but I entered one of the Pyramids – very strange feeling, and climbed on one of the smaller Queen’s pyramids. The Pyramids are even more impressive up close, the size of the individual blocks are immense, and the thought of constructing them boggles the mind. I spent most of the day there and used up about 3 rolls of film. I reckon I got about 4 original photos in the whole lot! Upon getting back to Cairo I made a quick stop across the road to the Egyptian Museum. Tonnes upon tonnes of artefacts including the Mummy room and of course Tutankhamen’s treasure. It is a very strange feeling looking upon the mummified face of a pharaoh who once spoke to Moses himself!

The rest of Cairo was a blur. I did visit various mosques and the citadel and the main bazaar was a hive of activity. And of course the teahouses kept us refreshed. It was time to move on though. The three of us, I, Russell and Leigh decided to catch a train up to Luxor, but after discussions with other travellers, the idea of catching a train to Aswan and then sailing back down the Nile to Luxor by felucca was infinitely more appealing.

We had already paid for our tickets to Luxor but we decided that once we got there we would just pay the extra and carry onto Aswan.

It didn’t really work out that way, as we had to wait in Luxor overnight for another train to Aswan, but it didn’t matter. We found a cheap hotel and proceeded to get drunk with a bunch of other tourists who got off the train with us. Easily amused!