Egypt December 2001

When we were visiting Cyprus, we had the great opportunity to visit Egypt. We set off around 6:00am to the airport, and arrived in Cairo around 9:30. The first thing that we noticed was the security. Each plane on the tarmac had its very own armed guard. We didn't want to take any pictures, as their machine gun was bigger than my camera - even with my zoom lens! At the airport was pure chaos. People running here and there - armed military, and dozens of travel reps. We were booked on the Cairo city and pyramids tour, however, our travel rep was nowhere to be seen. We eventually found someone else from our hotel and followed them. It's better to be lost in a group, then lost alone. We eventually found an English speaking travel rep, and she pointed us to the right group, which was not our original group. We were quickly herded into busses, and started on our way to the museum. The driving in Cairo was very interesting - everybody going as fast as they could without lines on the road, disobeying the 7 city traffic lights, and just trying to get to around as quickly as possible. We didn't see any accidents, but the busses breaks were red hot when we arrived at the museum. When we were in Egypt, we were there at the same time Tony Blair (UK's PM) was, and Tony was actually lucky enough to see us. But, alas, we were more interested in Egypt than we were of him, so we blew him off.

We begin our pictures at the Cairo museum...

This is the side of a casket. One interesting point is that there are guards guarding the tomb - OK, that's no biggie, but the tomb stones are like ones that we use today - the normal upside down U shape. A lot of history that I would have never thought of.

These four heads would be used in helping to guard the tomb. They have special powers that allow them to bring alive spirits and the undead. The glass cage protects us from them. Very scary.

These gifts would help the deceased in the after world. There's jackal's to help guard them, high priests to help pray for them and eyes to watch over them in the next life.

One of the keepers of the crypts was the jackal. There's a really weird story about Cain and Able and a Jackal, but it's not really a story for this web site. Anyway, I'd probably miss a lot in the translation, and get it all wrong, and then historians would think the entire site was just pants, and that wouldn't do, now would it?

This is a real interesting display. Sure, on the surface it looks like a lot of little Barbie dolls - doesn't it? Well, sure. But this goes much deeper than that. The Egyptians actually knew that there was 365 days in a year. And they believed (well the rich anyways) that on the other side they would have to do work, assigned to them by the gods. So, since the rich had never done a days work in their lives, thought that they were either unable to do such a lowly task or were just unable to work. So, what they did was take servants with them to the great beyond, thus 365 servants, one for each day.

This is looking down from one of the museum's wings down to the main entrance. From this picture, the museum seems calm, almost peaceful. NOT! The place was bustling with millions of camera carrying tourists, all speaking different languages. Totally mental.

This is one of the most famous of the Egyptian Kings - King Ramsies. This statue was about 20 feet high, and totally dominated the foyer. Also, you will notice that he is wearing a tartan kilt with a sporran.

This has to be one of my favorite exhibits in the entire collection. This is actually King Tut's death mask (but I'm sure that it has been washed out since). You can also notice that his ears were pierced (better shot in the following shot). I was going to try it on, but it looked a little small, so I decided not to.

Here's another angle of King Tut's death mask, which shows his pierced ear and the snake a little better. Quite a long beard for a teenager.

Originally, I thought that the pyramids were miles and miles into the desert and the only way that you could get to them was by taking a 7 day cruise down the Nile, followed by a 3 day camel ride thru sand dunes, oasis and no-mans lands. Well, that simply isn't true. This was taken from the parking lot of the Meridian hotel where we had our lunch. The blue Datsun in the front is one of the kamakazi cab drivers of the city.

Off in the distance is Cairo. I can't remember which kings these pyramids belong to but the story is quite funny. The first pyramid was build for the father, and the second, the son built for himself. Now, the son build his pyramid 6 feet shorter than his father's out of respect, however, he built his pyramid on a higher hill, so it would appear higher. Clever, eh? Right in the middle of the picture, is a lone camel jockey. It's really quite surreal seeing these camels in their natural habitat.

This is a picture of Pyramids in the mist...

The following picture is of the famous Ali Brian and his camel jockey. Ali Brian is ruler of the south sands and all that is holly. Behind Ali Brian is his summer and winter pyramids.

I wasn't really sure if I was going to keep this picture in the list. Basically when you get off the tourist bus, you get hoarded by several people asking if you would like them to take your picture. Then another comes up to you and then two minutes later you have a towel on your head. I was able to get away with several pictures, and only down a fiver.

Kim was even roped into having her picture taken. She is holding a green camel whip, and is ready to go and race camels. Woah!

This is still on the top of the hill, with my back to the pyramids. As you can see, there's tonnes of people. I think there was over 20 busses, and a bunch of military. The military was fine there. Just letting the takki tourists go where ever they wanted, as long as they stayed on the little hill. Most people don't argue with a 16 year old with an uzzi. Kim's having a good time, just chillin' in the sun.

This rock was just beside the two pyramids. It's a good vantage point to admire both pyramids, and it's where you get left off the bus... queue next picture...

Now, in Vancouver, the beggers are sitting beside the store, cup in hand, begging. Well, in Egypt, it is a little different. Instead of a tin cup in hand, sad sorry and a sad face. In Egypt, their beggers, have a happy face and a camel named "Mickey Mouse". Now, these people tell you that you can take your picture with them, or have a ride on their camel or you can pet the camel all for free. And, they will get between you and the pyramids so that you can take their picture with them and the pyramid.

They come right up to you, and start chatting. It's all quite civilized. You know what's coming, don't you? Well, just try and leave. They will ask you for money. And when you give them a couple of dollars, they will say that isn't enough. Then you give them more, which still won't be enough. Then you tell them to push off, and then they start getting really agressive. So, you try and walk away, and they keep calling you and following you. So, the best bet is to keep walking. It's too bad really. If they had been upfront in the first place, I wouldn't have minded giving them a couple of bucks, but it's the badgering that is unresting.

With the Pyramids of Goyza, they are quite impressive, and you go ooohh and aaahhhh... According to the tourist guide, they could only bulid the pyramids 3 months of the year, when the Nile was high enough for boats to be able to bring the rocks close enough to the building site. As well, they now believe that all of the work was actually paid labour, and, they also did a time sharing type arrangement, whereas if you wanted to work overtime, you could. Imagine hauling a 3 tonne lump of rock on your back just to pay the rental on your asp?

Each one of the bricks are 3 feet high, and as they go up, the sheer number of them just start to blur. I was going to try and climb them but that's a real no-no. They have this little rope about 20 feet from the base of them to stop you. Oh, ya - they also have the armed guards. Once again, 16 year olds with uzzi's.

In the bottom right, is a museum which holds one of the oldest boats, and it was just recently found. The boat is over 3000 years old, and, believe it or not, still floats. Well, ok, maybe it doesn't still float, but the only reason for that is all the deck hands are on shore leave right now.

This is the second pyramid. As you can see, the top part is in better shape than the bottom part. The pyrmaids were built using 3 foot tall bricks, and then filled in with smaller bricks to make them smoother and more finished looking.

Here's a better shot showing the top and mid-section of the pyramid.

Who keeps taking all these shots? This one shows a little fence holding back the tourists, as they walk around in amazement.

The Spynx is quite close to the pyramids, so we had about 30 minutes to wander around, and get lost. And we did. Here's a picture of Kim trying to find her way out of the Catacombs close to the spynx. Ok, we really didn't get lost, but that makes a better story.

This was taken becide the Spynx looking east. This is more what I would expect from Egypt - sand dunes, rocky terrain, people on horses, camels sitting in the dust and the odd stray dog by a local oasis. How traditional is this shot?

Isn't this a weird shot? Three wise men on camels and a bunch of people on foot going towards the pyramid. Humm - only 2000 years late.

This was taken right becide the Spynx. This shows how much excivation that they have done to restore the Spynx.

As you can see, the place was just hopping.

The pyramid off to the left I belive is for one of the King's wives. As you can tell, it is quite large, but definately not half as big as the Kings.

I thought the pyramid would make a good backdrop. And, hey, I was right.

I think this is my favorite Spynx shot with the pyramid in the background.

Almost the same shot as above, but more tourists ruining the picture.

This one is a really insteresting shot - even though the Spynx is 3000 years old (or however old) he had a really good medical plan, and was able to get a new pair of paws. Quite a good medical plan. The medical community doesn't usually make pyramid calls.

Another magical shot of the Spynx and the pyramids.

The sun is setting, and this was the last shot of a magical, surreal day with the pyramids and the Spynx. Good night, Mr. Spynx.