The fact that my hotel was dirty, really modest and settled in the Cairo's hood did not matter.
Because this was the first thing to be seen in the morning.
And last before I went to sleep.
I like variety.
And I tend to see beauty in things I find interesting.
No matter how odd they might seem.
That is the reason why I liked Cairo.
Though I am not sure I would like it that much if I visited it these days.
Cairo is a very dirty city.
You have some nice parts, along the river.
But most of it is in ruins, sand and garbage.
Noisy cars.
Polluted.
Back in 2006, when I was visiting, it was the 4th most polluted city in the world.
Take a look.
Here I am, early in the morning, standing at the entrance of one of hotels next to the Giza pyramids.
You can barely see the pyramid behind me because of the smog.
But it clears out in the early afternoon.
Arriving early by the pyramids has its benefits on the other hand.
Empty.
No crowd.
Just the way I like it.
Security personnel everywhere you go.
Though they are not much active.
We saw two sellers fighting over a tourist.
Nobody intervened.
Some shots for the memory lane.
Tourists were always into taking photos next to pyramids.
Why should I be any different?
See?
:)
Sellers preparing for the tourists.
Be aware of the fact that most of the things sold here are not what the sellers are telling you.
I highly suggest you do not buy souvenirs here for many reasons: if they tell you it's made of stone - it is plaster, if they say it is papyrus - it is banana leaf, if you address one seller - others will follow, if others follow - there is no way you can get rid of them easily.
So, if anyone approaches you - just say 'not interested' or shake your head.
But do be persuasive.
Or you will end up buying stuff you do not need.
And you will get annoyed.
I promise.
This sellers can get quite aggressive.
And never show them an open palm.
If you stretch your arms towards the seller and show open palms it is considered as the act of receiving things sold.
And ones the goods touch your palms - it is sold.
Full stop.
It happened to a friend of mine.
They tried to sell him papyrus.
He tried to walk away.
As he walked, the seller was cutting the price.
Good thing was he was far from the group.
In the end, he got annoyed, stretched his arms and said 'I am not interested!'
The guy just shoved the entire pile of papyrus paintings (turned out to be banana leaf paper but nevertheless crowd at home was pleased) to him and said 'Sold!'
Police will never take your side here.
Luckily, the price was really low at the end.
Giza necropolis is quite close to the city now.
Somehow I have always pictured it in a desert.
I took a walk around.
City on one side. Desert on the other.
And then I stumbled on the camel pack.
Not the cigarettes.
Real live camels.
Never saw a camel before.
Except in the ZOO.
I came close to one to take a photo of it and this Arab appeared next to me.
He took a bandanna and put it over my head.
Started talking.
Offered to take a photo of me.
I said 'I would like to have a photo next to a camel'.
He took my camera.
And in the speed of light he lifted me, put me on the camel and slapped camel's ass.
To my disbelief camel raised up.
Do you know how camel raises up?
First it lifted it's back legs and I almost fell on my head.
I started yelling and pressed my knees as hard as I could to the saddle.
And just as I have managed to find my balance, the camel raised it's front legs and I almost snapped my back.
It felt like it.
And then - vertigo.
Very high you sit there.
The camel started walking but I lost the straps and I started yelling.
I was seeing headlines in tomorrow's paper
'Raging camel walked over the nagging tourist.'
Luckily, back in the group I had a guardian angel looking over me.
He heard me and came over shouting at me 'Didn't we tell you not to walk around by yourself! Why can't you stay with the group? You just had to climb on that thing, didn't you?!?'
And he sat on the first camel he stumbled upon!
Ahahaha.
I thought 'What?!? You can not ride a camel!!!'
He tried to catch my camel.
It was so funny.
At the end we had a little help by the camel owner.
This is how it ended up.
Holding my raging camel.
Two idiots.
Hehe.
We actually had to pay to this guy to get us down and return me my camera.
Idiot I am.
The Great Sphinx.
The word is she is missing a nose because Napoleon's soldiers were practicing shooting with canons.
The Great Pyramid.
There is just something about this place...
But the great pyramid was closed for public.
I was devastated.
But you could enter the one next to it.
Menkaure's I think it was.
Yeey!
I imagined something like this.
But no.
It was like this.
Claustrophobia.
You could stand up in just few spots.
At the end you would come to a chamber with a hole and there was a beggar there.
He would point to that hole and say 'Here is pharaon' and he would stretch his palm out.
Somebody shouted 'Just give him some money. He is standing in this grave all day!'
What the...?!?
There are so many mysteries still to be resolved when it comes to building this place.
Like - how did they melt granite and folded it like this.
And these rocks are massive!
These pyramids are so beautiful.
There is just something magical about them (if you forget the fact that it is nothing but a big graveyard).
And we met some nice people there.
After the pyramids, the right thing to do is to visit the museum.
Such a great collection is there.
I was particularly interested in everyday items like clothes, toys etc.
Mummies on display.
Tut's treasures.
I do not have any photos from the museum.
Maybe it was not allowed to take photos back then...
But I did buy a book there.
If you want to take a look inside, with a guide, take a look at this video.
Notice the noise at the beginning.
My sister did the same trip in 2008.
She did not stop here.
Visited Saqqara as well.
My group was not interested in it.
These are some of my sister's photos of Saqqara.
I would like to add some variety to this post.
It is not only temples and graves of the pharaons you can see in Egypt.
Coptic Orthodox Church on the way.
And since we are talking pyramids,
do you know that there are pyramids in Europe as well?
Hehe.
I still am a great skeptic.
Apparently, you enter as one and get out as a believer.
And I had to go all the way to Egypt ignoring the fact that the pyramids were just in front of my nose.
.........
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