Giza before Pisa

Jan 27th

Protests against Mubarak have been just beginning. Luckily Giza is far enough away from downtown that we haven’t seen any problems. However, our plans to visit the Cairo Museum and our trip to Saqqara have been completely squashed since the museum is right next to the protests and Saqqara closes too early and is too far to really get to explore. When I come back to Egypt, the Djoser's Step Pyramid is high on my list of things to see as is Amarna, Abu Simbel, and Sharm el-Sheikh among many others.  However, with the pyramids in sight, I can't wait to see them up close.

The Great Pyramid from our hotel. no big deal. 

A few semesters of my job at Hopkins have gone to two things: multiple expensive train tickets to see Andrew who I’m more than ready to see in Rome =) and this trip to Egypt. I spent more on my one night in the Mena House Oberoi hotel in Cairo than I did for the entire month at the Emilio, but it really was an amazing hotel. The décor is lavish and my room had the biggest bed I’ve ever seen with the softest sheets ever! It honestly felt like Disneyland because I could see the pyramids from outside (the hotel is the closest thing to the Pyramids) and it felt like some weird, fake backdrop.

At last. (I chose the nerdy one to put up out of my 10 poses)

After quickly letting my parents know I was safe in Cairo, we headed off to the pyramids. As we drove closer and closer I was a blubbering buffoon. It was so unreal I couldn’t handle it. We first took pictures from the lookout where all 3 are visible at the same time and then went down into Menkaure’s pyramid (the smallest of the 3). The shaft was extremely small and I hit my head a few times which really hurt considering it’s stone. The pyramids are undecorated inside which is a huge change from the innumerable amazing images I’ve seen over the past month. It was only really interesting once you reminded yourself that you were standing inside the middle of a freaking PYRAMID.

Climbing up the Great Pyramid

We then bought tickets for the great pyramid (the only thing thus far we had to buy tickets for) and headed on inside. As some of the first people to get inside we got to climb the shaft and see the king’s chamber with few people inside. The room was dark, the walls were black and there was only one empty sarcophagus. It was beautiful in its simplicity.

yeah, the thing is enormous!

A few Egyptian girls were sitting on the freaking sarcophagus so I stared them down until they got off.  The Egyptians are also obsessed with foreigners. They legitimately pet your hair and touch you like you're some kind of interesting creature. I watched them do that to Marina because she was in front of me but I put up my hands before the girls could do it to me. They giggled like it was some kind of joke. You’re in the heart of a famous burial place. Seriously, have some respect. It killed the whole vibe of the pyramids. The Egyptians treat this place like a playground. They run on top of the Queens pyramids, graffiti the walls, throw their garbage everywhere, pick up ancient stones and throw them at each other, and the camels and horses crap everywhere. It’s a zoo, not the majestic site I had imagined and it really took away from the whole experience. We then had to wait until 100 people all tried to squeeze up the shaft and into the room.

The Egyptian playground. I couldn't believe it.

Note to the people of the world: don’t wear high heels when you’re climbing a pyramid and if you need a cane to walk you probably shouldn’t be climbing a pyramid at all. Also note to Egyptians running the site: just because 150 people have tickets to get into the pyramid doesn’t mean you should let them all in at the same time. They all can’t fit in a room the size of a small classroom. I don't know, just an idea. 

The boat in the museum. Look at the people on the left for scale.

Instead we walked around the mastabas and went into the boat museum to see the wooden boats that were buried next to the pyramids. One is HUGE and reminded me of the giant whale in the Museum of Natural History because all you can do is stare at it and say how big it is.

   

Looks like Cusco!

We quickly saw the Sphinx because the crowds are ridiculous and went back to the hotel for a nice long shower.  The pyramids for me were best at a close enough distance that they didn't seem fake, but far enough  away that you couldn't  be disurbed by how people treat them.

We ate dinner at the Indian restaurant at the hotel which was exceptionally delicious. At dinner we discussed the riots happening all over Cairo and though I hate to talk about politics, it’s interesting to be in the country and city during the beginnings of a revolution. I hoped to God we would be okay to fly out in the morning, because things can really get scary pretty quickly over here. Things aren't supposed to get crazy until after the noon prayer, so I should be halfway to Munich by then, Insh'Allah. I was too tired for words and went straight to bed since I had to wake up early yet again.

Me and Sphinxy!