My Egypt Travel Stories / Day 2
Giza: a truly remarkable wonder of the world
Hello and welcome to my Egypt travel diary. This is day 2.
DAY 1 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7
I took one week of annual leave to explore one of the most ancient civilisations, and it was incredible. I hope you enjoy peeking into my travel journal.
The day starts for me at around 4.30am with the call to prayer for Fajr. I couldn’t get back to sleep because I think I was a bit excited for the day. So after an hour of tossing and turning, I wrote in my travel journal about day 1’s adventures.
At 8.00am, we made our way to the rooftop terrace for breakfast. Before we went up there, I was concerned about the wind I could hear whistling around outside. I checked the weather app, and sure enough, today was going to be a windy one.
Breakfast consisted of a delicious traditional meal with a bean dish, a potato dish, salad, falafel (the best ones I’ve ever had), Arabic bread, and a selection of homemade jams. I was satisfied, but I could have eaten twice as much because it was so delicious.
We make our way to the hotel foyer to await the tour that I organised for today. It is a private tour, so we have a driver and guide for the day, taking us to various sites. The guide is Nadia, and she’s a lovely person who has been guiding for over 30 years.
She’s concerned about the wind today, and so we are taken to the Pyramids of Giza first, just in case a sandstorm comes through and reduces visibility.
As you can see from my windswept look, even at 9.00 am, that she is probably right!
You are able to pay extra to go into the pyramid. She tells us we can, but as we’ll be going into another way later, she advises against it. She says there is not much to see in there, just a narrow passageway and an empty sarcophagus. The queue wasn’t long, so she encouraged us to go up and have a look at the entrance nonetheless.
We continue to be shown different aspects of the pyramid, such as the different sizes of the blocks. Nadia explains how the pyramids differ from each other and provides other information. There was so much information that I couldn’t take it all in! Also, I was a bit starstruck by what I was looking at!
Next, she explains that we can go on a camel ride if we like. I wasn’t sure, and neither was Amy, but we figured, did you really go see the pyramids if you didn’t take a camel ride?! So off we set on our camels across the sands.
I felt like mine was being really bumpy when everyone else we were passing looked smooth. Amy thought the same thing. So now I’m thinking everyone’s rides are actually really bumpy, but the camel movement makes it look smooth.
We can only go to one vantage point today because there is filming for a movie happening. Usually, you get taken to a point where you can see all nine pyramids of Giza, but alas, we only get to see six. The other three are smaller ones associated with the Great Pyramid.
The guide takes some fun photos of us, and soon enough, our camels are trudging back to the start point. Our guide is great and tells us the upper limit of tipping. Later on, she’ll even tell us not to tip certain people at all. She also haggles down prices for us.
We then make our way to see the Sphinx. There is a temple to go through before seeing the Sphinx. The temple is crowded, but it shows the impressive stonemason work to get beautiful, smooth columns. I think sometimes it’s easy to forget how amazing the craftsmanship was because we now see buildings in a state of disrepair.
We walk through the temple, and once outside, the Sphinx is there in all its glory.
What a stunning statue. I could stay and look at this for hours. But I can’t because there are too many people and there’s more to see!
We get back into the car and are taken to Saqqara. Along the way, the guide takes us to a carpet store because I asked about a souvenir I saw at Giza.
The carpet store is also a school. Children toil away, making the carpets. The schools are apparently regulated. The showroom is full of the most beautiful carpets I’ve ever seen. I bought a wall hanging which has some Egyptian symbolism on it, such as a papyrus flower, the eye of Horus, and a pyramid. It’s the cheap woven method, and I’m not sure the seller is entirely happy with my purchase, but I am!
We then go to the next site, Saqqara. We are taken to a noble person’s tomb, the Mastaba of Mereruka. Here, the guide tells us about the carvings in the wall. She points out things like the men who are fishing are naked, but then explains why. Apparently, the fabric flapping in the breeze would alert the fish to their presence and swim away. Nowadays, they wear budgie smugglers.
She explains the offerings and how there is a checklist of all the things the person needed/wanted. She shows us how some people in the carvings have been destroyed, meaning they must have done something bad and have been struck from that person’s life.
All the people in the carvings are named. She explains how they knew which was the last room in the tomb because of the way they closed it up. The real treat for me was when she showed us the women dancing and the audience clapping.
Next, we venture underground and into the pyramid of Teti. This pyramid is now just a mound of sand and rubble, but underneath is where the magic is.
It still has a lot of intact hieroglyphics on the walls. The large sarcophagus takes up one room. The walk down was a bit treacherous, but so cool. The passageway is small and steep. The tomb is relatively tiny for the large pyramid that would have stood atop it, so we were lucky we beat the large tour group behind us.
After that, we go to Memphis, where we see the giant statue of Ramses. The story behind this statue is that it was found seemingly discarded and unfinished. Memphis was going to be made into a capital by Ramses, which is why it is believed the statue was here.
The interesting fact about how they know this statue was discarded is that a mistake was made, and he has two belly buttons. We see the Sphinx of Memphis here and another Ramses statue. We even do the pharaoh pose in front of it.
That’s the end of our tour, and we are taken back to our hotel. We have a little bit of time before we head back out again. The wind was so strong today that it felt like I had sand up my nose and in my ears. I can’t even run my fingers through my hair as it’s so knotty.
Next, I order an Uber and head into the city to go on a Nile River dinner cruise. We arrive and patiently wait. We haven’t eaten since breakfast, and we are starving.
Soon enough, we are on the boat, and the seats are so comfortable. We settle in and wait until we are given some food. It is a special Iftar menu, which we are really looking forward to.
We start with dates, and then the food keeps coming and coming. Everything is so scrumptious. Once the mains arrive, we are so full that we can barely eat anything else. Until our dessert stomach activates and we are able to squeeze in a little bit more. We end our meal with the yummiest hot chocolate I’ve had in a long time.
The cruise is so smooth, given that the water looks choppy and there are some other boats around making waves. The evening is still windy, and with the sun going down, it also gets a bit cool. We are given blankets, and we snuggle in for the journey back to the dock.
All up, the cruise is two hours, and it is an enjoyable ride. The boat was beautiful, the hosts were amazing, and the food was incredible.
As we are close to the tower, we grab another Uber to go see it. We pay our entrance fee and wait a few minutes for the elevator.
Soon enough, we are whisked to floor 62 of the Cairo Tower. We start to walk up the stairs to the observation deck when we feel the wind rushing down and realise it’s an open space. It’s already cold and windy, and now we are 100+ meters in the air.
Sure enough, we simply do one lap of the tower, take a few photos, and head back inside to the lift. It’s so cold.
Once down the bottom of the tower and outside, Amy gets chosen by the Cat Distribution System when a kitten comes running straight over to her. She’s in love, but unfortunately, the cat needs to stay here.
We return to our hotel, and I can barely keep my eyes open in the Uber on the way back. What a magnificent day.
More journal entries from this trip
My Egypt Travel Stories / Day 1
My Egypt Travel Stories / Day 3
My Egypt Travel Stories / Day 4
My Egypt Travel Stories / Day 5
My Egypt Travel Stories / Day 6
My Egypt Travel Stories / Day 7
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