Cairo Egypt So Far...

Well, we made it to Cairo, Egypt a few days ago and have been keeping busy ever since. Jake spends a large amount of time on the floor of airports and restaurants. We've given up on trying to get him to sit still in a chair. Bottom right photo, he's "writing" a letter to Grammy. Bottom left our hotel lobby.

We arrived at the airport and were picked up by some folks from the American Embassy and were taken to our hotel, the Hilton Zamalek Residence. We booked through Booking.com so there was no place to include our rewards number for Hilton. When we arrived at the hotel and checked in, giving our Gold status rewards card, they had us wait for an upgraded room with a view of the Nile. They put us on the 8th floor with a nice view.

Once we got checked in and settled in to our room, we headed down to the hotel restaurant. Chris and I had sandwiches and we ordered Jake the chicken strips. When the food came, the chicken strips were really fish strips. No big deal. He ate three of them, but probably wasn't very hungry because he had just eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some bread leftover from the plane.  We headed back upstairs to change into our swimming suits. Chris went to get a sim card for his phone and Jake and I went to the pool. On our way out of the pool, the restaurant manager stopped me to ask why Jake didn't eat his chicken. Did he not like them? I mentioned that he did eat three of them, which was a lot for him and told him that they also happened to be fish. I assured him it wasn't a big deal, but he insisted that he would make chicken strips for him and make it up to us. I promised it wasn't a big deal. Meanwhile, Jake in his wet swim suit and swim diaper had to pee and it ran right down his leg and all over the restaurant floor. I felt terrible. And the next morning, the chef who cooked the fish came over to us an apologized as well. It was not a big deal to us and I felt bad for even mentioning that it was fish. And the three mornings since, he has made a crepe with Nutella on it for Jake at breakfast. Nice and healthy for a 2 year old.

We decided to hire a guide for our trip to Egypt. An acquaintance who lives in Cairo recommended a company and I sent them an e-mail, but didn't get a response. So I found a guide through Viator instead. The guide planned a general itinerary for us and arranged transportation. Our first outing was to a dinner cruise on the Nile River. The driver, Hamid, picked us up at 7PM from our hotel and took us to the cruise boat. He got us checked in and waited for us until we were done. After a long day of travel with only a short nap on my lap on the plane, Jake fell asleep on the way to the boat. We boarded the Maxim cruise boat and the waiters created a "cot" for Jake out of two chairs. I laid him down on the chairs and used our two sweatshirts as pillows, then I headed outside to take a few pictures of the Nile at sundown and when I came back, Jake was covered with napkins for blankets. It was very sweet of them. Chris and I actually enjoyed a quiet dinner together. The food was good and the entertainment was really good.

They had a Tanoura, spinning man, whirl around for about 30 minutes. It thought it was pretty incredible. The Tanoura was followed by a belly dancer.

Jake woke up just as the boat was pulling back up to the dock and we headed back to the hotel.

Exchange rate is $1 USD = 7.15 EGP (Egyptian Pounds). The receipt is for about $45 USD.

On Saturday, we had a big day. Our guide, Hanan, and her driver, Hamid, came to pick us up at 9AM from the hotel. We headed to Giza to see the pyramids. On the way there, she gave us the option to see the pyramids by parking the car and walking in or by camel. We chose camel, but didn't really know how much it would cost. We got to the stables and Jake saw the horses. The first thing out of his mouth was "Jack and Sunday!" He remembers his time in South Dakota with Uncle Jimmy's horses that he left with Dylan.

It was 980 EGP/per person to get the full tour of the pyramids with a guide by camel or horse. You can do the math. We figured it was a one-time deal, so we went for it. This included a guide who acted as our own personal photographer, a guide, and a guy to keep all the other folks peddling things away from us. We traveled the Giza complex with two guides, two horses, and a camel.

Our guides were Hamoud (top left photo, on left) and Ramadan (on right). Hamoud was the English speaking guide who took a lot of pictures of us and for us. He was really comfortable asking for the camera and taking a lot of playful shots. He also knew where the best spots for photos were.  Ramadan was the poor guy who had to walk the whole time leading the horses and camel. The horses were Rambo and Ramses. The camel was Mickey Mouse, which Jake loved. Both guides were great with Jake and helped look after him during photos and getting on and off the horses/camel. Jake preferred to ride on the horse with me.

Hamoud was funny, cracking jokes the whole time. Chris ended up riding the camel most of the way and camels aren't a very smooth ride. Hamoud asked Chris, "Is this your first camel ride?" Chris said no, but previous camel rides were not for very long. Hamoud said, "Well, by the time you're done this time, you'll 'Walk Like an Egyptian.'"

 Jake at the Pyramids. The bottom left is how Jake likes to tour the Middle East, like he owns it.

 Some funny pictures with the Pyramids. Hamoud knew all the creative photo opportunities along the route.

 Some family pictures. The bottom left is as Saqqara.

 The bottom right has Chris and Jake in the photo. These Pyramids are HUGE!!!

Playing with the Sphinx. Some of this stuff looks photo shopped in like a background at Disney, but I didn't edit these at all. The sky was a perfect blue with nice white clouds. Hamoud was a good photographer and got some unique shots.

After the Pyramids, we went to a Papyrus shop. Jake fell asleep and Chris stayed in the car with him while I went in for the tour. I got a demo from this guy, Mohammed on how papyrus paper is made. They trim the green part off of the papyrus plant and use it for things like baskets and other things. The inside is the white part and it it cut into strips. Then the rolling pin is rolled over the strips, squeezing out most of the water. Then the strips are placed in water for one or two weeks. One week gives you light colored paper and two weeks gives you brown colored paper. Then the strips are laid out flat like the bottom photo, hammered and then another piece of carpet is placed on top. Then it is placed beneath a press for another week. Then it is dried in the sun and can be used to write, draw or paint on. It was really interesting. They had some really neat paintings. I bought one the has the Egyptian version of the Tree of Life, to go with our Tree of Life mosaic table from Madaba, Jordan. 

After the Papyrus place, we went to see the Pyramids at Saqqara, another area with pyramids and temple ruins. You can see the oldest pyramid, it is the step pyramid in the back left. We went inside of the pyramid in the middle left photo. The outside of the pyramid is rubble, but the inside is still intact. It's a really cramped tunnel you enter to get inside, overhead clearance is no more than 4 feet. Jake is about 3 feet tall and he was able to walk with no problem, but Chris and I had to duck. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but the hieroglyphics inside are pretty amazing. We also went into some of the family tombs at Saqqara and it's amazing that many of the colors were able to survive for over 4000 years. 

We headed back toward Cairo and stopped at Saqqara restaurant. It was really good, some of the best mixed grill we've had since our arrival to the Middle East. I was invited by a lady cooking bread on site to take her picture, but then she expected a tip. Lots of tips requested in Egypt. Nothing is free.

After lunch we went to an oil/perfume place, where they also handmade blown glass. We had a glass bottle blown with Jake's name in Arabic. We ended up buying some perfume that we didn't really need. Many of the handicraft places have demonstrations for tourists, and when a guide brings them in, they usually get some sort of incentive for bringing customers by the shop. We were ushered into a room and offered a welcome drink. Chris had some Turkish coffee and I had some Hibiscus juice, which is a unique juice. Then they showed us how they blow the glass vases and jars, and then had a perfume testing. It reminded me of wine tasting, with a list of perfumes and scents with a guy walking by with the different scents to let you smell a few of them. It is really neat to see how some of these things are made. In Jordan, you can see mosaics being made in Madaba and pottery made in some of the shops in Amman.  

Then we went back to the hotel. Put Jake straight into the tub after the long day of camel rides and dirt. Chris and I both showered and we ate at the hotel's Japanese restaurant. I was smoked and dehydrated and asleep by 9PM. 

These are some photos I took from the moving vehicle while we were out and about in Giza and Cairo. I thought some of the sights were interesting and not commonly seen in America. 

Top left is a fruit market. Top right is a truck full of eggs. It is interesting that the eggs don't break and they always stack pick up trucks full by at least a foot above the top of the bed. I'm not sure what is in the bottom left, but another example of overloading the vehicle. Bottom right is a juice stand.

Transportation is funny in Giza. Seeing three men on a moped is not an uncommon site. This happened all over the Musundam Peninsula in Oman too. We've even seen 4 grown men on a motorcycle like this. Women ride side saddle and oven, sometimes they will have a small child in the front too. Giza has a lot of the 3-wheeled taxis. Probably an easier way to get around. And the bottom right photo is a neat shot of a van, a motorcycle and a donkey cart. Giza had a lot of donkey or horse carts around for regular daily use. Really a neat place to visit.

On Sunday, we got up and met our guide again at 9AM on Sunday. We started the day with a Felucca ride on the Nile. A felucca is a traditional Egyptian sailboat. After the felucca, we headed to the Egyptian Museum. The Egyptian Museum is packed full of amazing artifacts from the 30 Egyptian Dynasties. Hanan, our guide, was very informative during the museum tour. We saw the stuff from King Tut's tomb, probably the greatest archeological find in history. We also saw two rooms with about 12 mummies in them. It was amazing how well preserved they were after about 4000 years, but also a little creepy to enjoy viewing dead people. 

 

Cameras weren't allowed in the museum so I borrowed the photo below from Wikipedia.

From Wikipedia: 

Tutankhamun (alternatively spelled with Tutenkh-, -amen, -amon) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (ruled ca. 1332 BC – 1323 BC in the conventional chronology), during the period of Egyptian historyknown as the New Kingdom. He is popularly referred to as King Tut. His original name, Tutankhaten, means "Living Image of Aten", while Tutankhamun means "Living Image of Amun". In hieroglyphs, the name Tutankhamun was typically written Amen-tut-ankh, because of a scribal custom that placed a divine name at the beginning of a phrase to show appropriate reverence.^[3] He is possibly also the Nibhurrereya of the Amarna letters, and likely the 18th dynasty king Rathotis who, according to Manetho, an ancient historian, had reigned for nine years—a figure that conforms with Flavius Josephus's version of Manetho's Epitome.^[4]

The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter and George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon^[5][6] of Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb received worldwide press coverage. It sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's burial mask, now in Cairo Museum, remains the popular symbol. Exhibits of artifacts from his tomb have toured the world. In February 2010, the results of DNA tests confirmed that he was the son ofAkhenaten (mummy KV55) and Akhenaten's sister and wife (mummy KV35YL), whose name is unknown but whose remains are positively identified as "The Younger Lady" mummy found in KV35.^[7]

After the museum we went to the Mosque and Madrasa (School) of Sultan Hasan. It is no longer a functional mosque in the traditional sense and no longer a school. It was really neat to enter a mosque and to learn about how each is set up. 

The Mosque on the left is the Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hasan. There were about 8 beautiful mosques within 3 blocks of us at this place. 

The top left photo is of the feluccas. Top right is the man blowing the glass jar we had made with Jake's name in Arabic. The middle left is in front of the Egyptian Museum. Bottom left is inside the Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hasan. Bottom right is a picture of the Alabaster Mosque that we will visit when we return from Luxor in a few days.

  

After the museum and the mosque, Hanan and Hamid took us up to a place where we could see a great panoramic view of Cairo. The city is huge and it definitely follows the Nile. We could sort of make out the Pyramids of Giza, Saqqara, and Dashure. It was a hazy day and the smog was thick. We also stopped for lunch before going back to the hotel. We went to dinner at Abu El Sid and had some traditional Egyptian food. It was delicious. 

Monday, Chris had to go to meetings at the Embassy so Jake and I headed down the street to the Fish Park (Aquarium). We paid 25 EGP to get in and the part with the fish was closed. So then we paid another 5 EGP to use the children's playground. We had some ice-cream and then made our way back to the hotel. We had some lunch at the hotel restaurant and then Jake finally went down for a nap. I got most of the blog written while he was sleeping. When Chris came back to the hotel, we went down the street and had dinner at a little cafe. Tomorrow we head to Luxor.