Egypt - March 2006, page 3
Something that struck me all throughout the trip was the donkey and horse carts walking thought traffic with all the cars. You see them in Giza a fair amount, and some parts of Cairo (though not the busy downtown sections), and here we see them on the way down to Memphis, which was once the capital of the Egyptian empire. Much of the road down there was lined with farmland, so there were plenty of carts laden with vegetables and bananas - which by the way are delicious in Egypt. And cheap!
The sight in Memphis is the Memphis Museum, whihc is full of Ramses II-era statues, including this gigantic statue of the king himself. In fact, many of the statues at the museum are huge. And interestingly, this one was found in this exact spot, although it was several feet down in the ground. It is made of limestone, and one side shows a fair amount of corrosion from water damage, but the face itsel fis in excellent condition.
This sphinx was also found in its current spot, but no one has been able to identify whose sphinx it is. Sphinxes are always modeled after a pharoah; this one had baffled the egyptologists and while it is nonetheless impressive, it remains anonymous.
From Memphis we went to Saqqara, home of the step pyramid of Zoser. This was the first attempt at a pyramid-like memorial for a pharoah; it actually represents a stack of tombs, each layer simply being a smaller one than the one below. Eventually the idea would evolve into the pyramids we saw at Giza, but as a first attempt this isn't half bad.
Near the step pyramid was a smaller pyramid that was built later, the pyramid of Userkaf. Its limestone casing was stripped away at some point in the past - probably about the same time that the casings of the Giza pyramids were stripped - and the result was the collapse of the structure into a pile of rubble. It once stood 60m high, and was probably quite impressive, but we'll never really know.
Back in Cairo, we went to the Citadel, also home of the Mohammed Ali Mosque. Mohammed Ali ruled Egypt after the Napoleonic era, but couldn't condense his power because of a ruling class known as the Mamluks. So one day, he invited all 500 Mamluks to the Citadel for a grand feast in celebration of his son's upcoming trip to Mecca. At the end of the day, the Mamluks mounted their horses and were led down the corridor toward the exit, but before they got there the gates were shut, and Ali's army rained down gunfire from the tops of the walls, then dispatched any survivors by sword. All 500 Mamluks died, and Ali's power was no longer challenged.
Inside, the mosque is kept in low lighting, and of course everyone has to remove their shoes - which results in a fairly unpleasant smell to the room. Women who are inappropriately dressed - shorts, skirts, etc - are given a green gown to wear while visitng the mosque. Several muslims were praying at the main altar, which of course is always on the east side of the room: no matter where you are on earth, Mecca is considered to be east, and that's the direction to which you pray.
From there we went to the main Cairo market downtown, called Khan al-Khalili, which is a mess. You can see the chaos from here, but believe me, it is much worse when you're down among it all. And the shopkeepers are no saints; my Egyptian guide even found them trying to rip her off! So I avoided the whoe thing and we got out of there quickly, but I thought this picture did a good job of conveying the atmosphere of the downtown area.
Friday was my off day; I spent some time at the internet cafe, then laid out by the pool for a few hours while the sun was out. I got virtually no color, however, because the clouds kept rolling in. Saturday morning, I got up to go to Alexandria, and I took this picture of some Egyptian girls talking on the street in Giza that morning on our way out. You can see the diversity in style while maintaining conformity to acceptable muslim dress.
The trip up to Alexandria was marred by a migraine that took the entire trip to dissipate, but fortunately it was gone by the time I reached Alexandria. The city is right on the water, and its lighthouse was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world; like the library, it was destroyed by fire over 2000 years ago. This lighthouse is also attractive, but it is not known whether it is on the same location as its ancient predecessor.
The Alexandria library is planning on becoming one of the world's great libraries, in the tradition of the ancient library that was housed here in ancient times. Architecturally, it is a success; inside and outside it is attractive and spacious. Unfortunately they haven't got the volume of books that they were hoping to collect, but after all it's still relatively new.
And soon it was all over. I took this sunset shot on the way back to Cairo, which is about 2 1/2 hours south of Alexandria. The trip would conclude that night, as I left for the airport at midnight, and my flgiht took off at 315a from the airport. Amsterdam was a five-hour layover, three of which I spent in the first aid station recovering from another migraine. But I also spent half an hour at the blackjack table in the airport and won 100 euros.
The people were wonderful; the scenery was gorgeous, the history was fantastic. It was a great trip, and while I'm sure it would have been great if I could have gotten someone to go with me, it was still a great time and I'm not at all sorry I went alone. I've posted another page of pictures for a gallery, sans explanation, as I took over 800 photos while I was there, and yes some of them will make the calendar next year. I would be happy to provide the name of the tour operator that put my plan together for anyone who is interested, just drop me an email if you want his name.
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