Egypt and the pyramids

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We had to be up early this morning for our trip to Cairo. We were going to see the pyramids and the Sphinx, and to visit the Tutankhamen exhibition at the Egyptian Museum. It was a 3 hour trip and I was quite excited so, for once, I didn't mind rising early.

We met our group, were issued with our numbers and climbed aboard the coach. Surprisingly, it was clean, modern. very comfortable and the guide spoke good English. The coach, along with the hotel where we had lunch, were probably the only new and clean things we saw all day.

Egypt is a very dirty country, akin to India in many ways and like India, the words 'upkeep' and 'maintenance' seem to be missing from the vocabulary. It appears backward in so many ways and seems overwhelmed by its vast population. Boys driving donkey carts dodge amongst the teeming traffic, which shows the same indifference to traffic laws as can be seen in India. If three lanes are marked, five or sometimes six lanes of cars squeeze together. If there's a gap, you get into it, whether there's a lane there or not.

Buildings are ramshackle and tumbledown. They are all built the same way. First erect a wonky framework of concrete and then fill in the gaps with bricks. There are no plumb lines or levels used and the mortar is sparse so there are gaps in the brick sections. Many 5 or 6 storey high buildings have no windows. Those that do have no glass. Most buildings are never finished for once completed, a higher level of tax is payable. The flat roofs are decorated with strands of reo rising vertically, ready for the extensions that will never be built.

There are canals and rivers that are dumping points for rubbish and dead animals.

The army has bases everywhere. On the way to Cairo we passed dozens of enormous army camps, all surrounded by high walls with manned watchtowers every few metres. In fact, the main occupations in Egypt must be either being in the army or being a wall builder. Walls were surrounding everything, even nothing at times, and they all had sentries on watch. It's quite crazy.

At last, through the hazy air of Cairo and after crossing the Nile, we had our first glimpse of the pyramids of Giza, on the western side of the river. Cairo has encroached right up to the pyramids and they are still building even closer. Such a shame.

Buses are able to drive to within a couple of hundred metres. The area was thronged with hawkers, photographers wanting to take your picture, camels and cameleers who wanted you to pay for taking their pictures or who were hiring their camels for rides. Everyone except the tourists were trying to sell you something.

On trips to Asia I've learned to keep my head down in order to not make eye contact, to not speak and to just keep walking. That works in Egypt, too, so I wasn't too troubled by the hawkers. I was able to get through the crowds quite easily.

There they were, the pyramids, just as in the pictures I'd seen. Oh, wow!

It was a feast for the eyes, for the mind, for the imagination. I could have stood there forever, just looking. I was eventually brought back to Earth when I spotted movement about a third of the way up the Great Pyramid.

It was black. It was dog-like in form. Was it Anubis?

In a novel, the protagonist would have rubbed her eyes in disbelief but this was just me and it made me smile. It was not anything magical or mystical - just one of the skinny local dogs sniffing out a dead bird, probably.

When we'd had our fill, we hunted through the myriad of coaches for ours, shook the sand and pebbles from our shoes and climbed aboard for the short trip to the Sphinx.

Hidden amongst grimy hoardings, there it was. I thought there must be a mistake, that there must be a major and a minor version and this was the minor one but no, this was it. It was so much smaller than I'd imagined. I can't say I was disappointed, just surprised at its size.

After lunch, we were taken to the museum. It is situated directly behind the State Security building where all the files on everyone in Egypt were kept. During the recent revolution it was set alight and it burned for three days. It's frightening to think that so many treasures could have been lost had the fire spread.

The museum is definitely worth a visit. I'd seen the mask of Tutankhamen before but there was so much more to see. Priceless jewellery, so well executed, objects of bright gold, weapons and pieces of furniture for the after life. There were even boats.

I'd loved to have had a week to look at everything but of course there wasn't time. We had to be back on board and had a long trip home.

Back at Port Said we again ran the gauntlet of the hawkers. By now they were desperate the shift a bit more rubbish so prices were drastically reduced. Ship's officers were on the dock to hurry us aboard as the ship was ready to sail. I managed to pick up a few bargains as we were ushered along (I had to buy an Anubis!) and before you could say, "Jack Robinson" we were on our way.

Goodbye to Egypt.

Next port Ashdod in Israel.