Day 6 - Cairo, 26deg C, good sleep last night, and a fabulous Egyptian omelette for breakfast (bodyweight ballooning up past the 88kg mark for sure - going to be a reckoning when I get home.
Up and away at 8am with Carter, an Egyptian speaking perfect English and 20yrs experience as a Giza pyramids guide. It is still the post-Ramadan holiday here in Cairo - so not much traffic on the road but huge crowds of Egyptians out around the pyramids.
It was all a bit overwhelming- the antiquity, the crowds, probably the most famous buildings on earth. We soent ages going around the pyramids and the Sphinx. Then it was off for a camel ride 100s of them out there in the nearby desert to the south of the pyramids. It was pretty tame - the 4 of us got onto a camel each, lined up nose to tale line and off with camel handler in front. Great photos though - see attached. It reminded me of the NZMR photos from the dame place in WW1. Now I know how they did it.
We managed to get out without buying any trinkets, then went to a fancy shop with Egyptian jewellery and papyrus paper making. Managed to avoid buying anything there too. We returned to our base at the Steigenburger Pyramids Hotel and spent the rest of the day doing the R & R - trying to catch up on the sleep deficit.
Chok-run = thank you. My only Arabic word so far.
Tomorrow Zeitoun - location of the NZ Army base WW1 - doubt if there will be much left. Coptic church visit as well