Egypt Day 1

January 11th, 2011
After breakfast I met my tour guide, Mustafa and headed to Saqqara Pyramids. Right before we arrived at the Archeological site I had to ask the driver to stop the car. Mustafa said "Oh don’t worry we can take pictures on our way out" I was like I don’t want to take pictures I think I’m about to be sick. LOL I got out and took a few deep breaths got a piece of gum, and head to the site slowly and with the window down. I was lucky to do well the rest of the day but between the stop and go of the traffic in the city and then all the cars spewing out pollution and diesel fumes I had a headache from hell. Other than that my day was wonderful I experienced so many awesome things that are truly amazing and learned a lot about the Egyptian culture.

As I said earlier we started at the Saqqara Pyramids which is also called the step pyramid. It is the oldest pyramid in the world and thought to be the oldest stone structure in the world dating back to 3500 BC. I learned how the Egyptians built the pyramids and why. Egyptians believe that three powers: the sun, water, and mountains help them transition to heaven from death. Northern Egypt has the sun in the sky, water from the Nile but it didn’t have any mountains so the Northern Egyptians built pyramids (mountains). You won't see pyramids in Southern Egypt near Luxor because there are mountains there. That is why the Valley of Kings is made up of tombs in the side of a mountain just as Northern Egypt has tombs inside pyramids or their mountains. Also the people were always buried in the west of the city because the West represents death. The sun rises in the East representing life and set or dies out in the West. I thought the history of it all was very interesting so this trip was just as much as a pleasurable experience as it was a learning experience.

thought to be the very first pyramid

I took my very first picture with the oldest pyramid and I did the walk like an Egyptian stance...I of course had to do this and all the other cliché poses since I had been playing that song by the Bangles for months. LOL

After the Saqqara Pyramids we headed to a carpet school. We passed tons of these on our way in and Mustafa said that if I wanted we could stop on the way back out and I could visit one. A carpet school is a school for kids where they learn the regular curriculum like reading, math, and science but they also learn to make carpets because that is a major industry there. The tour was short but truly amazing. They have wool and pure silk carpets being made and depending on the type your working on it could take up to 6 weeks to finish just one meter of rug. After visiting and seeing the work stations down stairs the man took me upstairs to the show room where I got to browse many of the finished products, I ended up buying 2 small silk pieces that I won’t use as rugs but more as a souvenir.

Girl working on a carpet in its beginning stages

Finished Product

After finishing up at the carpet school we headed back into Giza. It was only around 10:30 a.m. and Mustafa wanted to visit the Giza Pyramids after lunch. He had planned on taking me to an essential oils shop after the pyramids but thought since we had extra time before we ate lunch we could go ahead and stop by. WOW is all I can say. The Flowers Temple is a shop with jars and jars of tons of different essential oils made by the company. This company is family owned and the shop opened in 1923. The grandson of the founder talked to me about the essential oils and told me how they were made. These are all natural and are amazing. He tested several on me and they smelled great. Usually perfumes and things like that give me really bad headaches but these didn’t. Well, I already had a headache but they didn’t make it worse. He said that perfumes and candles give headaches because of the alcohol and other chemicals it contains but the essential oils are made from flowers and are all natural. I ended up buying a set of three oils. One lotus, one peppermint, and one called Queen Cleopatra which is the equivalent of Dior’s perfume J’Adore minus all the chemicals of course. One little bottle will last me up to 12 months he said. It’s so concentrated that for use it only takes one or two drops, any more than that is over doing it. I also got a beautiful little blown glass container and then he gave me one as a gift for free. He was very nice and I highly recommend seeing this place and purchasing some healing oils for yourself. Compared to what we pay for essential oils at home I pretty much stole the stuff and he will tell you the same thing! LOL

After leaving the Flower Temple we headed to lunch. Mustafa took me to a great outdoor Egyptian restaurant called Andrea. I do have to admit that since I hadn’t tried Egyptian food before I was sort of worried what I might get but boy was I wrong after I took my first look and taste at the buffet of food the waiter sat in front of us. I had to ask Mustafa to explain what everything was it included kofta that had a few French fries with it, humus, pickles, some other dip that has left my memory, cold slaw and bread. Now let me mention that this was only our appetizer. For the main dish we received roasted chickens that were so good. I was so full from the entire appetizer that I couldn’t eat all my chicken but a tried. For a finishing touch the waiter brought us each the biggest orange I have ever seen. Truly this thing could have been a grapefruit.

YUM YUM

Inside the courtyard of the restaurant

Leaving after lunch

After lunch we were off to see the great Giza Pyramids. I had been warned by other travelers to not get my hopes up on the pyramids because they found them very overrated. I will admit that it is a definite tourist trap but not overrated. I think it is amazing how men built these huge structures and they are still there for us to look at. Of course there has been damage done by other countries back in the day who stole some of the bricks for building things in Cairo, the French used the Sphinx’s nose as a target and that’s why it’s missing but overall they have withstood a lot of sun, wind, and abuse and are still amazing. I went up close and climbed up on one of the pyramids and after that I asked to go into the desert to get away from the tourist so I could take some pictures that look story book. LOL I went into the desert all right but it was on a camel. It was awesome since I had never ridden a camel before but I did feel like a tourist. Out of all the things I did on my trip this was probably the really only touristy thing that I did. I try to be more a traveler and submerse myself in the culture or the place that I am visiting instead of staying on the beaten path but this was worth it.

After our camel trek into and out of the desert we headed down the hill to see the Sphinx. I do have to say that I was expecting it to me a bit bigger but unlike the pyramids which were built the Sphinx was carved out of a single piece of stone. Mustafa took some very touristy photos of me throughout the first day but I did get some non-touristy ones as well.

When we were outside the site waiting on our car Mustafa said “Look over there at that man with the TV camera, that is that show you know what is it with the race?” Of course I freak out and scream ITS THE AMAZING RACE! It was the same but different. It was a French television program were pairs raced but the catch is they are put in a country where no one knows their language and they have no money what-so-ever so they have to manage anyway they can to finish. We tried helping them and even got on camera. I was no good after finding out they knew no English but Mustafa knows French and was able to help them communicate and hopefully get to where they were going. On our way back to the hotel we saw several other pairs asking for help and even hitching a ride in an 18 wheeler. I think out of everything that made my day much better because I LOVE that show.

and they are off! LOL so cool

After the pyramids my tours were done for the day so I was dropped back off at the Oasis Hotel around 4 so I could prepare and rest of for the remainder of my trip.

Oasis Hotel

Pool at the Oasis

All the rooms were in a yard and your room looked out into a park like area...on my way to my room

outside my room

Tomorrow is a busy day in Cairo visiting mosques, museums, and souks. I had a great first day in Egypt and I really liked it. The people are as nice as can be and my guide is wonderful. Stay tuned because there is more to come.

A little bit about my guide
My tour guide’s name is Mustafa and he is wonderful. He is young, 27, and is very knowledgeable on everything and anything I would want to know about Egypt and its culture. Plus it is just me and him so we get to have fun as well like eating lunch together and talking about our different lifestyles and cultures.