Sunrise was early, went for a walk. Met with the greeter this morning was able to pay by credit card. We took off to met with the Cairo guide, Randa, on the road. We were heading for Dahshour to see the Bent and Red pyramids which are about 2 km south of the Mastaba Faraoun. Dahshour is located in South Saqqara and 25 miles south of Cairo. Randa gave me a brief history on Egypt during our drive to Dahshour. (The constructor of these pyramids is thought to have been Senfru (2575 - 2551 BC), who was the first ruler of the 4th Dynasty. For almost half a century, the great field of huge pyramids near the desert village of Dahshour, has been off limits to the public. Confined within the perimeter of a military base were many pyramids, including the great 4500-year-old pyramid built by Senfru. Senfru's pyramid, the largest in Egypt until his son built Giza's Great Pyramid, is rhomboidal in shape: it tapers more distinctly on its upper half. All the pyramids were coated in thick plaster at one time. Most have lost these protective, decorative sheaths, but Senfru's--miraculously--is still in place.) Enough of the history lesson.
I climbed up the side of the Red pyramid and went down the opening. Very steep and narrow! Had too bend over sideways and step very carefully on metal steps. The shaft went on forever, but eventually I made it to the first tomb. This tomb lead into another tomb about the same size. At the far wall steps hand been constructed to lead to the third and final tomb. The tombs had a very particular smell, Vaseline or something like that. After a few pictures I headed back up. Believe it or not, going up was much faster and easier. Because, I was able to walk up straight and just bent over slightly. Before I knew it I was back in fresh air but exhausted. I needed ten minutes to rest and my legs were shot! My legs did not recover for a few hours and had trouble walking down steps for the next three days.
We drove back up to Giza, checked out the great pyramid, walked over to one of the side where a large pit had been excavated. The pit was 1 of 5 around the pyramid made for ships and only two actually had ships in side, which are now in museums. Next we drove over to the second pyramid took pictures and drove over to the observation area for more photos. Then we drove down to the Sphinx and the valley temple or the granite temple of Cheops. Randa was giving out so much information, too much to remember.
We then drove over to a perfume facility to sample many different verities of scents. All of the scents are made from locally grow flowers. It’s amazing that the scents are so familiar with common soaps and detergents in the US. Afterward we went to lunch or should I say I went to lunch. Randa was fasting because it is still Ramadan. She was kind enough to join me for lunch though I felt uncomfortable eating in front of her. But she didn’t mind, she said she was used to it. Had my first decent beer in three months, Stella, which is an Egyptian lager around since 1897 and 4.5%. The food was good and the conversation was as well. Her degree is in Egyptian history and she does this for a living. We talked about my Arabic lessons, she accused me of being a bad student. We commented on the dialect differences between the Arabic languages and phrases and word differences.
I went to a store to try and find gifts and knick-knacks. I was dropped off at the hotel around 3PM, Took a shower and headed to the pool side bar to update my journal and have another beer or two. As I am writing I was observing all of the different nationalities that are visiting this hotel; German, Dutch, Asian, UK, Italian, not too many Americans though.
What a change from Libya. Bikinis! I talked a lot about Libya with Randa. Egyptians are very curious about their neighbor. Though Egypt and Libya are neighbors, they are worlds apart. Its seems all of African is anti-Libya.
I finial got a one hour pass to use the Internet. I checked my email and sent a few messages. I sent Karen a message to check on Phil. I also checked my AECOM email.
Dinner was pretty good, I ate at the Italian restaurant. I ordered Lasagna, quite different than what I’m use to. Called it quits around 8PM
We drove back up to Giza, checked out the great pyramid, walked over to one of the side where a large pit had been excavated. The pit was 1 of 5 around the pyramid made for ships and only two actually had ships in side, which are now in museums. Next we drove over to the second pyramid took pictures and drove over to the observation area for more photos. Then we drove down to the Sphinx and the valley temple or the granite temple of Cheops. Randa was giving out so much information, too much to remember.
We then drove over to a perfume facility to sample many different verities of scents. All of the scents are made from locally grow flowers. It’s amazing that the scents are so familiar with common soaps and detergents in the US. Afterward we went to lunch or should I say I went to lunch. Randa was fasting because it is still Ramadan. She was kind enough to join me for lunch though I felt uncomfortable eating in front of her. But she didn’t mind, she said she was used to it. Had my first decent beer in three months, Stella, which is an Egyptian lager around since 1897 and 4.5%. The food was good and the conversation was as well. Her degree is in Egyptian history and she does this for a living. We talked about my Arabic lessons, she accused me of being a bad student. We commented on the dialect differences between the Arabic languages and phrases and word differences.
I went to a store to try and find gifts and knick-knacks. I was dropped off at the hotel around 3PM, Took a shower and headed to the pool side bar to update my journal and have another beer or two. As I am writing I was observing all of the different nationalities that are visiting this hotel; German, Dutch, Asian, UK, Italian, not too many Americans though.
What a change from Libya. Bikinis! I talked a lot about Libya with Randa. Egyptians are very curious about their neighbor. Though Egypt and Libya are neighbors, they are worlds apart. Its seems all of African is anti-Libya.
I finial got a one hour pass to use the Internet. I checked my email and sent a few messages. I sent Karen a message to check on Phil. I also checked my AECOM email.
Dinner was pretty good, I ate at the Italian restaurant. I ordered Lasagna, quite different than what I’m use to. Called it quits around 8PM
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