Like an Egyptian...

Quote of the day: “I had a hawker at the pyramids ask if he could marry me so he could emigrate to Australia. I told him probably not, as it might upset my husband!”

What an amazing day. It was a 12 hour round trip to Cairo and the pyramids, but certainly worth it. To stand on the plateau at Giza, next to the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Cheops, is a memory that will stay with me forever. Sure it was hot - over 40°C on the plateau - and there were hawkers and camel drivers trying to get you to spend money with them, but for me that all added to the experience.

Cairo itself was busy and dirty. The buildings were stained brown as a result of a combination of the sand and the pollution, and there was a lot of rubbish and in the streets and canals. There are mansions and there are slums, and the gap between rich and poor is increasing year by year. Fascinating place to visit, but I’m so glad I wasn’t born there…

Prior to visiting the pyramids, we spent time at the Egyptian Museum. Our Egyptologist guide (he was with us for the whole trip) pointed us in the right direction to see the major pieces in the museum, and explained where these pieces fitted in historically.

Seeing King Tut’s treasures was a major. Pictures and models don’t do justice to the richness of the real thing. His mummy (not on display) had the famous facemask on, and was then placed in a golden sarcophagus, which in turn was placed inside another golden sarcophagus. This was then placed inside a “shrine”, which was like a gold plated wooden crate, the size of a small room. This was then placed inside another shrine, then another, so the whole thing was like a Russian doll.

The room containing the facemask, the sarcophagi, and the body jewelry found on the mummy, was quite small, and jam-packed with people when we arrived there. However, I hung around for a while, as a couple of tour groups moved on, and ended up spending about 15 minutes in there almost by myself. Brilliant!

Most people went to Cairo today, so it was an exhausted lot around the ship this evening. I checked out the movie, and found there were only about 10 people there. The band was playing as usual in the Wheelhouse bar, but the bar was deserted. Most people had an early night to recover from the day.

My recommendation to next year’s cruisers: cough up and take a ship excursion. Cairo is too difficult to do by yourself. We saw many traffic holdups caused by accidents (not surprising seeing the locals drive like maniacs). The ship won’t leave without you if you take one of their excursions, but won’t hang around if you do a private trip…