We decided that travel in and out of the KSA must be somewhat easy as the DM here lives in Kuwait and is in and out of the country weekly.We booked a last minute flight leaving Friday morning and returning Saturday evening. Like any seasoned international traveler that was exiting a country for the first time, we gave ourselves two hours to check in, clear immigration, and security. Let me tell you...it was way easier than in than in the US. We waited in a semi-chatioc line to check in for our EgyptAir flight. The desk clerk looked breifly at our VISA paperwork to make sure that we were allowed to leave the country and gave us our tickets. We filled out a brief form and were waived through. Security was so easy....I didn't even take off my belt...
So here we are, with 90 minutes until our flight leaves. What does one do? In most countries this would be the time when you would grab a snack (and a cocktail). Sadly, this was not an option for us. Instead, we treated ourselves to a bottled water and listened to the sounds of a screaming toddler. (Fun, right??? NOT!) Oh well, we chatted and people watched and talked about our upcoming plans for our overnight adventure. I won't bore you with the details about our flight to Egypt... I will tell you this...thankfully it was only a two hour flight....I might not have made it....remember that screaming toddler...she sat behind me. I know, the travel Gods were punishing me for something...
After a quick flight across the Red Sea, we arrived in Cairo. Customs & Immigration was SO easy, a quick stamp in our passports and off to the Hotel Concorde el Salam. What a gorgeous (and inexpensive) hotel. It had 10 restaurants, a beautiful pool and an equestrian area. The hotel itself reminded me of a cheatu in France with beautiful balconies. Look at this gorgeous crystal chandelier that hung down 7 floors! It was a very busy hotel, people every where! After a brief costume change, we headed down to the bar (YES, I SAID BAR) and had a much deserved cocktail. Okay, I must admit it, we actually had a few cocktails. After all we had both gone 31 days without anything. Let me tell you something dear reader - it was quite fantastic. Instantly, I was relaxed. Relaxed and ready to go shopping. After all, shopping after a few cocktails is much more fun. Jason had done tons of research before we left and off we headed to the local Bazzar or Souk, Kan Kenhili.
One thing that I insisted that we do was to hire a car/driver that would take us to the market, wait for us and drive us back. While I knew that we would be safe in Egypt, I wanted to ensure that we didn't end up in the wrong type of place. As we drove from the part of the city called Helipolis into downtown I noticed tons of mosques.
Not small local mosques like I was used to in the KSA, but beautiful and grand mosques. Ahmed, our driver, gave us some narration as we drove down the main drag of Cairo.
Once we arrived at our destionation, Ahmed insisted on escorting us through the oldest part of Cairo and the market itself. At first, it seemed like he would get in our way, but the older gentleman knew everyone and some great hidden gems.
To start off, you pass through a large gate that allows you to enter into the walled section of the city. Inside the gates you were greeted by local factories. Men were working on various projects, banging metal, blowing glass and baking bread were some of the things that we saw. The streets were muddy and uneven. As we got closer and closer to the center of the walled city, we began to encounter all sorts of shops. Vendors were set up selling various goods, from flat baked bread and cane sugar smoothies to brass kettles. There were many store fronts that had men engaged in card games or sitting down chatting while smoking ciggarettes. I even saw a man building a brass bed! One thing that I noticed immediately was how much everyone was smiling as people passed. While people in the KSA are nice, they do not smile or laugh too much. It was such a great change to be somewhere were people were just happy to be alive.
As we passed through the city we passed many mosques. Some had been converted to schools some were still in use. We got the chance to walk into one that had been around for over a thousand years. It was a massive stone structure. It had many interior rooms that are now exposed to the elements. It was Friday and people were inside praying so in order to be respectful of the Muslim faith, I did not take photos of this beautiful building.
Finally we reached the back alleys of Old Cairo. They were filled with narrow and dark passages where more vendors were. It was exactly what you would expect. Old, dirty (sometimes dilapidated) buildings. Laundry hanging to dry from some of the top windows. Buildings made of stone and Ecualptus shutters covering the window openings. Jason did some excellent haggling and left with some great treasures. I bought a gorgeous hand-shaped brass bowl that had some expertly crafted etching in it. Somehow, I eneded up with a genie lamp...and of course I rubbed it, Sadly, I was not granted any wishes....maybe you have to be outside the middle east...I will try again when I get back to the USA.
After some much needed sleep, it was time to go on one of the best excursions that I have ever been on in my entire life. We were going to see the Pyramid complex at Giza. I can not tell you how excited I was. As we planned our tour, all I could think about was being in Mrs Jacobs' sixth grade Socail Studies class when we studied ancient Egypt. I vividly remembering haveing to make a supercube sculpture of the Sphinx.
It was pretty funny, we were driving and chatting with our tour guide and all of a sudden I looked out the window and literally a few hundered meters away was a massive pyramid. Here is our entry ticket to see the pyramids
. I will spare you a huge history lesson...but I wanted to share a few really interesting facts. There are 123 pyramids in Egypt. Nine of them are in the Giza Necroplis (these are the most famous and listed as one of the seven wonders of the world). The Giza Necroplis was comissioned by King Khufu and his pyramid took over 20 years to be built. In this complex you will find his pyramid, as well as those of his son, Khafe and grandson, Menkaure. In additon, the queens also had their own pyramids (however smaller). The Sphinx also is in the complex. As our guide put it, the Sphinx was commissed to be the protector of the pyramids. He faces due east and awaits the morning sunrise.
Words can not explain how amazing it was to see the pyramids. Here are some photos. To explain to you just how massive each block of sandstone is, look at this picture....I'm actually sitting in the pyramid!
In this photo you see the pyrmaids of Khufu (left) and Khafe (right).
In this photo, Jason and I are in front on Khufu's final resting place.
Here is Khafe's tomb. Notice how the top is a shiney golden color. This is closer to what the pyramids looked like when the were built.....smooth
This one shows you a lot of the complex from a plateau behind them...
As I think I told you, one of my goals while in the middle east was to ride a camel....let me tell you...it was pretty scary! I thought I was going to fall off!!!!
In front on Menkaure's pyramid was his mummification house. We got to go in the shell of it. As you leave it you walk past the Sphinx.
These are just more photos!
Okay folks, enough about the pyramids...I will have to tell you more in person.
After we left this ancient cemetery, we toured a museum where they taught us how papyrus is made and another where they manufacture essence. I purchased some great essence oils and several handmade artwork pieces that were made on papyrus. Then it was back to the hotel and we had only minutes to shower and get to the airport for our flight back to the KSA. I'm not going to go into all the stressful details, lets just saw that it was harder to get out of Egypt than it was to get into Egypt. My other travel comment is that I'm not sure what US based airlines do.... on EgyptianAir for our short 2 hour flight we were served a free hot meal.... ponder that....
Okay my lovlies. Ive got some big days the next three days. I'm teaching coachable moments to the teams here...wish me luck! What about you? What have you been up to? I've not heard from lots of you (insert sad face). I would really love to get caught up with you.... shoot me an email jayliffejessup@wsgc.com and fill me in on your life!!!! Miss you. Love you all! xoxox
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Location:Cairo, Egypt
the flying one is the best one :-D
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