Cairo
Stayed at the Marriott in Cairo - lap of luxury to ensure we didn't miss good ol' USA.
Do not miss the Egyptian Museum. No matter how much you have read about the splendors of King Tutankhamun, this will take your breath away. This is an amazing, truly amazing museum. Remember, it is either the fourth or fifth collection of artifacts, the prior collections being lost to either looting or floods.
All through this trip, I was dumbstruck. All I was looking for was signs of aliens in all the carvings / hieroglyphics. This is because I was convinced that no-one could have accomplished what these people have done 5000 years ago without some alien help. It is sad that a lot of people still make their living off what this ancient civilization accomplished. I can only explain this as what this civilization accomplished is just to awesome to surpass. As a result it overshadows everything and everyone lives in its shadow.
Call me an idiot, however, I thought Pharoahs etc. were buried in the Pyramids. I had visions of walking into a pyramid through complex mazes (ala The Mummy series). Not quite true .. you dont go to the Pyramids for anything other than look at the exterior or see what a real desert is .. all the pyramids were completely sealed off. For tomb raiding, Its the Valley of the Kings / Queens near Luxor that you really want to check out. Will post on that separately.
All roads lead to the highly avoidable Papyrus Museum (although I confess, I did buy a couple of pieces). This is because the locals get a cut of the sale made to tourists. As a result, you will find everyone 'selling' you certain shops as they are the ones who give a more generous cut. So, that's the spoiler .. this is infused everywhere. It is quite standard and very accepted. You will not get a straight recommendation from taxi drivers, bystanders, or anyone that we met.
Be careful about prices. I had bought a pair of onyx masks for something like a 100 Egyptian pounds. Having bargained the price down by half, I was feeling quite good about my Indian upbringing. Well .. not so. We were waiting at a bus terminal that of course had a number of kids that were selling souvenirs. Sure enough, I realized my masks were not as unique as I was made to believe. Still regret it, but curiosity (or some madness) overcame me and I had to ask. The can of worms was opened. That was it .. what I thought would be a simple validating question turned out to be something that still haunts me.
The asking price started at 200 pounds. I was overjoyed and looked to close the chapter. My lack of interest and absolute refusal to engage in a 'bargaining' conversation somehow became personal to the folks trying to sell me these onyx masks (I already had two of them).
200 Pounds ! Twice the price I had paid .. OK .. I had gotten a good deal. I could sleep.
Just when I thought I was done came this little voice behind my back .. "Wait .. OK .. 150 pounds". There was still hope. I tried valiantly to explain that I had only asked the price to validate my prior purchase, however, this bugger was not budging until he had made his sale. Believe it or not, he took his price down to 2 pounds.
TWO POUNDS !!
I was in tears, I have not slept since that day. Well .. OK, the no sleep thingy was because of two kids that came into my life ..
Stayed at the Marriott in Cairo - lap of luxury to ensure we didn't miss good ol' USA.
Do not miss the Egyptian Museum. No matter how much you have read about the splendors of King Tutankhamun, this will take your breath away. This is an amazing, truly amazing museum. Remember, it is either the fourth or fifth collection of artifacts, the prior collections being lost to either looting or floods.
All through this trip, I was dumbstruck. All I was looking for was signs of aliens in all the carvings / hieroglyphics. This is because I was convinced that no-one could have accomplished what these people have done 5000 years ago without some alien help. It is sad that a lot of people still make their living off what this ancient civilization accomplished. I can only explain this as what this civilization accomplished is just to awesome to surpass. As a result it overshadows everything and everyone lives in its shadow.
Call me an idiot, however, I thought Pharoahs etc. were buried in the Pyramids. I had visions of walking into a pyramid through complex mazes (ala The Mummy series). Not quite true .. you dont go to the Pyramids for anything other than look at the exterior or see what a real desert is .. all the pyramids were completely sealed off. For tomb raiding, Its the Valley of the Kings / Queens near Luxor that you really want to check out. Will post on that separately.
All roads lead to the highly avoidable Papyrus Museum (although I confess, I did buy a couple of pieces). This is because the locals get a cut of the sale made to tourists. As a result, you will find everyone 'selling' you certain shops as they are the ones who give a more generous cut. So, that's the spoiler .. this is infused everywhere. It is quite standard and very accepted. You will not get a straight recommendation from taxi drivers, bystanders, or anyone that we met.
Be careful about prices. I had bought a pair of onyx masks for something like a 100 Egyptian pounds. Having bargained the price down by half, I was feeling quite good about my Indian upbringing. Well .. not so. We were waiting at a bus terminal that of course had a number of kids that were selling souvenirs. Sure enough, I realized my masks were not as unique as I was made to believe. Still regret it, but curiosity (or some madness) overcame me and I had to ask. The can of worms was opened. That was it .. what I thought would be a simple validating question turned out to be something that still haunts me.
The asking price started at 200 pounds. I was overjoyed and looked to close the chapter. My lack of interest and absolute refusal to engage in a 'bargaining' conversation somehow became personal to the folks trying to sell me these onyx masks (I already had two of them).
200 Pounds ! Twice the price I had paid .. OK .. I had gotten a good deal. I could sleep.
Just when I thought I was done came this little voice behind my back .. "Wait .. OK .. 150 pounds". There was still hope. I tried valiantly to explain that I had only asked the price to validate my prior purchase, however, this bugger was not budging until he had made his sale. Believe it or not, he took his price down to 2 pounds.
TWO POUNDS !!
I was in tears, I have not slept since that day. Well .. OK, the no sleep thingy was because of two kids that came into my life ..
eg. Islamic art in mosque
1 comment:
Egypt.... A trip of a lifetime! I have dreamed of seeing the pyramids since I was a small child. So the first opportunity I got, off we went. Milan and I went, and took my parents, who, aside from Canada and a carribean cruise a very long time ago, had never left the United States.
Milan was wonderful, considering he was dragging his brand new wife (we had been married for 3 months, and this was technically our honeymoon!) and her parents 1/2 way around the world.
The country was a shock to us urbanites. I guess Milan was used to seeing the type of poverty that was rampant in Egypt, but my parents and I were not. Side note: Egypt is a great trip to do before you do India... It sort of prepares you in the shock department. And driving!!! Nowhere in the world (well, other than India) have I known such bad drivers! They DO NOT pay attention to road signs or lines in the road. Lanes mean NOTHING. I swallowed my heart on more occasions than I care to remember. Milan's posts on the papyrus museum are absolutely true. Never did we get into a car that did not try to stop there or another papyurs shop. After a while it became comical. The "where are we stopping before our destination" game started. I think bets were involved. :)
We didn't stay long in Cairo, it was more a stopping point for us because the main airport was there. We quickly ran off to Giza on Camel back. Well, most of us anyway.. My poor father has vertigo, and that left him on horseback. Camel riding (one humped camels) was a cool experience. I tried riding like the locals; kicking my feet up over the hump and sitting back. It was easy to let the animal do all the work and just enjoy the ride. We had to stop for pictures and "baksheesh" (the local way of begging for money... or bribe, or tipping...or whatever you want to call it) it is amazing how helpful everyone wants to be when you have money they want.
Giza was spectacular. We oohed and aahed, googled, touched and gawked. You feel so very small standing next to the ancient pyramids. They were doing construction on the Sphynx, so we couldn't get to close to it, but it's raw presence still dominated the surrounding landscape. We did not go inside the great pyramid, but we were told that you could crawl through it. The day was phenomenal, and we will remember it forever.
Post a Comment