Pyramids!

Yesterday I spent the day touring the pyramids with a private guide (more details on this method later). Before I start, I want to clear up some misconceptions:

1. The only pyramids in Egypt are the ones at Giza that everyone has seen pictures of.
Actually, in reality, there are hundreds of pyramids in Egypt, of all different sizes and styles. I saw 8 pyramids yesterday - and those were just the pyramids convenient to Cairo (that are still standing).

2. The pyramids at Giza are really far from Cairo.
The city of Giza is actually a suburb of Cairo (in fact, when I used to work on a project in Egypt, the Cairo office was actually in Giza). The drive from my hotel to the pyramids was under 20 minutes.

3. The pyramids at Giza are in the middle of the desert.
Thinking about that logically - why would an ancient Pharaoh build his tomb in the middle of the desert? Yes, the pyramids are surrounded by sand, but the Giza pyramids are about 100 feet from the city of Giza (and, of course, surrounded by hotels and tourist shops). If this is hard to comprehend, look at my pictures: summerincairo.shutterfly.com.

Now, on to my trip...

I started the day in Sakkara. Sakkara is about an hour from Cairo, and was the burial grounds for the ancient capital of Memphis (more on Memphis later). Sakkara is famous for several pyramids - including the oldest pyramid in the world, that of Zoser, built in 2650BC. The pyramid itself is surrounded by an entire funeral complex - smaller tombs (known as mastaba) for the "common people", a temple, and other smaller buildings. Most of this complex has been destroyed, but the pyramid remains, and the temple has been renovated and slightly rebuilt (not China-style, but actually with care and attention - similar to Borobodur). Much of the valuables and other items have been stolen from the tomb (common theme throughout Egypt), but one statue remains, and is on site (it's kept enclosed, and you can only view it by looking through a small hole).

The area was packed with tourists, all on gigantic groups tours (score one for the private tour). We didn't stay all that long. We went from there to a "carpet school." China people, you've heard this story before. It was a "school for disadvantaged youths" who were being taught skills so they "wouldn't be on the streets." If I bought a carpet there, I would be "giving money to these disadvantaged youths". Commission time for the tour guide! Score negative one for the private tour (though to be honest, this would have happened on any tour).

It actually was really interesting to me. I got to see how carpets are made, got a sense of what prices are for smaller carpets, and best of all got to ask the owner really annoying questions about trafficking (such as: How much are they paid? How many hours do they work? What ages are they? Do they go to school? Where do they come from (ie, how are they recruited)? Can I see a recruiting poster? Is the government aware of this program? Do they live on the facilities?). Though when I didn't buy anything, my tour guide was pouty the rest of the day.

Next we went to Dahshur, which the Lonely Planet touts as the "next Giza." That's a bit of a stretch. There are 2 pyramids left standing at Dahshur - the Bent pyramid, so called because the design was faulty and it's leaning, and the Red pyramid, which I visited. The Red pyramid (misleading name, as it looks exactly the same as all the others) is about as big as the Giza pyramids. The best part (or so I thought at the time) is that you can go into the pyramid. There are steps up to an entrance halfway up the pyramid (about 60m up), leading to a passageway into the pyramid.

The passageway is square - about 1 meter on each side - and is basically a ramp going down with railings on both sides. In order to get down (the passageway goes down to ground level), you have to pretty much lower yourself using the railings while keeping a secure grasp on the floor with your feet, the whole time hunched over (Rush - there's no way you would have made it). There are no lights in the passageway, so about halfway down the oxygen starts failing and there's no light. There were very few people at the pyramid, but I ended up going down with a man from India now living in Dubai who kept telling me that the passageway smelled like dangerous chemicals (he's an oil man, so he would know) and that we were about to die. Excellent.

At the bottom of the passageway were two gigantic halls, where the body and other goods were stored (before they were stolen, like everything else). The rooms were lit and really impressive - about 100 feet tall, and beautiful. It almost made the disastrous climb down and impossible climb up worth it!

After Dahshur we went to ancient Memphis, which has been entirely destroyed. What was left was basically an outdoor museum with several statues and pieces of rocks, including a gigantic statue of Ramses II and a small sphinx.

After Memphis was lunch (total rip off and commission for the tour guide - score negative one for the private tour). After lunch we went to the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx. As I mentioned earlier, the Giza pyramids are about 100 feet from the city of Giza, and they look exactly like every picture you've ever seen. I took a bunch of great pictures, which are posted on summerincairo.shutterfly.com.

After the pyramids, they took me to a "Perfume factory" for another "tour" (read: commission for the tour guide). This was also really cool - they gave me a lot of free water and tea, and I got to see a guy blow glass for perfume bottles (which were gorgeous), and they told me how they made perfume and I got to smell some. I also had a great conversation with the guy showing me around. We spoke in Arabic for a minute (he spoke MSA with me and taught me some Egyptian words), and then we talked about politics in America for a little bit. He asked why Americans study Arabic. He said that Egyptians study English (or French - almost everyone speaks some French) because they need it for tourism jobs, and he didn't understand why Americans study Arabic. I said that there are many Arabs in the US (a bit of an exaggeration), and that many Americans work abroad. I didn't say the obvious reason - the importance of the Middle East to US foreign policy and the need to understand a language in order to develop effective foreign policy. I told him that learning Arabic was very important for my job, and they seemed to accept that.

After that conversation, I again didn't buy anything (more pouty tour guide) though I saw a really beautiful glass hookah for about $100.

I slept in the ride back to the hotel (score 1 for the private tour and the air-conditioned comfortable car - which makes it about even).

All in all, I'm glad I did the private tour. For what I got (an air-conditioned car, a driver, and a tour guide to go at my pace and do what I wanted), it was really cheap. I would have spent a lot of money to hire a taxi or car-and-driver for the day (about $30-40), and it was worth it to have the person with me to explain all the sites. I would have hated going on a group tour - with all the people there the whole time, and no personal attention (and all the same scams).