Monday 26-05 - Giza

We all got up early to eat brekkie and leave the hotel by 8am. Then on to the British Museum. Our Egyptologist was a funny lady who called us her Pharaohs and called herself mama Pharaoh. We saw all the major pieces, including king Tutankhamen's death mask. It didn't disappoint. We saw all sorts of great relics and old pieces. Also, a photocopy of the Rosetta stone, which we already saw in London last year. She told us lots about how to tell the royal statue from non-royals and the difference between north and south Egypt.

Then onto the pyramids, which also didn't disappoint. They are really really big mountains of stone.





Each block is just, huge.





The harassing sales people do start to get on your nerves though. You just want to say no no no no no and please go away. But I guess you have to remember that its their only livelihood and the economic climate in Egypt right now is terrible. The group often asks Rafik questions about life for people in Egypt We sit around in a circle like children's story time. Only this story is far sadder and doesn't seem to have a happy ending. Some of it makes you feel sick, listening to how the government keeps raising fuel prices and taxes and how everyone is struggling to cope. A government doctor gets paid 600 egp pounds a month. A restaurant meal cost about 40-80LE. About how these restaurants are only used by tourists, because Egypt is divided into the super rich (10%) and the not so well off (90%), with basically no middle classes. And so on and so forth, to great detail.





We were told not to accept camel rides there, as they take you out, far from the buses, and then demand hundreds of US dollars. The longer you don't pay, they further out they take you and more expensive your ride gets.



To the second temple. This is the one with the flat mini pyramid on top. We bought tickets to go inside. It was a claustrophobia inducing mineshaft that went down and then up again into a dimly lit chamber with an empty sarcophagus. Then a head smacking on roof walk back. Even I had to walk bent down. It wasn't ventilated at all, so reaching the 35 degree heat outside felt like air conditioning. I had a really good time in there (despite how the above paragraph sounds), plus I got be in the middle of a pyramid!

The panorama was next, with good shots of all 3 pyramids together. Lots of people selling things.





Then the Sphinx,which was a lot smaller then I expected, but still pretty large for a statue. It made me realise the poor thing isn't really that attractive without a nose.







We had lunch at a buffet place near giza. There was lots of pasta, which we ate anyway despite the warnings. Also some weird yellow custard stuff.

At night we picked up our gear and went to Giza station to get on the night train to Aswan. The train arrived an hour late, which is normal apparently.



We got handed out breakfast packs of juice, croissants, rolls, bananas and some jam and cheese and its, which Rafik packed. We had also brought our own water, fanta and cakes and snacks. Raf explained the worst case scenario for the trains. He said expect broken seats that may overshoot or undershoot the 45 recline. He said expect someone already sitting in your seat who will not want to move. He said expect springs sticking out of threadbare cushions covered in something mysterious. He said expect horrific, horrific bathrooms.

He was exaggerating about everything except the bathrooms. Probably the worst we had ever seen, ever. I will spare you all the details. We tried not to need them too much over the 12hr train ride. The seats were nice enough so I got a fair amount of sleep.