Cairo - The pyramids

It's really strange to think that we only spent two and a half days in Cairo. It seems like we were there for ages. I have just scanned through my photos and managed to pick out 22 that good'uns to upload to this blog entry, so I think I'm going to have to be a bit more ruthless. I can't imagine how Jonny managed, as I myself took over 100 photos during those two days! It has to be the most photogenic city I have ever been to.

We spent one day visiting three of the pyramid sites. The first was called Sakura and as you can see it goes up in steps. The one on the right is probably just a pile of rubble that someone built about 50 years ago. I'm really not sure why our guide decided to stand so far away from us to take the photo.

Second stop was 'the red pyramid' at Dahshur, which we were able to climb into through a small entrance about 20 metres up the pyramid. While I'm glad we did it, there was nothing to see inside but a couple of chambers full of rubble, and a completely overpowering smell of sweat. The pathway into the pyramid was about four foot wide and tall, and seemed to keep going forever. By the time we reached the bottom we were all exhausted (which would explain the feisty smell down there). The return journey back up the slope was even more tiring and by the time we got outside again Sam's legs were shaking under the strain (he then spent the next two days struggling to walk).

On the way to the Geeza pyramids we got conned into buying merchandise when our guide dropped us off at a 'museum' where we would be given free drinks. Of course this turned out to be a shop selling papyrus artwork for extortionate prices, and we were followed round by the owners who constantly made suggestions that we might like to buy this or that. We ended up finding the souvenir section and buying the cheapest things we could find, but the owners were clearly not happy and so suggested to Sam that he might want to buy this head garment from them, much to our amusement...

Finally, we made it to the famous Geeza pyramids where we decided to hire horses as it seemed like the best way to get around the desert. The scenery was stunning, and I took about half of my 100 Cairo photos during the two hours we were there. Here's a selection. As you can see there was something wrong with Ben's horse...

On our return to the camp, it was my turn to go on the camel. It was nice to be high up (and amusing when my camel decided to lick Ben on the back of his head), however our guide decided to make the two horses gallop some of the way. The only instructions he gave to Ben and Sam was to look straight ahead, and be brave, commenting that if they have a 'weak heart' they will fall off. He then said a couple of words in Arabic and the horses bolted. I tried to film them from the vantage point of my camel, but the video looks ridiculous as it was impossible to hold my camera still while I was constantly being thrown up and down. Sam and Ben have spent the last four or five days banging on about how galloping on the horses was the highlight of their trip so far. Great. To be honest I was quite surprised they could gallop at all, as they both looked about 120 years old. Apparently Ben's horse was wheezing and spluttering by the end, poor thing. The guide then came back and whacked my camel on the arse to speed him up. Of course, I had nowhere to put my feet to support myself, so with each step I was thrown about a foot in the air. I have only just recovered from the saddle sores.