"Day 1: Depart from the pier by air-conditioned motorcoaches for a journey through desert scenery to the outskirts of Africa’s largest city, the legendary Al Qahira, internationally known as the teeming metropolis of Cairo. A guide will discuss the history and culture of a timeless land on a journey lasting approximately three hours. Arriving at Cairo’s outskirts, continue driving southward through verdant countryside heading to the oldest ancient Egyptian cemetery, Sakkara. The world’s first monumental stone building, the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, built by the engineer Imhotep almost 5,000 ago, still stands here. After visiting the complex, continue to one of the mastabas (tombs) built nearby, such as those of Ptah-Hotep, Mereruca, Idut or Ti, for an inside visit."
we had to wake up at 6:30 am to get ready, eat breakfast, and be in the union by 7:30.. early morning after going to sleep at 11.. so first we took a 3 hour bus ride to get to cairo!! yeah not fun, very long, and your butt starts hurting after sitting in those seats for so long! but i got maybe an hour of sleep throughout it. our first stop was Sakkara. here we first went and visited the mastaba of Idut. a mastaba is a burial tomb that is built underground and what shows above ground is just like a square block building.. and they are ridiculous! there are several rooms to each mastaba and all sorts of carvings and colors on every space of every wall about the person who is buried there.. Idut is a woman..dont really remember her importance or if she had any for that matter.. ancient egyptians believed that your tomb was your home in the after life so that is why they made them so big and have several rooms they also have all sorts of things that are buried with them that they believe they will need in their next life.. basically the mastaba was really cool, the etchings were insane and they still had some colors on them too! red was blood of animals, blue was turquoise, and there was also some green but I don’t remember how they made that.. after we explored the mastaba we headed over to the Step Pyramid, this is the first pyramid ever built! As soon as someone became king they started the work of their tomb because the afterlife was the life to be waiting for not the one we are living now… so King Zoser started the work on his mastaba.. well he decided he was sick of this style of tomb and wanted something different so after he started constructing the mastaba he came up with the idea of adding a second tier to it.. well he liked it and it worked and stayed, so he ordered another tier be added and it stayed so he had another built.. till he had created the first ever pyramid.. after some free time here we loaded back on the buses and headed to lunch!
“A sumptuous buffet lunch will be served afterward at a leading hotel in Cairo. Next, travel to the Tahrir (Liberty) Square, the heart of downtown, where the National Archaeological Museum is located. Here you will have the opportunity to acquaint yourself with Egypt’s ancient history spanning a period of 50 centuries. The museum houses the richest collection of Egyptian antiquities, including the magnificent King Tut Ankh Amun collection.”
Lunch was alright but was a lot like ship food: rice, bread, pasta… nothing too Egyptian.. after refueling we headed to the museum. It was big, and really hot, who has ever heard of a museum not being air conditioned?!?! It was bad.. but inside we got to see lots of tomb findings, mummies and all the goodies.. there we statues of different kings too.. every statue of a king is him portrayed when he was younger to look strong and in power and handsome.. also everyone has their left foot stepped forward, there are a few different ideas as to why though.. one statue was of Remises (sp?) II our guide told us that he had about 100 sons and 70 daughters!!! How crazy is that?! He had a wife and then 40 “other women.” At the museum we also saw a mummification table.. where they prepare the body and turn it into a mummy- a process taking 2 months! They take out the brain and just throw it away. They keep however, the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines, but they pull these out and mummify them too.. they leave in the body the kidneys (because they didn’t know they existed) and the heart. We saw lots of artifacts including beds, chairs, pots, and more that were found in King Tut’s tomb! Also housed in this museum are many of the casings to his tomb and his head piece! His mummy is in Luxor with a couple more of his other casings.. we got some free time in the end of our tour to walk around and explore the museum and we were able to see a bunch of mummies, the details that went into all of that was incredible!
“Check in at a leading hotel in Cairo and enjoy a short siesta. In the evening, attend the English version of the Son et Lumiere at the Giza Plateau. This sound-and-light performance brings the history and achievements of the ancient Egyptians to life as the illuminated pyramids and the mysterious Sphinx dominate the surrounding darkness.”
So last night I stayed in the nicest hotel I’ve stayed in in my life… like pretty much nicer than the Atlantis.. my room’s balcony had an AMAZING view of the Great Pyramid! Apparently, this is the same hotel Obama stayed in when he came to Egypt if that says anything, which I think it does! =) So all 200 SAS’ers on overnight cairo where here along with another large group of SAS’ers on another trip… we dominated this place, it was like our temporary ship haha. But the place was huge and beautiful.. it used to be a palace! Don’t worry I took lots of pictures all around the place and my room! It was wonderful! And although I had to share a bed with a girl I hadn’t met before, it was the most amazing 5 hours of sleep I’ve ever had! But before sleep came the light show which was 50 minutes long, and just alright.. I wouldn’t say it was the best thing ever but I guess when we only get to visit Egypt so few times in our lives that is something to see while youre there.. we got back to the hotel at 10 and this is when we got dinner… mhmmm long time since lunch! We all stuffed our stomachs and headed off to bed. Oh! And at dinner I was able to get my cartouche! It’s what our tour guide said is the thing that every Egyptian has and is a good thing to get as a souvenir, it’s pretty cool and I know im not explaining it and im not on purpose so that you all have to ask me about it when I get back =) After dinner I headed back to the room, showered and went to sleep.
I got a whopping 5 hours of sleep! Woohoo… =/ I went to sleep at 11:30 and our wakeup call was at 4:15 AM!!! We had to wake up get ready, pack up, check out, grab our box breakfasts and be on the bus at 5:15 AM. Yuck!
“Day 2: Early risers will be transferred to the Giza Plateau for a chance to view the Great Pyramids at sunrise while enjoying a boxed breakfast from the hotel. For those not participating, breakfast will be offered at the hotel. After check-out, proceed to the Giza Plateau where the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World is found, the imposing Pyramids of Giza. During the visit to the pyramids there will be time for unique photo opportunities of the three Pyramids from the Western Plateau, as well as free time to explore and enjoy the site.”
So basically I’m pretty sure almost all 200 of us did this! And it was cool! Only we were allowed in they opened the site special for us to be able to watch the sunrise there! How cool! So we sat there and watched that, enjoyed our breakfast and watched the sun rise over the pyramids some more.. we took a ton of pictures and it was well worth the 4:15 am wakeup call.. then we got to have the biggest adventure of the day.. RIDING A CAMEL!!!! This was intense!! It standing up and walking down the hill was the scariest part! We had to share camels which is fine so of course Kristi and I buddied up. We have some cool pictures despite our rude camel driver guy who was fat and mean and demanding… “lady hurry I know how” “lady you tip”.. more understandable if I give you an impersonation in a couple weeks. All in all totally worth it. So it is now 7:30 am and we are back on the buses to move up next to the pyramids.. yes 7:30 I have already spent two hours at the pyramids watching the sunrise and riding a camel.. crazy.. so up next to the pyramids we had time to explore, take lots and lots and LOTS of pictures, and go inside one of the pyramids of a queen (which are the very small pyramids next to the very large kings pyramid).
“Continue down the valley where the guardian of this mortuary complex, the mighty Sphinx, bears witness to the passage of time and man in eons of silence.”
We loaded in the buses went down the the sphinx and took more awesome pictures, we have lots of really good ones from today!
“Continue to the exotic and colorful Khan El Khalili Bazaar. The bazaar offers shopping and colorful photography options. Bargaining is an art and expected when negotiating a purchase.”
By 9:30 we got to the streets of this place, I took about a 10 minute siesta right at the end of the half hour drive there so I was totally half asleep when we first started walking around and the people were really pissing me off at first because I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with them.. eventually I woke up and found some very exciting things.. I got a really pretty pashmina scarf and 4 alabaster bowls! Which I am totally in love with!!! And something for heather which im quite proud of my find, I think you will really like it.
“Board the motorcoach and head to the banks of the Nile River where a cruise boat awaits for a sail on the same timeless waterway traversed by pharaohs, queens and nobles thousands of years ago. Enjoy a buffet lunch as you glide past Cairo’s waterfront landmarks. A folkloric presentation and belly dancing demonstration will take place during lunch. After lunch, make the return journey to the port.”
This was fun.. more of the same food we had at all 3 meals and have every day on the ship but oh well what are we really going to do.. the belly dancer was cool and there was another guy who did a little show that was kinda like the dervish spinning except totally not religious in anyway what so ever.. by this time its like 1 and im really just beat for the day and ready to get back home to the ship.. the ship has really become home which is nice.. but after this boat ride we had another 3 hour long drive! And I was only able to sleep for maybe an hour and a half.. we got back at 5:30 and I showered right away! It was wonderful.. then checked my email to find that for some reason no one cared to email me for the past two days except school…mhmm thanks everyone appreciate it… then ate dinner (really yummy pesto! Tasted like home!) and have since been spending my time writing this whole thing out.. now im kinda tired but sure I’m sure I’ll crash as soon as I hit my pillow.. so goodnight =)
I LOVED OVERNIGHT CAIRO!
p.s. I appreciate emails!!!!!!!! Ahemahem-japenrod@semesteratsea.net-ahemahem =)
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