Egypt...In 22 Hours

Egyptian Museum

          It seems hard to imagine what you could do with a twenty two hour layover in Egypt.  While planning our trip and my almost 11 year reunion with Ghana (See blog about Ghana), we could not find a way to avoid a long layover in Cairo.  So Sarah had the brilliant idea of finding the longest layover possible so we could enjoy a small sample of Egypt on our way to Ghana.  We booked through a tour agency to maximize our time and we were introduced to Mustafa who was our guide on this twenty two hour adventure.
          Our tour began with a pick up at the airport where we were greeted by Mustafa.  Our first leg of the trip was a tour of the Egyptian museum.  Driving through Cairo was filled with busy traffic, the museum was not far from the airport.  When we reached our drop off point we walked through a barbed wire enclosure and passed a row of army tanks protecting the museum, a remnant of the political unrest.  It was actually a comforting feeling and impressive of how important the museum is and the level of protection to keep the ancient artifacts safe and in tact.  Inside the museum we saw many monolithic structures and of course the main attraction: the golden mask of king Tutankhamen.  I must have stared at it for ten minutes, I have seen it so many times in pictures, but to be inches from it: priceless.

Sailing on the Nile

         The second part of our tour was a sail boat cruise on the Nile river with some local dishes served up for lunch.  The dish was called kushari I believe, which is this mildly spicy noodle medley, it was really good and the Nile cruise was very relaxing after a long tour of the Egyptian Museum.
          Following our cruise we made our way to the main attraction in Cairo, the Pyramids of Giza.  Truly wonderful to behold, a relic of the magnificence of Egypt.  The Great Pyramid of Giza is the last, oldest of the seven ancient wonders of the ancient world, and the only one left standing.  Some pictures I added were just to show the sheer size of the pyramid as you see us from a distance and also standing on the giant blocks.  While we were there we also arranged a tour to actually go inside the great pyramid.  It was amazing actually walking up the massive steps, each block almost as tall as I was.  The assent to the center of the pyramid was quite the work out, not to mention the inside is very warm and humid.  The journey ends in the kings chamber where you can stand directly below the point of the pyramid, it is rumored by the guides that if you stand on that point you can feel the power channel through you and your heart rate will increase (I didn't feel it).
          Following the pyramid tour we rode a camel around (at Sarah's request, I was fearful of MERS and lodged several protests before climbing on), but alas we had our camel picture and since I am writing this blog weeks alter I am happy to say we are both MERS free.

          After we finished by the pyramids we circled back around to the side of the pyramids to visit the Sphinx.  Also an amazing site to see by the sheer size and precision of the Sphinx and the pyramids for that matter.  No feat in the modern world can compare to the scope of these ancient marvels.
          Once we covered the main areas we wanted we visited a perfume shop where they made natural perfumes and then a place where they still make papyrus art.  We received a free demonstration on why the ancients used papyrus and how it was made.  Basically thin strips about an inch wide are pounded and pressed together and dried out, once they are mended the papyrus is extremely durable and can even be washed and re-used!  We wrote on a blank piece with a pen and our guide washed and rubbed the ink back off, it was pretty cool.  We bought a few papyrus art pieces before we made our way back to the airport.
          So there you have it, in twenty two hours time we were able to visit the Egyptian museum, sailed on the Nile river, went inside the Great Pyramid, toured the Sphinx, and saw how papyrus was made.  Quite impressive given the amount of time.  We owe much of our value to our awesome tour guide Mustafa who more than met our expectations, he knew so much of the rich history of Egypt and was such a great host in his home country.  Egypt of course is not high on the list for many to visit at the moment, but I'd like to say that while there I never felt unsafe or ran into any situations that gave cause for concern.  I would go back in a heartbeat and we hope to create an extended tour in the future to cover more of the greatness of ancient Egypt.