Egypt – Land of Pharaohs

Our expedition in Egypt starts… Day 2

We were staying in Grand Nile Tower  along the Nile river. Wake up with very nice view from 22nd floor. We had nice breakfast from the hotel and we tried to stick to hot cooked food. Our guide came on time and was waiting for us in lobby. He showed our passports to the Travel police (seems like they track travelers using passports for safety) .  Our guide name was Osama, aka., Sam. He started saying history of Egypt using the map on Papyrus while driving to Giza. He told us difference between North and South Egypt from food, culture and people. It took us almost 40 mins to reach Giza Plateau.

               Our first stop for the day was the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the seven wonders of the world.

Pyramids of Giza . There are total of 9 Pyramids in the Giza Plateau. The Great Pyramid of Giza also known as Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu. His son’s Pyramid with cap still on it  Pyramid of Khafre. BTW..Son built his pyramid on higher ground to look bigger than his father’s Pyramid. Third pyramid Pharaoh Menkaure’s Pyramid.

It’s huge and massive and can’t believe people build it in 3000B.C., 4500 years back…

Our first look at the Great pyramid was aww…….phone was not able to capture the scale after going little closer.

Look at the size comparison with standing close. Lot of these stone are quarried in Aswan and got it on Nile to build this.

Even though some people mentioned it will be claustrophobic, we don’t want to miss the great opportunity to go inside the great pyramid. We need to buy another ticket to go inside.  Also, no camera’s inside. You have to bend and walk on these wooden stairs to reach a place in the middle.

After the wooden stairs,  there were another bunch of stairs in a narrow place to reach to a chamber.

Inside the chamber, there is still a Sarcophagus – a stone coffin in which they found mummified bull inside the Great Pyramid.

Here we are after little claustrophobic.. outside of the Great Pyramid. There are lot of exploring happening now… Seems like 2 researchers trying to find what is behind the 3 holes where air is coming and they were not able to figure it out. They hit solid wall behind.Imagine the exact size and shape of the rocks put together on top of each other to build this massive structure.

Engineering is at peaks I guess…

The surface of the pyramid has been taken by people , that’s the reason we are not seeing the smooth surface. Only few spots you can see this smooth covering of the pyramid.

We went to a view point after that where you can see all 3 big Pyramids and take some  pictures. We were posing like touching , lifting , jumping and all poses. Our guide was good to suggest and help capture these.

Camel Ride

It’s time for Camel ride. There were 2 variations in the camel ride. Short and long. We took long one which goes along the dessert to the Sphinx and recommended by our guide for best views.  Our guide arranged the camel ride for us. Long one costs around $25 per person. Felt like camels are not well treated. The person who was taking camels stopped at couple of places and took pictures for us. People are very nice. They want to make sure we are satisfied (Guess what that’s how they get good tip).

Great Sphinx of Giza

Sphinx – a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human…. This is in front of the Pyramid of Khafre. There is a temple with red granite for the entrance in to this place. There is a wishing well, where people put the money inside.

One final look of the Pyramids…

Chairs are for light and sound show in the evening…

We went to shopping place where Papyrus is sold. People are selling art on the papyrus looking paper which is $1. Seems like that is made of Banana tree and it won’t last. Papyrus is paper, made out of a plant grown along the Nile river. It is natural and art stays years together on this. This shop was little pricey, but they said it is legitimate and ready for some bargain. We bought a calendar, map and some empty papers as gift for friends. We paid 2250 Egyptian pounds equals to $130 dollars for this. Pretty expensive stuff.

Our tummies are growling with all the walking and listening. Time for Lunch. Our guide took our choice and ordered food by the time we went to that restaurant. There was power outage and no fans and lights. Even in rest room, no light and it was too dark. That’s where you light helps in phone.

Food was really good and tasty.

Memphis

Memphis is one of the oldest and ancient city of Egypt, capital of the Old Kingdom (c.3100–c.2258 BC), located at the entrance to the Nile River Valley near the Giza Plateau, and about 12 mi from Cairo. It was founded by pharaoh Menes, the first king of united Egypt. What is there currently in Memphis, a small museum with Colossus of Ramesses II, a Alabaster Sphinx, a lot of Sarcophagi , and renovated Ramesses II status.

Colossus of Ramesses II The Colossus of Ramesses is an enormous statue carved in limestone. It is about 10m (33.8 ft) long, even though it has no feet, and is located near the village of Mit Rahina.

It takes about 5 to 6 days to carve this statue as this is carved in limestone. Also there is a lady carved on the statue thigh, representing one person in his life(even though there are more wives for Ramesses) .

Renovated Ramesses II Statue

The Sphinx of the Memphis

Here is Ramesses in ancient hieroglyphics

All the Memphis city has been looted and the stone are used for regular house constructions. It’s a very small place for tourists now. Nothing more than that. We can see some foundation stones under the current houses and buildings. Seems like people do find valuable Egyptian artifacts during their house constructions and most of the them will try to hide as Government will take their land if they report without any compensation. Each artifact might value millions of dollars….

Sakkara

Another 30 mins ride from Memphis to Sakkara. We have seen so many school kids boys and girls while driving to Sakkara. Vegetable markets has all fresh vegetables and they are huge vegetables.

Across the Great Court of the Pyramid Complex of Djoser (2667 – 2648 BC), the second king of the 3rd Dynasty, stands the step pyramid, located at Saqqara close to modern day Cairo. It is believed to have been created by one man, Imhotep. He has been called Doctor, Sage, Architect, Astronomer and High Priest. During an excavation in 1924-26, a pedestal of a statue of Djoser (Zoser) was found. This complex represents the first major work in stone. That is, unless there are other works that have yet to be found.

Time for some Tombs visit

Do you know how they bring the Sarcophagus down 30 feet under ground ? No ropes or wires will work. So what our guide told us was, they will fill that 30 feet hole with sand. There will be a hole at 30 ft down and people will start taking the sand out from under. Which will bring the Sarcophagus down.

We went to Carpet shop after our trip. There were 3 or 4 types of carpets. Pure silk carpet, which takes years to make. last one was machine made, which is faster and cheaper.

2 things:

1. Papyrus and Carpet shop, they offered some drink like Pepsi/Hibscus juice/Tea as Egyptian hospitality.

2. Tipping…. You are asked to give tip every where even for doing their job.

Thanks for joining me!

 — Saritha Kiran Nalagandla