08/11/2009
The first full day in Egypt, we got up at 7 am despite some sleep I lost due to jet lag. Our breakfast was comprised of very tasty bread, cheese and hummus along with other goodies. We met Yasser around 9 am and he introduced us to Khalid, our tour guide/Egyptologist for the day and the driver Ibrahim.
Khalid was a VERY talkative and excited guide. We drove towards the Giza plateau. As usual, the traffic was crazy and we saw many carts dragged by donkeys in the midst of thousand vehicles. Although many Egyptian women cover their hair, it was not required for foreign women to do so. However, Liz and I decided to cover our hair in Cairo, out of respect. Liz wore a hijab, while I wore a scarf around my head. Yaseer thought Liz looked like an Egyptian.
We went to the pyramids. We walked on sand to get near them. No tree or shrub was in sight. Plus, it was HOT.

Khalid explained in great detail about the pyramids, who built them and how mummies were not found in the biggest pyramid. Only one mummy was found inside all three, and that was shipped to a British museum. The ship that was carrying the mummy sank in the ocean…

We had to pay money to go inside the three pyramids, so we chose not to go. However, there were three smaller pyramids nearby. They were built for the close female relatives of the pharaohs. We went inside the pyramid where the king’s mothers’ mummy was kept. We had to walk backwards clinging on to a rail. It was a narrow pathway and going in to the ground, so we had to bend in order to not hit our heads. Every step we moved in, it got hotter and hotter. I am sure it was over 120F inside the chamber.
There were many people trying to sell camel rides to tourists. Actually, there were many people trying to sell you anything and everything. They can come across being aggressive, but the trick was not to make eye contact. Just pretend you didn’t see or hear them.

We went to see the Sphinx. It was created to look over the valley to protect the pyramids. Its nose and beard were missing.

After leaving the Giza plateau, Khalid took us to a Papyrus gallery. They thought we were Egyptian and started explaining the papyrus making procedure in Arabic! We bought artwork depicting various ancient Gods found in temples and tombs.
Khalid then took us to a perfume shop, which might be our least favorite experience in Egypt. It was just us at the shop, and a man explained to us in great detail about the essential oils they produce and how they are identical to name-brand perfume (Chanel etc.). Afterwards, he asked us which perfume we usually use. Liz and I looked at each other and told him that we don’t wear perfume. His persona changed, he became upset and very lethargically explained the rest of his perfume story. He then tried to sell us these oils, somewhat forcefully. We felt quite uncomfortable.
We then went to a restaurant for lunch. We were given many different options of tasty, Egyptian food, which was a pleasantly different from the food at the hotel that were made for tourists. Liz and I are both vegetarian, and Egyptian cuisine had many options for us.
Khalid then took us to the Cairo museum. This is where many of the treasures are kept, including twenty mummies found in the tombs. However, we had to pay extra to see the mummies, so we decided not to see them. We saw many treasures and the coffin of King Tathunkhamun, as well as other impressive carvings and statues. I had a disagreement with Khalid about Queen Hatshepsut’s family history since I had read a National Geographic article about recent findings. I quickly understood that he was not up to date on this matter (I don’t blame him since the article only came out the previous month – but still I wish he knew this information for me to have a discussion about it).
It was a day where we learnt many things about ancient Egypt thanks to Khalid. We were quite tired of all the walking, so we went to bed early since we also had a very early morning next day.