A Royal Burial

Anyone who travels to Egypt has it set in their mind to see the Giza pyramids. Now I have heard and read multiple opinions...they're amazing, they're too overcrowded, they're too touristy, they're impressive but Sakar is better...for me I wanted no preconceptions on this experience. I just wanted to see them and be a stupid tourist :-). We also didn't have the time to see the Sakah pyramids and that was okay with us. I remember thinking about a documentary I had watched several years before on the Giza pyramids...now I am not one for documentaries or educational programming typically...but as with anything on ancient Egypt I was hooked! I recalled what the archealogists had said about discovering what seemed to be an ancient town where the Giza pyramid workers had lived. Previously these type of laborers were thought to be of the lower social classes but evidence in this town showed that they were actually quite revered, at least those working at Giza. The human remains showed evidence of highly developed medical treatment, classy living conditions, and impressive pottery. Having this background information made this visit all that much more exciting.

Ashraf and Sameh haggled with the camel stall owners to get us good prices on what we had to do while in Egypt, ride camels to the pyramids! We got three horses and one camel. Jen rode the camel to the pyramids while the rest of us rode on horses. At first I was taken back that me, the only person who had ridden before (horses that is, I took lessons!) was not allowed to drive my own horse! Ashraf and Sameh had never ridden, yet out guide took my horses lead and was telling me how to post trot when the horse went faster. ..at first I was offended because I was being treated like I had no clue. But then I realized it was because I was a girl and I was not in the USA. And that was cultural acceptable there, so I just let him explain to me. Jen had a kid who was probably around 10 year old riding her camel with her and leading it...pretty hysterical stuff! He ended up having some trouble and our other guide started helping her.

We saw some cool stuff while riding to the pyramids; some back road shops, horsing herds, reed cleaning...even an Islamic funeral. At first I wasn't sure but then I realized we were definitely in a graveyard and the people were definitely crying. If I had no cultural perception and no heart as a human being I would have taken pictures (it was a experience to see it!), but I of course did not want to offend any of the mourners. The back areas around the pyramids were dirty but at the same time I found it beautiful...not that I think trash is pretty, but it was a different kind of beauty, one you can't really describe.

We took a ton of pictures once we got to the pyramids. Before we moved on to be up close and personal Jen and me took some silly pictures of us "touching" the top of the pyramids and "raising" them up. When we got right up next to them I almost had to pinch myself to see if I was actually there! Ashraf and Sameh were great, indulging our touristy attitudes, enjoying our excitement I hope! We climbed up the pyramids, right next to a sign that said "No Climbing"...and no, not just in Arabic :-)! When went in the pyramid I had an..."encounter", might you say? You are so bent over and can't really see anything that some guy apparently felt like that gave him free reign to feel up the back of my leg and butt. ..I was not entirely surprised, but a little taken back! I told Jen and Sameh overheard us talking, then when Ashraf joined us at the bottom Sameh told him in Arabic...that big teddy bear smile that always was on his face immediately disappeared and the intimidating guy Jen had at first been afraid of at the airport was back. He looked like he was ready to fly back up the entry and knock out every guy he saw. They both kept saying how sorry they were and were immediately even more protective of Jen and I. It really had not been a big deal to me (I'm the girl that goes dancing with Latin boys every weekend!) but it offense was still offense the same.

When we left from inside the pyramid a camel leader started trying to get Jen on his camel. Again, we were incredibly lucky to have the boys with us as they helped us not to be "taken for a ride". ..financially speaking, not on a camel! Jen and I rode one camel while the boys rode another. The took us to the perfect picture spoke and we got some amazing photos! I also fell in love with the "blue" setting on my camera, getting a fantastic skyline of pyramids against the bluest sky in the world! Then they took us to the papyrus and perfume musuem, and while other tourists may say try and avoid these places...we were actually happy to go! Jen and I both bought perfume for ourselves and our moms. I also got my name in heiroglyphics on papyrus. Sameh got one with his name too! I loved the fact that Sameh was doing touristy stuff for the first time with us! (He had never gone inSIDE the pyramids before!) The shop/camel people took us to the roof of the store and it was perfect timing. The evening Adhan (Islamic call to prayer) was being said and I got an awesome video paning the pyramids with the Adhan heard in the background (which I uploaded to the site).

We took our final camel ride, this time playing a little "musical camels"...Sameh and Jen shared a camel while Ashraf and I shared the other. Aw, friends!!!