Robin and Andrea- 09/25/2004: Walk like an Egyptian

Walk like an Egyptian : 25 September 2004

We’re in the land of the Pharaohs. We’ve ridden camels through the Sahara and shuffled with the tourist hordes at the Valley of the Kings. Now we’re kicking back on the Red Sea, enjoying the last hot weather we’re going to see for a while.

A sense of scale
We arrived in Cairo via the world’s longest layover in Vienna. 16 hours of hanging around the airport is not the best way to spend an evening in Europe. But we made it, and our return to the non-Western world was as much of a hassle as it always is. Egypt is just about as disorganized and crazy as India, but the people are at least a bit friendlier as they try to scam you out of your money.
The highlight of Cairo, obviously, was our trip to the pyramids of Giza. The only surviving member of the original seven wonders of the ancient world, they are really cool. And really big. We first toured to Sakkara and Memphis, sights of extremely ancient stuff, including the world’s oldest stone pyramid. But they paled in comparison.
We actually toured around the pyramids on camels. Being in the desert, it seemed more stylish than the giant air-conditioned coaches that the thousands of other people all came from. On the other hand, they probably weren’t as hot, sweaty and smelly as we were. I guess there are always trade-offs with these things.
We caught a flight down to Luxor, and spent a day touring the ancient sites there. We started with the Valley of the Kings. We decided not to actually go into King Tut’s tomb, because it’s really small, empty, and they charge you extra. We did see some other tombs, with very impressive wall paintings, and even got kicked out of one of them. It’s a long story.
Inside a tomb at the Valley of the Kings
The tombs around Luxor are actually the least impressive thing to see. The entrances were not very impressive, because they were meant to be hidden, and nothing is actually inside any of them. The only things to be impressed by are the amount of work that went into actually carving the huge chambers, and the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling hieroglyphics.
Much more impressive are the ruins of the temples, with their huge columns, walls and statues, almost all totally covered with amazing hieroglyphics. Many places even still have the original painted colors, still intact after as many as 4,500 years.
After a painful bus ride across the Eastern Desert, we made it to Hurgada, and our last fling of beach relaxation before heading back to Glasgow. We have three nights that we’ve saved up on points at all the hotels we’ve stayed at, and we’re gonna splurge for our last time, and enjoy the sun, sea and sand of one of the world’s most beautiful beach areas.

Replies: 4 comments

Wow! I'm glad you're have a fantastic adventure in Egypt. It has always been a dream of mine to climb and explore. It looks like we're moving in next week to our place. I'll be in Wales/London on Thurs for Gerwyn's wedding and to get my Anglo fix...of course one can never have enough being the Anglophile junkie I am. Get cool presents for me there!
xoxoxo
Posted by Chris @ 09/26/2004 06:27 PM PST

Hi guys
Well make the most of the sun as europe getting cold now !Anyway our season is just starting so its 6 months of sun ,beer ,fishing,and of course bbq,s...its tough being a resort owner !Andrea are you showing any signs of eating weird food yet ,i do hope so ,but if not we would still love for you guys to come resort sit for us next may/june thats if you can fit it in your hectic life style.Tara ,and little chummpy say hi ,she is always talking about you ,when are you coming back!!Take its easy matt,tara & muksuda
Posted by matt,tara&muksuda @ 10/01/2004 01:58 AM PST

hey again..it was great to talk to you guys today...Koh Chang sounds as beautiful as ever..how did we know that you would be at the bar watching a beautiful sunset. We miss you guys and will see you soon.
Posted by andrea @ 10/06/2004 07:02 PM PST

hey Chris...good thing we didn't buy tickets to meet you in London on Sunday..you disapeared. Oh well.
Did you get the fix you needed? Congratulations to you and Patrick on the new house! Good luck with the move.
XOXOX
We miss you both!
Posted by andrea @ 10/06/2004 07:05 PM PST