Day 14 Friday 27 March 2009

Today was an exciting day for both of us. We arrived in Sokhna, Egypt quite early in the morning. Deb and I were awake at 4.00am as we have been putting our clocks back an hour nearly every night since boarding, and did it again last night.
We joined our bus tour to Cairo and a visit to the pyramids at 7.00am having watched the ship dock at Sokhna, and had early breakfast in the Kings Court. Nearly everyone on the ship seems to be going on one of the tours, so it was quite busy at that time of the morning.
We were assigned to group 5, and followed one of the crew to the shore to join our bus and local guide – an Egyptian woman called Manal. The bus ride was very long – about 90 minutes, but Manal kept us informed with her wide knowledge of her country and descriptions about what to expect on the tour.
Driving into Cairo was an experience in itself – the desert was not what either Deb or I expected – not the soft undulating sands that seems to be how the desert is depicted. It was quite rocky and hard layers of sand-stone that had been eroded by the wind. Virtually no vegetation was visible at all. The road was new, and according to Manal had been built by the military – so the ride was relatively smooth.
When we reached the outskirts of the city we were both amazed at the houses and buildings – none of them appeared to have been finished – and the workmanship was dreadful. Manal explained that completed buildings are taxed, therefore no-one ever finishes their building if they can help it. Also the houses are built to house many generations, so that the top of the building is left so that another story can be added, when another family member marries or needs accommodation.
The first place we visited was the Cairo Museum of Antiquities. We had been advised not to take our cameras off the bus with us, as photography was absolutely forbidden – which was a shame, so we did what we were told.
I have never seen so many people in my life inside the museum. It was Friday – which is like Sunday in western countries. Egypt being a Muslim state. So there were crowds of tourists from everywhere, plus school children on excursions, plus the locals. Our guide was really great in steering us through the museum so that we saw everything that was important, and still had some time for a look on our own. We learned a lot of Egyptian history, and saw all of Tutankhamen’s tomb and the Gold Mask and other golden pieces that had been found in his tomb. It was a pity to see how poorly the Egyptian’s store and exhibit these treasures. The museum is like one of the museums from the past, and doesn’t appear to have things very well stored or preserved.
After the museum, we returned to the bus to be conveyed to a huge hotel – I don’t know it’s name, but was probably the best in Cairo – all the tours from the QM2 had been sent there for lunch, along with many other tourists from other tours. We were seated in a huge banquet hall –(there are photos in the on-line album), at tables for 10.
Food was presented buffet style, and there was plenty of choice, and to eat. We had only been allocated 50 minutes for lunch, so it was a bit a scramble to finish lunch, find a toilet, and then try to take photos before being shunted back onto the bus.
In one of the photos you will see that the hotel was very close to the Pyramids of Giza.
Cairo has passed legislation to restrict the building of houses, etc. any closer to the pyramids.
A short drive in the bus had us at the pyramids. We had been warned on the bus to ignore the dozens of hawkers, camel drivers, etc. and not to talk to them and certainly be aware, that once you did, you would probably be ripped off.
Deb and I were amazed and fascinated at being able to get so close to the pyramids. You can see this in the photos. We wandered off to where there was a tomb structure, and a very kind security guard took the two of us in tow, and gave us a guided tour with commentary – it was fascinating – I wasn’t sure whether we would get out of the building without having to pay him some money, but he didn’t ask for it and we didn’t offer any.
We had our photos taken together right at the base of the Great Pyramid, and then returned to the bus for the next stage, which was to go to where we could get a panoramic view of all the pyramids together.
More photos were taken from this spot – then back in the bus to go to where the Sphinx was – that was amazing. Once again we were able to get quite close, and the crowds were unbelievable – they were setting up for the evening light and sound show over the area, and I thought that it would have been fantastic to see that.
Back on the bus again for a trip into Cairo – to do some shopping and to see the Papyrus Museum, and a demonstration on paper making with Papyrus. I managed to film the process at the time.
We picked up a couple of things that we had ordered, and a beautiful map of Egypt painted on Papyrus – and found that we had spent all our money (that we taken ashore) – so unfortunately had nothing to give the tour guide and driver – I must remember to put some money away in future so that I can give them a tip.
The bus ride back to the ship was long – most people dozed off on the return journey. Deb managed to take some photos of the sunset over the desert as we drove along.
Back at the ship we boarded with the hundreds of others who had all returned around the same time.
Deb was feeling pretty lousy from the bus journey, and was in a lot of pain – I don’t know how she managed to hold it together for the whole day but she managed with her pain killers, and some valium for the spasms.
We handed back our passports, (this had been the first time we had used them since boarding in Singapore), and staggered up to deck 7 where we joined the other passengers for a quick dinner, then back to the cabin to crash for the night.