Day 2, Part 1

So we woke up late. Though I wasn't sure that I wanted to complain... the trip had been exhausting and I didn't mind a few more hours of sleep. But after a few minutes I was ready to get out and see the pyramids. I'd travelled so far and finally I was going to see what so many and so few have seen. They were one of the great wonders of the world, some of the oldest and largest structures of the old world; a testament to the greatness and glory of a civilization long gone. I hoesntly couldn't believe I was going to see them and touch them. Maybe go in them...

So we woke up quick, cleaned up and opened the door into the hotel. The first thing that struck me was that our room must have been the temperature of a meat locker cause it was pretty warm inside the hotel. Who knew how hot it was outside. We caught a complimentary breakfast from the hotel, which included some fruit, yogurt and toast. Nothing too big but that was alright, I expected to be on the move.

The lady at the hotel recommended we use their travel guides who would follow the hotel's recommended plan. It sounded decent, so we went with it and payed up front, so to ensure we didn't get overcharged by the taxi man. The taxi man was kind, gave us the usual spiel and had us on our way. James seemed to think that the driving was much calmer than our initial ride in, but I could see it was still quite crazy. Cars intermingled with donkeys and carts, no lanes and no laws.



The first stop after crossing the Nile and before arriving at Giza was a papyrus museum. I found it pretty interesting, they showed you how to make Papyrus and then tried to sell everything possible to you. Of which they were somewhat successful, I mean, I'm not going to leave Egypt without buying papyrus, right?

So then there they were. Between the dirty and blocky buildings were the pyramids of Egypt. Stuart had told me not to get too excited about them cause he found them quite disappointing, and I hadn't hyped them up in the lead up to the trip. I'd seen major historical monuments before, I've over hyped them and ruined the surprise and awe. That's the trouble of our society and this communication and information revolution we live in. It's easy to become desensitized to the grandeur of the world. But not this time. There it was in all its immensity, I couldn't even see the other two.


Now at the base of this giant four-sided work of art were countless Bedouins. I've dealt with them before in Jordan and Israel. They're a pain in ass cause they don't give up until they've sold you some inconsequential piece of plastic courtesy of the factories in China. Don't be rude, but be firm and walk away. Ignore their words. So I set about my buesiness of walking around and taking photos and no more than two minutes they've sighted us and headed towards James and I.

"Just keep walking and don't say a word to them." I said to him and I kept going.

But, poor James, he didn't listen and gave them the polite "No Thanks."

Big mistake, you're on your own now. I thought. So I kept on walking but tried to keep an eye on him just to make sure nothing serious happened. There he was, with a handful of trinkets and some goofy hat on his head, getting his picture taken with two Bedouins and looking a very false happy. So I sat down and waited until they walked away from him, having sold a load of junk to him.

He said to me, "I just bought a bunch of stuff I don't even want. But at least I didn't manage to get one of those tea towels."

I laughed. Everyone has to learn, sometime the hard way. I tell him to just keep on walking and that you're going to have to be a little rude because these people do not give up. It's not like England, the rules of commerce don't apply in Egypt. So I hoped he took a lesson from all that and we wouldn't have to deal with it again.