Alexandria,
Egypt
Monday, September 1, 2008
Our first full day in Egypt was spent visiting the Pyramids, a wonderful way to kick off the trip. There were many pyramids built in Egypt, however many are in ruins. The 3 pyramids at Giza (including the Great Pyramid) are probably the most famous, while the Step Pyramid at Saqqarah was the first of the pyramids. These impressive structures were built during the Old Kingdom, more than 4,500 years ago. Our first stop was the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Approaching these magnificent structures is awe-inspiring. The Great Pyramid is the sole surviving wonder of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, and was the tallest structure in the world (at about 145m) until 1889 when the Eiffel Tower was built in Paris. The Sphinx actually lies some distance from the pyramids: it lies at the base of the sacred causeway that once linked the middle pyramid to the Nile. It was actually smaller than we had expected (73m long and 20m high); unfortunately the Mamluks removed its nose and beard with cannon fire as it was too pagan for their liking. While visiting we got to go inside one of the much smaller pyramids built for one of the wives, and even submitted ourselves to the obligatory photo on top of a camel in front of the pyramid. The step pyramid had scaffolding around one corner, which is there for good to try and prevent any deterioration at the site. It was slightly less ugly scaffolding than the standard seen in Europe all over the place.
The following day we visited the Alabaster Mosque of Muhammad Ali (no, not the boxer!), within the Citadel of Saladin. Muhammad Ali was on Ottoman Turk who was dispatched from Istanbul to counter the French, who had arrived courtesy of Napoleon. He was successful in ridding Egypt of the French. The Ottoman sultan agreed to install Muhammad as Pasha of Egypt. He made himself busy in establishing his control, inviting all the notable Mamluk Turks to a banquet and then slaughtering them. Apparently, they did at least get to eat the banquet first. We also visited the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. Sadly we were a little bit disappointed in that the collection was poorly labelled and displayed. The Tutankhamun collection was, however, impressive, and we did get to see the mummies of some of the previous pharaohs! No photos were allowed inside though.
We will be coming back to Cairo at the end of our tour to visit the Khan al-Khalili market place.
