Sunday 21st October 2007
Port Said for Cairo.
Took the desert road from Port Said to Cairo. This was very interesting as the road runs parallel to the Suez canal for part of the way and if you look towards the canal you can sometimes see a huge ship apparently sailing through the fields (see photo). However, driving through Cairo was not such a fun experience. We passed the Ministry where David worked 25 years ago on the way to the Egyptian Museum where we saw King Tut's death mask and all the other loot from his tomb. We also saw various other mummies and sarcophagi, hieroglyphics and statues and carvings. Apparently if you were to spend one minute looking at each exhibit it would take 9 months to look at the entire contents. We only had an hour and a half but we have both been before.
Next we motored to the Mina House Oberoi Hotel (5 star) where we had lunch before going up to the Pyramids. Here we got ripped off by a man with a camel but still got some nice photos and some scarab beetles. Again we were rather rushed but managed to see the pyramids and the Sphinx (see photos). However we both think that these pyramids have reached their touristic limit; seeing the Sphinx was rather like a rugby scrum with everyone fighting for photo shots. We are glad we have seen it together but would both have been disappointed had we not been previously at a more leisurely pace. A far as we were concerned the final stop on the trip (papyrus institute and general bazaar) could have been left out completely; but unfortunately was part of the institutionalised tourist rip off! Like other passengers we would have been happy to purchase any genuine Egyptian goods and artefacts but do not enjoy wasting time being exposed to tourist tat, particularly when we are a captive audience. We were given 30 minutes here as opposed to ten minutes a the Sphinx! The trip back to the ship was, inevitably, after such a long day rather tedious. However it did end on a high note with us haggling for various bits and pieces for our themed Egyptian night (yet to happen - so look out for that blog) on arrival back in Port Said.
Port Said for Cairo.
Took the desert road from Port Said to Cairo. This was very interesting as the road runs parallel to the Suez canal for part of the way and if you look towards the canal you can sometimes see a huge ship apparently sailing through the fields (see photo). However, driving through Cairo was not such a fun experience. We passed the Ministry where David worked 25 years ago on the way to the Egyptian Museum where we saw King Tut's death mask and all the other loot from his tomb. We also saw various other mummies and sarcophagi, hieroglyphics and statues and carvings. Apparently if you were to spend one minute looking at each exhibit it would take 9 months to look at the entire contents. We only had an hour and a half but we have both been before.
Next we motored to the Mina House Oberoi Hotel (5 star) where we had lunch before going up to the Pyramids. Here we got ripped off by a man with a camel but still got some nice photos and some scarab beetles. Again we were rather rushed but managed to see the pyramids and the Sphinx (see photos). However we both think that these pyramids have reached their touristic limit; seeing the Sphinx was rather like a rugby scrum with everyone fighting for photo shots. We are glad we have seen it together but would both have been disappointed had we not been previously at a more leisurely pace. A far as we were concerned the final stop on the trip (papyrus institute and general bazaar) could have been left out completely; but unfortunately was part of the institutionalised tourist rip off! Like other passengers we would have been happy to purchase any genuine Egyptian goods and artefacts but do not enjoy wasting time being exposed to tourist tat, particularly when we are a captive audience. We were given 30 minutes here as opposed to ten minutes a the Sphinx! The trip back to the ship was, inevitably, after such a long day rather tedious. However it did end on a high note with us haggling for various bits and pieces for our themed Egyptian night (yet to happen - so look out for that blog) on arrival back in Port Said.
