Egypt Part The Third 2022 - Karnak and The Sphinx Way

I visited Karnak on my first trip to Egypt in 2017 but like most of the organised trips you do not get a lot of time there so it was nice to go back again for another look, and more importantly I can now get to walk the Sphinx Way from Karnak to Luxor Temple, a distance of about 3km.......

A few photos of Karnak which is not so much a temple in itself but a site containing 4 separate temples, you will recognise Karnak of course from the 1978 film Death On The Nile based on the Agatha Christie novel and starring Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot and many others!

David Suchet also made a TV adaptation which also used Karnak, and this year sees the release of yet another version by Kenneth Branagh which was filmed in Morocco for some strange reason. If it anything like Branagh's version of Murder On The Orient Express I won't be rushing to see it.....

Approaching Karnak by boat from the West Bank there is a bit of an oddity because here we see water being pumped into the Nile instead of out of it... This water is pumped out from the 'springs' inside Karnak, indeed there is a 'sacred lake' within the complex. This is a bit odd because as you can see the river banks are considerably higher than the Nile and so is Karnak itself. The high water table inside Karnak caused a problem when it was being excavated over a 100 years ago as some of the ruins were submerged.

The main entrance to Karnak is guarded by an avenue of Sphinxes, indeed these are of course a load of old Sphinxes. 

As you can see it's quite busy with tourists, mainly Russian....

And if you have run out of Sphinxes then you throw up a couple of obelisks which is exactly what Hapshetsut did when she was in charge about 4,000 years ago..

It is of course a well known fact that the Egyptians invented the clerestory window... And there are some fine examples at Karnak as shown below, the frame up in the air is a clerestory window, you will of course this architectural feature from your exhaustive visits to cathedrals in the UK....

 Stopping only for an obligatory selfie in front of a load of old hieroglyphics, I am heading for the side door as it were, in search of the exit to the Sphinx Way, which as you know is a ceremonial route to Luxor used during the festival of Opet and constructed during the time of Amenhotep III during the 18th Dynasty around 1390 to 1352 BC, that's over 3,000 years ago, the side exit is the Temple Of Khonsu, the God of the Moon. (But then you already knew that didn't you? Would you believe that a lot of Egyptians actually know all this stuff  about the New Kingdom, the Old Kingdom, and all the Dynasties?).

Along the Sphinx Way there are some huge sign boards very nicely giving a bits of history and also the progress of the excavation which was started in 2017 which is the first time I came to Luxor..

One day I will get the hang of putting photos on to a blog but for now you will have to excuse the large gaps here and there, I usually use these to waffle on a bit rather like you do when you are doing a slide show and waiting for the projector to go on to the next slide.....

And there's the Temple of Khonsu, and before me lies the the Sphinx Way...

It has taken a while to excavate it because there was a minor hiccup in that the Coptic (Christian) Church was partially obstructing the route.

There were various proposals for solving this problem, the most popular was to knock the church down. A solution that did not go down very well with the Christian congregation who probably retaliated with the suggestion that the mosque built on top of Luxor Temple should be knocked down...

On the way along there is a conveniently placed coffee shop and also some shady resting points, there are also a couple of features to note such as the Nileometer which the priests in the Temples used to calculate the taxes due from the peasant farmers, the Nile used to run alongside the Sphinx Way but is now much further to the west.

As you can see parts of the route require some maintenance and are a bit uneven but bear in mind this paving is over 3,000 years old whereas pavements in most modern cities are not that old so it seems the problem of maintenance has not improved in all that time.... 

The poor old Nileometer could do with  clean up as well, as could the Roman baths built much later.

Many of the Sphinxes are missing, presumably carried off to be used elsewhere or broken up to be used as something else....

And you might be wondering how they solved the problem of the Coptic Church,

oh yes you are, now admit it... Well you can see how in the photos below...

The one on the left was taken in 2019, the one below is now...

Yep... You got it, they cut off the back end of the church...

The (Belated) Return to Egypt January 2019 - Cairo.

Somehow i just knew I was going to come back to Egypt again.....

But first, I have taken the liberty of re-dating the original posts so that they start earliest first, this will give new readers a chance to start at the beginning instead of the end of the 2017 trip!!

A few weeks after my return from the January 2017 trip I was taken into hospital in Greece (where I was spending the winter), the doctors were surprised that I had been able to fly to Egypt so recently, and even more surprised to find that the previous January (2016) I had spent 13 hours on a flight to Singapore!! Anyway it is the end of March and I am due to fly back to the UK the following weekend in time to celebrate my 65th birthday in Brighton. Except I am not because they will not let me......

Two days after I returned from the 2017 trip I was already looking flights and doing a bit of planning towards returning in January 2018, but the (not unexpected), news that I had chest problems put the fear of God up me, and the plan was dropped as I had now become a nervous flyer!!

Yes me, nervous. Me who over the period of many years has clocked up millions of miles at least!!

But in the meantime something else came up that didn't need to much flying, well only one way across the Atlantic anyway, and in September 2018 I spent 6 weeks in the USA and Canada, but that is another story.

The hankering to return to Egypt was still there and having clocked up a few more air miles I had free tickets to Egypt and back..... So........ The trip to the US and Canada having been a bit breathless (pun intended), a more relaxing holiday to Egypt is called for and time to fill in a few blanks as it were.

The itinerary will be Cairo, and Luxor, and that is it. No desperate one day tours into the desert, no cruise to anywhere, and just a few visits that were an absolute must to fill in the gaps from before.

Arriving in Cairo in the middle of the night, (that's air miles for you, they put you on a flight that nobody wants to be on), I have booked a transfer except that this time there is nobody to meet me before passport control, but that is OK because I have done this before... First change money, and get the visa, stick it in the passport, and go to immigration with the landing card.... Reclaim bags, but still nobody with a sign up with my name on it.....

Something different, after reclaim you don't get your passport checked yet again, but they do X ray your bags on the way out.

I get the usual approaches from taxi drivers and at this point many might think, ''Hell my transfer is not here. I'll get a cab''. But my driver is outside the terminal building, no sign up but a tablet instead!! How modern is that then?

And Tim's Tip Of The Day.... Get WhatsApp on your mobile phone. Everybody in Egypt is on it and it is a really good way of getting in touch with transfer drivers and tour companies. You don't even need to use data because there are Wi-fis everywherem and if you do need to turn data on then WhatsApp is very frugal with it!

I am staying at Mena House, yes I am still on the Agatha Christie trail, and remember I was a bit put out because my co-travellers on the Nile cruise in 2017 had stayed there and I hadn't. Not that I was jealous of course.

So Day 1 is in Cairo.... Breakfast time at Mena House. And what a crap view that is to have to look at while you are having breakfast on the terrace at Mena House.

Slightly disappointed that the old part of Mena House is not currently open but never mind. I am in Cairo so what else matters. And the Great Pyramid of Cheops is just a short walk away.

Walking up to the Pyramids is like, well I don't know what it is like, but it involves getting accosted by taxi drivers, (why do I need a taxi? It is only half a mile away), and people trying to sell you tours, and tour guides, and who needs one of those when you can read the guide book??

But I found the same tactic worked as with boatmen in Luxor, engage them in conversation and then walk off..... On the way up the hill you pass a yard where they keep lots of very dusty cars, carriages, and spare camels.

Getting a ticket into Giza means standing in a queue, but this gives you time to read the price list, (entry in Egyptian archaeological sites is still cheap compared with other countries), and the plethora of options that seem to be available is confusing in spite of the gentlemen that approach you and offer to sell you a ticket for US$50. When you finally get to the ticket office, be prepared to be ignored and get pushed out of the way by a local who is obviously in a lot more of a hurry than you. So when I finally get the man's attention I just ask for a ticket. 

''Just one?'' 

''Yes, just one.''

Five English Pounds later I have my ticket, (which apparently does most things depending on the time of day, and the day of the week, and whether it is an odd or even date, and whether there is an R in the month), and on the way up to the Great Pyramid I am accosted yet again by an ''official guide'' flashing a very official looking ''badge'' asking me what ticket I have. So I show him and he very helpfully tells me what it entitles me to see, except the man checking the tickets has already told me... I think he was expecting a tip for telling me but he didn't get one.

The last trip was somewhat rushed and with long explanations from my guide there was no time for roaming. This time I am able to roam at my leisure and marvel at the people taking selfies with nothing but desert and blue sky behind them. Rather like people who take pictures of themselves on a beach with nothing but sea and sky behind them. They could be anywhere.....

My ticket does not let me go into everything, but I manage to get into the Boat Museum, and also I can visit the Temple of Khafre and The Sphinx..... And also the Tomb of Seshem Nefer Theti.






Meanwhile I encounter Ali..... Ali has a camel.... Ali wants me to take a camel ride, and if you read the blog on the 2017 trip, I am never getting on a camel again.

Ali will take a picture of me sitting on the camel, while it is on the ground, for a couple of English pounds... Ali is a rip off merchant.....




 Ali takes a very nice selfie of himself using my camera, and a picture of me on the camel.... Which is fine but then he pockets my camera, whistles and the camel stands up and takes off across the desert, stopping next to a ruined wall which means I can get off the camel on to the wall......


He then thinks I am going to give him US$200 for the camel ride and to get my camera back. Ali doesn't know that I only have a few English Pounds on me and he can keep the camera...

Something of an argument ensues while I walk back up to the track leading to The Sphinx, but I do give him a fiver and he does give me back the camera while still shouting (presumably) abuse at me.......

I think Ali is saving up for some serious dental work.

On the way down to the Sphinx I pass two policemen who ask me what was going on up the hill, so I tell them and show them the picture of Ali. They are not happy and a few minutes later I see them up the hill talking to Ali.

I think Ali got into trouble. But never mind, I arrive down the hill at the Sphinx and a very nice official guide takes my photograph for me, doesn't even want a tip, and restores my faith in human nature. Before leaving Giza Plateau I take a look around and still marvel at how Giza has grown since I saw pictures of the Sphinx in the ''Children's Book Of Knowledge when I was about 7 or 8 years old, when it was in the middle of the desert.... They seem now to be pulling down some buildings nearby, and I am heading for the rather excellent restaurant where I had lunch the last time I was here, only to find it is closed, and has been for some some, as is the restaurant next door.

Indeed none of the restaurants in the area seems to be open. A sign of the times, or are they going to knock them down I wonder??

I cannot re-enter the Plateau it seems so I take a walk by the main road back to my hotel, this turns out to be the long route, and certainly not the prettiest. Egypt is not a place for those of limited physical capabilities. The pavement all seem to be at least a foot high and involve a big step up and down as you cross a side road. Which is why everyone walks along the side of the road I guess.

I don't think many tourists walk this way as I don't get accosted at all by any of the shop keepers. Disappointing in a way, but I do get something to eat and I let the man in the shop do the choosing for me, and end up with more food than I can eat for EG£75, say GB£3.50 roughly.

When I get back to my hotel I pause to take a picture of the very large light fitting in reception before getting an early night.

Tomorrow is flying to Luxor day, and as I didn't get to sleep until gone 3 am this morning and early night is called for.

The next day is a leisurely one with plenty of time for breakfast before my taxi to the airport.

You will read that the trip from Giza to Cairo Airport takes less than an hour via the ''ring road''. It doesn't because the traffic is at a complete standstill and it takes over an hour and a half. Luckily I have allowed plenty of time, and it was worth the extra time just to get a view of IKEA on the way.....

The Weather Turns Against Me, and The Egyptian Experience Begins A Day Late.

I just know this is going to make you laugh.

I drive to the airport on the first leg of my journey to Cairo via Athens.... In a snow storm following the tracks of the car in front through slushy snow and water... 

Yes a snow storm on Crete. You see we do have a winter.
There are no flights going from Heraklion because the incoming flights coming from Athens have been delayed by snow in Athens. Eventually two aircraft arrive, the 8am flight leaves 4 hours late, mine doesn't go anywhere because there is a problem with the aircraft as well as the snow. No problem as I had a four hour wait in Athens, three hours later it is clear that I will not be in Athens in time to get my onward flight. No problem they say, we will put you on the night flight from Athens to Istanbul, a good one hour flying time in the wrong direction, and from there you can pick a flight to Cairo and you will only be 12 hours late. No thanks.



So I am spending the first night of my hols in Athens, and then onward to Istanbul and then Cairo the following afternoon, except that at 7.30am they decide that the flight from Athens to Istanbul has been cancelled due to snow at Istanbul airport. Finally I am put on the direct flight from Athens to Cairo to get me there a day late.

Which is well and good, but I have a hotel booked, and I have an airport transfer booked, fortunately the transfer company got the message in time to re-arrange the transfer, but I have lost the hotel booking because it is not refundable. 

(Notice there that I said I had booked an airport transfer? I almost always do that unless it is somewhere that I know. It just saves all the hassle of getting taxis, airport buses etc. after a day travelling, and in this case the transfer rep even meets you before you go through immigration and carries your bags. The Egyptians are wonderful).

And at the airport is where your Egyptian Experience begins...

The first job is to get an Entry Visa and you can buy this from any of the banks/exchange booths when you change some money into Egyptian Pounds (EL for short), and whatever you read on web sites to the contrary you are going to need cash to buy bottles of water, cups of coffee, and above all to pay tips to everyone that does something for you, and that includes the toilet attendant who gives you a bit of toilet roll to dry your hands on. 

And you might well need it for ''baksheesh'' which in a way is a bribe, for instance I managed to get photos of the inside of Abu Simbel for the small ''consideration'' of 5 EL (about 25 pence in English money).

You might also read of beggars and children approaching you for money as well, although this is not as common as some web sites would have you believe, if you are approached then do remember that giving alms is one one of the tenets of Islam. More often the asker will actually be offering you something, a pack of tissues is not uncommon with children for instance. It is up to you whether you actually take them or not! This type of baksheesh is quite rare in my experience.

The biggest problem you will have here is having any coins to give! You just don't see them that much although they do exist, even 1 EL coins and notes are a rarity and you have to be really insistence with shop keepers (who want the odd 5 EL from you so that they can give you large notes for your change), that you do not have any small notes!

Tour guides always seem to have quite a stock of coins which is a very good reason to take guided tours and you will often see them give odd coins to security guards at archaeological sites for no apparent reason.

Having got your visa sticker and stuck it in your passport, you will then pass through immigration where they stamp it and take the boarding card you filled out on the aircraft and then it's time to get your baggage.

After that you get your passport inspected once again as you leave baggage reclaim and you are out in the big wide world where you will be mobbed by taxi drivers and their helpers (who will want a tip for carrying your bags).

Welcome to Egypt!

On the way from Cairo airport into the city you will realise why you do not want to rent a car, if there are supposed to be two lanes on the highway, the Egyptians will make three, if there are three lanes they will make four. Indeed in many places there are no road markings at all and you need a pretty strong stomach to sit in the front passenger seat of a car!

Surprisingly there seems to be very few accidents although a lot of cars seem to have rounded corners!

On your way you will get your first sight of security measures as there are frequently check points manned by army and police, both armed, and that ''sentry box'' that looks empty probably isn't because there is the barrel of a machine gun sticking out of the window. Sometimes the inspection is cursory, sometimes the boot is opened and they will check who is in the car.

And when you arrive in your hotel you get the second sight... Every hotel has an X Ray machine and the good old metal detector arch just like in the airport.

My hotel receptionist is delighted to see me and finds it very amusing that 
I am a day late due to bad weather..... I ask about a refund for the first night as it was not my fault. ''No'' is the answer, ''but I have upgraded your room to a Nile view suite''! And quite right too, after all it is a Novotel, and they are part of Accor and they own Raffles in Singapore where I have stayed twice and paid a fortune for the pleasure!

Early night called for after something to eat, and my tour guide for tomorrow has sent me an SMS to say he will be picking me up at 6.30am. Well actually he won't because I am on holiday and I tell him that it is going to be 8.30am and no earlier, but when I get downstairs for breakfast he is already there so I take him for breakfast.... And the Egyptians certainly know about breakfast, a buffet with virtually everything you could want (except bacon of course, but then they do do that wonderful smoked beef), and while we are at it we discuss the day's plan.....

And we are not doing that either because there is not time for coffee anywhere in the schedule.

Adjustments will need to be made!

Cairo to Saqqara and back again.

Would you believe I am quite excited by all this?

Well I am! Something about the very name ''Cairo'' is doing it. Somehow the remote and mysterious East is stirring within me.... And at my age that doesn't happen as often as I would like. There is almost something romantic about it all.....

We have ahead of us 4 days of concentrated history ahead of us, and what I don't want is archaeological (and cultural) overload which is why I discussed the itinerary with my guide, (who is called Jesus by the way), and anyway it makes less work for him!

Driving out of Cairo in daylight is a bit of a surprise, I think I am being taken by the prettiest route though, but what is surprising is the large number of unfinished apartment blocks. I live in Greece and we have a fair number of those

but nothing like the ones I am seeing here. They are vast condominiums, not just a block of half a dozen. And many of them are dull drab khaki colour, but that of course is just the colour of Egyptian concrete, in Greece it is darkish grey. Some are just skeletons while others are partially completed, and even partly occupied. 

Getting out of Cairo is surprisingly quick and we are heading for Dahshur and my first taste of a pyramid in the flesh!

For many I guess that leaving Cairo for the country would be a bit of a culture shock, but this is the Egypt where donkeys are still an everyday mode of transport, and many buildings are a bit dilapidated to say the least, and there is a lot of dust, and a fair amount of rubbish blown into corners, and the infrastructure is variable to say the least, the roads are rough and there are speed humps every so often, (which means the drivers race a break neck speed from one hump to the next and brake heavily when they get there.

Most of the roads follow canals that bring water for irrigation from the Nile quite some distance away, the banks of the canals are obviously a good place for dumping rubbish...... You certainly would not want to go for a swim in them.....

And there are date palms!

Dahshur reached we have a bit of a problem getting past the security guard and the policeman at the gate. In spite of the fact that we already have tickets money changes hands but my guide remains unfazed by it all!

Of course the first visit is to one of the most famous pyramids, The Bent Pyramid

of Sneferu about 4,600 years ago, one of the first attempts at a true pyramid it, still has its outer casing of limestone nearly intact. According to my guide there are various reasons why the outer casings on all other pyramids have disappeared, it seems some say erosion removed it, by my guide follows the theory that the outer skins were removed on purpose to be used elsewhere!

Nobody was around at the time who can actually tell us....

Here also we find the Red Pyramid, which is made from red limestone, hence the name. It didn't look red to me which is why I asked, ''Why do they call it the Red Pyramid?'' Doh......

Built be Sneferu again it was the second bash at getting it right. If you are into a bit of engineering then you will appreciate the technology behind the construction, and how difficult it must have been for the ancient Egyptians to actually build these things. Which is why they had a few attempts and a couple of disasters before they got it right. Indeed building pyramids became something of a family hobby after this because his son, Khufu, built, or rather commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Tim's Tip of The Day. If you want to see pyramids then you have to go to Cairo because that is where they mostly are...... 

Dahshur is quite a spread out site and there are other things to see if you have the time and inclination, there is a fair amount of walking over not very good terrain so if you are not a ''walker'' you might find that you get

tired quickly, and that goes for nearly all Egyptian archaeological sites.

But we are off to Saqqara, probably best known for the Step Pyramid, one of the first attempts at a true pyramid.... Unfortunately it was surrounded by scaffolding when we got there, which was a bit disappointing, but there is lots more to see, and some great opportunities for photographs once you have fought your way past the row of stalls selling some unbelievably tacky souvenirs.... (It's a common problem in any country so we will not single out Egypt as the worst case, I think Peru is the worst!).

My guide, and at this point I should say that I was his only tourist that day, has found somebody who is interested in what he has to say, and actually asks some astute questions, (well astute for me anyway), and is waxing lyrical about Old Kingdoms, Middle Kingdoms, First Dynasty, Third Dynasty, Fifth Dynasty.......... Indeed, even the not so humble average Nile boatman knows all about this stuff. You think his only talent is shinning up a felucca mast to take down the sails, well beware because if you start him off with an idle question you will get a potted history of Egypt. And hats off to them I say, they are proud of their history and have every right to be.

Saqqara is a big site, apart from Djoser's Step Pyramid there are another 15, (or was it 16?), pyramids built by various kings of Egypt, plus a vast amount of other nobles' tombs. Well every court has its ''hangers on'', I have a few myself. 

There is a bit of graffiti in one of the building too, you have to take a picture of it even though you do not know what it says. Strangely my guide seems a little disinclined to tell me. 

There is also a tomb that you can go down to and for many visitors if they are starting their tour in Cairo then this will be their first Egyptian tomb.... The way in and out is easy enough but if yu are a bit claustrophobic you might have a problem! (The Valley of The Kings is easier).

We missed lunch! So it is back to Cairo and something to eat. My guide is a bit surprised when I ask him to eat with me, but I am a sole traveller. 

Back in the hotel I collect my thoughts and go through my dozens of photos taken that day.

Tomorrow is a big day......

Cairo, The Egyptian Museum, The Pyramids at Giza, and I Take A Camel Ride....

The Pyramids at Giza has got to be one of the highlights of Egypt. Is there anybody in the World who has not seen a picture of them??

Just for a change I am up early because this is gong to be a busy day......

My hotel is not far from the Egyptian Museum so when Jesus comes to collect me we are going there first. He already has the entry tickets but I want to take my camera in with me so I have to pay a bit extra.

The Egyptian Museum is not huge by European standards, and by those standards it is not the ''best'' museum either. Indeed it all seems a bit haphazard and not very well kept. Everybody apologises for it and says it will be so much better when they open the New Museum ''next year''. But this is Egypt and things

do seem to be a bit haphazard at the best of times so it does not come as a surprise. It has, nonetheless, some of the prime exhibits of Egyptian artifacts of any museum in the world, (except perhaps for The Louvre where a lot of Egyptian things seem to be housed). We walk around and I take photos, some of it is a bit gruesome as a do not really want to walk around a room full of mummified bodies. Persons of a nervous dispostition take note. But what did surprise me was the fact that they mummified animals as well. A favourite dog or cat to take with you into the afterlife perhaps, but a sheep or a goat?? What's going on there then??

And then finally we get to the Tutankhamen display, so many glass cabinets, and a small army of women armed with a bottle of Windex and a yellow duster, except that the dust is on the inside of the glass not the outside, but somehow it does not detract from what you are looking at. Up to this point my guide stays with me, and then we get to the holy of holies, the room where you are not allowed to take photos, and guides are not allowed because they take up to much space and make too much noise although he gives me some advice on the layout before I go in, except there is something I have not told him yet.

Inside THE room we find King Tut's sarcophagus,

various bits of jewellery, and the ultimate piece, that death mask of solid gold although the Japanese couple taking selfies with a mobile phone rather detracts from the atmosphere, and the security guard is having problem with them because they do not speak English, (I bet they do), and they do not understand the sign with a large picture of a camera and a mobile phone with red lines through them.... 

But I am here in Egypt looking at King Tut's death mask in its rightful place... 

In Egypt.

Absolutely choked. I am having a moment. The last time I felt like this was walking into St Peter's in Rome, where I had to have a tall Italian to hold me up.

I leave the room after a few minutes in deep thought, my guide meets me and starts to speak to me , and then asks if I am OK.

''No. I am fine but I want to go now....''

Sitting outside in the sun while we wait for the driver he asks me again what I thought of it all. Blase as ever, I reply ''Well I have seen it before but somehow it is completely different seeing it here, in Egypt''

''You have seen it before?''

''Yes. In London in 1972. I queued for hours.... But this is his home''

Lunchtime... And we go to a restaurant that has a view of The Sphinx. Not many restaurants can boast that. Somewhat surprised as I think the only pictures I have seen of The Sphinx it is miles from anywhere. But of course like any city Giza has grown and now borders right on to the Pyramids and Sphinx.

But first the Pyramids which are way over the other side of the hill..... You can see as many pictures as you like of something but seeing the real thing is completely different because you never quite get the scale of things right.

And the Great Pyramid of Khufu, (it is the Greeks that called him Cheops), is indeed awe inspiring, and truly deserves its place as one of the 7 Wonders of The Ancient World, indeed it is the only

one left virtually complete!

Which says quite a lot about the builders!

I just know I am going to get the statistics any moment now.... As Jesus starts I complete the sentence..... ''built by Khufu who was the second Pharoah of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom''.

Silence.... Then

''You have been doing some reading have you?''

''Yes''...... ''And earlier we saw the only statue of him in the museum.''

The subject of slavery rears its ugly head. Hollywood would have us believe that everything in Egypt was built by slaves, probably with Charleton Heston leading them, but current thinking is that they did not use ''slaves'' in the way that we use the term. Indeed fairly recent research concludes that the workforce building the Great Pyramid were well treated and were probably peasants who were unable to farm their land during the Nile flood periods. Wherever they came from they had their work cut out building the Great Pyramid.

We can but marvel at man's ingenuity.

Of course there are other pyramids at Giza and although we get time to look at them we have a timetable which includes a camel ride....

Tim's Tip of The Day... Never, under any circumstances, try riding a camel...

But you are going to do it anyway so why am I wasting my breath?

It is possibly the most uncomfortable and nerve wracking experience known to mankind, unless of course you are Arab in which case it is second nature to walking, and why walk when you have a camel?

It is nothing like riding a horse, or even a donkey, and they can be a bit uncooperative at times. But on the plus side the camel will kneel down to let you mount it. And the best way that I can describe the ''ride'' is that it is a bit like a bicycle where the spokes have been adjusted so that the wheels are oval instead of round, except that the ''ovality'' seems to vary at random.

All the time you're expecting to get used to the motion but it doesn't happen. The sole saving grace is that the camel driver has the most stunning eyes, which is the only bit of him that you can see because he is wearing the full ''Lawrence'' costume.

Returning to base after an interminable 30 minute trek around the Pyramids, Jesus is waiting for me. And he is smiling, but I am about to get my own back because as he approaches the camel which is sitting down to let me get off, the camel sticks its nose straight into his crotch. While we are trying to get a ''group photo'' the camel is constantly fascinated by him and his crotch. Jesus maintains that it's because he sometimes has food in his ''fanny bag''.

When I start to say ''Well it is quite a good looking camel'' Jesus replies, ''Do not do any camel jokes.''

See, I told you they had a sense of humour.

The last event for the daylight hours is, of course, the Sphinx, and the ultimate photo call that you only do once in a lifetime.

The Sphinx is a mystery. It is carved directly out of of the bedrock, (which was also used to build the Pyramids), but some of it is now made from blocks of stone to replace the parts that have been eroded away, you can make up your own story if you wish.

The buildings nearby are fascinating, the interlocking of the blocks of stone is incredible if you look closely enough.

Time for a trip back to the hotel and a wash and brush up before the evenings activities. No piece for the wicked when you are in Egypt!

On the schedule for the evening is a felucca ride on the Nile followed by an evening of entertainment on a cruise boat that doesn't go anywhere with ''a show''.

Cairo in January is not the warmest place in the world, especially at night, and there is no way I am going sailing in the dark even though the lights of Cairo look very nice from my upgraded Nile view suite at the Novotel El Borg with the heating on.

Jesus knows this so he is taking me from my hotel direct to the ''cabaret'' show, which will be a novelty in as much as they serve alcohol on the boat (that doesn't go anywhere).

The entertainment is a ''whirling dervish'' and a belly dancer..... I ask Jesus to join me for dinner, (he gets his free anyway but usually eats apart from his guests, but as I point out, I am a sole traveller), it was a good move on my part because he is now thawing out a bit.

I will not say too much about the cabaret except that the belly dancer is, apparently, world class, and comes from the USA... The whirling dervish is, well, a whirling dervish.... It is impressive in its own way, and of course very energetic..... But if, during your visit to Egypt, you manage to miss either show then I wouldn't worry to much!!


A final note on The Pyramids and The Sphinx..... 

There is a ''sound and light show'' (used to be called Son et Lumiere when I was a boy, but it seems nobody can speak French anymore), done in front of the Sphinx. It is worth attending even if it a bit fanciful at times, the commentary is excellent and there is some excellent music played through a very good sound system. Somebody did make the comment that it made it look like Las Vegas, and in a way it did, but my dream would be to see Aida staged at the Pyramids. It has been done once but is unlikely to ever be done again!

And there's me on that bloody camel again, in the middle of nowhere expecting any minute that Omar Sharif will arrive to rescue me from the clutches of white slave traders........

Coptic Cairo, The Souk, and The Citadel of Saladin

I think on reflection that a day off between what has gone before, and this day's sightseeing would have been a good idea..... Coptic Cairo is around about the original Cairo before the Nile moved west. The architecture here is a bit of a hotch potch as it was influenced by the Romans, Greeks, Ottomans.... You name it, and there are more Christian churches than you can poke a stick at, and a fair number of mosques as well. The churches date back to when Egypt was a majority Christian country.

I am going to let the pictures do the talking here..... 

There are some interesting doorways, I like door ways because I always want to know what is on the other side of them... Possibly the most notable of the churches are The Hanging Church which is not hanging as much as it used, The Church of St. George, and a visit to Ben Ezra Synagogue is also a must... Nearby is the original ''Old Bazaar in Cairo'', and also The Citadel of Saladin who always seemed to be in TV programmes and films about the Crusades.

This is a busy day and you are going to need a good strong cup of coffee....


There are a fair amount of Roman ruins around as well which are worth a picture or two.

And I must be honest trying to do this amount in a day is difficult, depending on your level of interest I would say that two days might just about be enough, particularly if you wanted to visit a couple of the other mosques.

Sorry to say, but I would have liked to spend more time digging around in the souk and a bit less time in the churches, but there you go. 

There is also a Coptic Museum which I found out afterwards is also well worth a visit!!

 I mentioned somewhere that there is a certain amount of dust and rubbish floating around, here is a typical side street in Cairo......

But finally we get to the souk and even the cats are having mid morning coffee...

And I get to go to  just about the oldest cafe in Cairo, El Fishawy has been in business for 200 years, much frequented by famous people such as King Farouk and Roger Moore. The coffee is of course Turkish coffee, and throughout Egypt they call it that. A hangover from the Ottoman Rulers no doubt. (In Greece we call exactly the same thing Greek coffee)

The souk is a busy place with lots of things going on, and some interesting architecture to boot. During our coffee break there is a ''brochure'' sitting on the table detailing a new property development somewhere on the outskirts of Cairo, I forget the actual name of it, but thought it was a bit of an odd name considering the surrounding area is desert, but I ask Jesus about the vast unfinished complexes I have seen. It seems that many of them are developments by families, each member of which has a share in it, the number of shares depending on how much money they have put it into it. So one person may own more than one apartment in the building, and might complete their part of it before anybody else, which is why you see one finished apartment on the 10th floor when nothing else is finished. It seems there is also a tax reason as nobody pays tax until the who;e lot is finished but as usual the government is being mean about it and now passes laws to make people pay the tax before it is finished! Much like Greece except that I mention the legality of buildings, many of which in Greece are still not legal. The difference here is that the government insist they are pulled down and cannot be rebuilt. Now there's a good idea.

We take a wander around the souk and I find some interesting things to take pictures of..... 

While my guide is getting a bit tetchy because we are running behind schedule, and there is me thinking I have got him trained!!

But we are off to the Citadel, which if nothing else, gives some fine, although slightly smoggy, views across Cairo. 

In the surrounding grounds of the Citadel the are some fine examples of Egyptian topiary which they seem to be very fond of, I am not sure where this originates but I am guessing they inherited it from the Ottomans...

The mosque is an imposing edifice, and well worth a look inside. There are a lot of mosques, nearly as many mosques in Egypt as there are churches in Greece, and the are still building more, the sound of the call to prayer in the evening is quite haunting, especially when you are hearing it from severl directions at once.

The photo outside the mosque makes me look fat........ A couple of months after this photo was taken I was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, initially they thought it might be a pulmonary infection but it wasn't, however it put paid to any flying for twelve months....

Tomorrow is a day off from sightseeing...... And I bid farewell to my guide for the last four days with the promise that I will give him a good review on TA and a handsome tip for him and the driver.....