An Unforgettable Summer: Great Giza

5/23/10
Location: Cairo, Egypt

We did so many exhilarating things today! It’s like I went paragliding, scuba diving, and rode an elephant all in one day because today was jam-packed of fun activities. We started out with a bus ride to Giza, just outside of Cairo. Giza, as you may know, is home to the Great Pyramids (Great Pyramid of Giza, Pyramid of Khafre, and Pyramid of Menkaure) and the Great Sphinx. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only remaining monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and is the most massive structure on Earth!

The Great Pyramid is the one we viewed first. “Great” is not an adequate term. “Gigantically great,” maybe, or “Immensely enormous” or “horribly huge” are more accurate. I’ve seen the Great Pyramid before in photos, as I’m assuming everyone reading this has, but until you are standing in its shadow and are absolutely dwarfed by just three blocks of the pyramid, you don’t realize how massive it truly is. Researchers estimate that over two million blocks were used to create the Great Pyramid, and the average weight is two and half TONS! It is absolutely, completely mind-blowing to me that an ancient civilization created something so colossal and perfect. The Great Pyramid is nearly a perfect square and almost exactly level, and while it is a bit shorter now due to the movement of the Earth’s place and erosion from wind and people, it was about 50 stories tall when it was first completed. One block is about as tall and long as I am and I’m about 5’4.” My mind was just racing when I was standing next to it and wondering how people thousands of years ago built something like this. Even today, I think we would need a crane or some piece of machinery to move one block, yet they somehow did it a couple thousand years before Christ. No one knows how they did it, as the theories all seem virtually implausible due to the size and weight of the blocks.

After viewing the Great Pyramid, we took the bus to a panoramic viewing point where you can clearly see all three of the pyramids. It’s one of the most breathtaking sights I’ve ever seen: three enormous pyramids rising from the golden sand and stretching endlessly in the clear blue sky. I took so many pictures at this viewing point. We took a few group photos here and six of us actually formed a pyramid in front of the pyramids, as you can see below. We’re pretty clever, I know.;)

After taking in all three pyramids at Giza at the panoramic viewing point, it was time to ride another animal. We were going to be riding camels to the Middle Pyramid, which is the one we had tickets to explore. When we first saw the camels, I was so excited. They were all sitting peacefully in the sand and equipped with a cushy saddle and experienced handlers, their large, dark eyes lazily scanning the scene like they were too cool for us giddy tourists. I got onto my camel by placing one foot in a side stirrup and swinging my other leg over. They were a lot wider than I realized. But that only are they wider, I discovered. Its handler motioned for it to rise and I went up and up and up! Camels are so tall! Their legs go on forever. As do their necks, I thought mine looked like Little Foot from The Land Before Time, so that is what I called mine since I forgot to ask what it’s true name was. Some of the camels in our group were the ones the Obamas rode when they were in Egypt! Although mine was not one of them, I still thought he did a good job. Like the elephant, it takes a little getting used to since your weight shifts with their steps, but it was so much fun. Sometimes, I got a little nervous when my camel made a noise or decided to check out the neighboring camel’s head with its mouth, but it never did anything drastic and it was a great joy ride out to the Middle Pyramid.

I was so ecstatic to actually go inside the pyramid and see the tunnel and tomb. I handed my ticket to the attendant and walked down the wooden plank ramp that lead to the entrance to the tunnel that travels about two football fields until the tomb. I was just about to descend into the tunnel when I froze. The tunnel was the size of a small hole, or about the bottom half of a house’s front door. You practically have to crawl to move through the tunnel, and to make matters worse, there are the returnees crawling next to you in the opposite directions. I looked and all I saw was cramped, hot, and a lack of oxygen. I am not normally very claustrophobic, but that tunnel was too much for me! I promptly turned around and waited outside while the others explored the Middle Pyramid. A couple other girls and Scott opted not to move through the narrow shaft of a tunnel too, so I didn’t feel so bad.

Then, we were done with the Great Pyramids at Giza. However, our day was far from over. Next, we went for lunch at another open garden restaurant in Giza called Andrea. We had slow roasted chicken, soft pita bread, vegetables, meatballs, and French fries. For dessert, we were all given a piece of pink juicy watermelon that was bigger than our plates! It was the perfect summer meal. We went souvenir shopping after that and I picked up a few things for family and friends, then we went to Golden Eagle Papyrus. Golden Eagle Papyrus is one of several places in the Cairo/Giza area that still makes paper from papyrus. They demonstrated how it is done for us. They showed us the papyrus plants, whose stems are triangular like the pyramids, and how to thinly slice the white, flexible fibers on the inside into strips. Next, they soak the strips in freshwater then assemble them in a criss-cross horizontal/vertical pattern on a mat. They flatten the mat with a pressing machine. Everything is done exactly like the Egyptians did, with the exception of the machine at the conclusion of the process. Golden Eagle Papyrus had floor to ceiling pieces of art on papyrus paper for purchase. Almost all the paintings depicted Egyptian life or Egyptian mythology and were all done by professional artists. They were very unique and lovely, but I couldn’t find one I really loved in my price range.

After the papyrus making, we went to the Monastery of St. Simon the Tanner. The monastery has seven churches/chapels hidden in the Mokattam hills in Cairo. The main cathedral is in an enormous cave of a towering stone mountain and contains dozens of life-size carvings of Jesus, such as the Nativity scene and the Crucifixion, by a Polish artist. The cathedral can accommodate about 5,000 people! Coptic Christians (they only make up about 5 percent of the population) in Egypt attend services here. At the base of the cave, there is a large projection screen and the altar, then there are pews in a semi-circle that reach upwards to the sun. It’s the most beautiful church I have ever seen in my life, and I would have loved to attend a service there. I can’t even describe it in words, so you can check out a couple of photos from it below and the rest of them after I finally have time to post them all on Facebook!

Next, we had our cruise on the Nile! We took the bus to our dock and then relaxed on our white and blue sailboat for about an hour. It was wonderful to lean back on the striped cushions of the boat and gaze into the water and look at Cairo’s stunning buildings after our long day of activities. I love going to the lake, and hearing the water lap against the boat and feeling the sun and wind on my hair brought back great memories of past summers.

After dinner, some of the girls and I went to McDonald’s for some American tasting French fries and/or ice cream then watched some YouTube videos when we got back to the hotel. We all recommended our favorites and laughed hysterically at ridiculous songs and cute kids, which prompted a couple checks by the elevator attendant to make sure everything was OK with us. Our group is comprised of wonderful people and I wouldn’t be having as good of a time as I am if it wasn’t for their kindness and humor. We’ve really gotten to know each other well as our trip is winding down through all of the time and experiences we’ve shared, and it’s been one of the best months of my life. I can’t wait to see everyone’s photos on our group account we plan to make on Flickr or Shutterfly and future reunions so we can reminisce about all the good, great, and amazing times we had.