Day 2 - Archaeological Sites

Saqqara and Giza -

We woke up early (7) to take a bus to Saqqara and then to Giza.  Fortunately my body still has no idea what time it is, and after waking up at 1:30 in the morning and being incredibly alert, 7 seemed like I had just come out of a 5 hour nap.  Also, I've just decided that from here out my grammar and typing is going to be suspect so my apologies.

We first saw the museum at saqqara.  it was basically devoted to Imhotep, who designed King Djoser's step pyramid (the oldest of the pyramids).  Imhoteop actually had a variety of powers and functions, which made him seem almost more powerful than the king himself (except the kings tagline was something like "in charge of manifesting the god's will and creations to the people on earth...so get out of my way").  but inside this museum we found the oldest mummy, harpoon (which may have doubled as the oldest pole vault), arch, column, and frieze - which we didnt really know what that meant.  then we got back in the van and drove closer the the pyramid.  there we got kind of con-ed into ending up with a guide, though he showed us a couple of places we wouldn't have found.  like most people we've encountered here he expected a much bigger tip than we were willing or were supposed to give, but thats ok.

from there we went to Giza.  our driver dropped us off at a horse and camel station.  we took one horse and one camel to see the pyramids.  i started on the camel...let me tell you, when they say lean back as the camel stands up, you should lean back.  it was a pretty cool journey, you could see far off into the desert as well as over the city of cairo (but of course because its so big that only like 1/8th of it is visible).  at some point we switched and i rode the horse (forth eorlingas!) as we went down to view the sphinx.  our guide told us there are a variety of theories about what happened to the nose, imperialists, aliens, etc...but it was probably just the weather.  after we took a number of pictures (the cool thing to do seems to be taking a picture that makes it look like you're touching the top of a pyramid) we went back to the car. one other couple (not that pat and i are a couple...) had taken the van with us and it took them about an hour to end up back at the van after we had returned, but in the mean time we had some delicious chicken and bread.  everything seemed to have to be a secret though - we weren't supposed to tell the hotel our driver got us chicken, we weren't supposed to tell people we tipped the guide, and the young (11?) boy who walked the camel up to the pyramids and back needed to receive his tip before we got anywhere close to the stables.  it all probably cost more than it should have, but the ride was cheaper than a taxi and when else am i going to ride a camel, much less a horse.

once back at the hotel we napped for a while and then headed out for dinner around 8.  we ate at a restaurant named (...if i remember i'll add it in) and had lamb - which was amazing.  i really liked it at least. the side of rice was good as well; the rice here seems to use plenty of butter, which is fine by me.  after that we went to the bar named Horeya and observed the scene for about an hour and a half and then headed back to our hotel.

i'd like to thank Dr. Ringle for his class on archaeology - even though i was in it almost two years ago it helped give significant context to lots of the things i saw today.  it really is something to stand there next to the pyramids and have someone reiterate that they were built with no machines.  our guide told us that the pharaoh killed all of the servants who labored on the pyramids. i'm not sure i remember this being true, but if it is that was a lot of people...

our bar tonight appeared to be about half foreigners and half egyptians (el harriya).  it will be interesting to see how many people are there once ramadan begins.  also, meals here are on an interesting schedule.  our breakfast in our hotel is served from 7-10, lunch is around 3, and restaurants get crowded around 9 or 10.  which means that if you eat an early breakfast in order to leave the hotel at 8, you don't get to eat again for a while (thank you mom for packing granola bars).  people also stay out very late, though i've been jet-lagged and tired enough so far that i've slept soundly, although i did wake up at 1:30 last night completely alert.

tomorrow we're planning on spending most of the day at the egyptian museum.  also, the man we were suggested to contact about visiting sinai apparently has an office right next door to our hotel which is super convenient.  in a set of general notes, everyone smokes, including our 11 year old camel boy. and i dont know what the accepted drinking age is, but despite being two years over the legal limit, we didnt even come close to being questioned.  oh, we spent a little time at the papyrus museum after the pyramids, and had a demonstration of how it is made.  i ended up buying a small thing that has anubis on it.  i'm not even a dog person but for some reason the jackal caught my eye.

i suppose i could start uploading pictures here, though i think i may just do it to facebook instead? still not sure. but i hope this is enough information. also, im not going to proof read it...so my apologies if anything is grossly misspelled