Egypt 2

 

We are alive. After dining in our room on the leftover calamari pasta, tea sandwiches, and, for me, the rest of the pastries, we decided to take a chance and scoot across the road to walk along the Nile. The natives, young and old, do it. How hard could it be?

Hard. We chickened out, and with the help of a security guard, negotiated having one of the 3-wheeled little cars takes us there. Just to the u-turn place a half block down, then across to the other side. E£50, but with only 20s, I gave the driver E£60. All good we thought, except he wanted an additional $1 when he dropped us off. I’m not clear if it was just an attempt at extortion, or we screwed up. In any case, we refused and walked away. 

After paying $2 for tickets to go down the stairs to the waterside walkway, we strolled past empty restaurants, beckoned in at every one. Definitely not the high season in Cairo. Lots of Egyptian families with most of the women in long robes, often with scarves.

For E£100 (posted, so no negotiation, I think),we could have taken a 25 minute boat ride complete with loud music. Since the waterfront is just seawall, uninteresting to me. Others disagree because there more than 10 boats actively running.

Then it was time to get back to the hotel. Having been burned on the way over, I was determined to just walk back. I spotted a guy waiting by the road, but he was the driver of a horse carriage. No way could I have explained we just needed to cross the street.

So, standing next to parked cars (1 less lane to cross), we waited patiently, then made our move to the middle. Halfway! A sigh of relief, more patience, then another dash to the hotel pullout, dodging a taxi, and we made it. Never again.

This morning we bused to the Sakkara Plateau and the oldest stone building in the world, the Step Pyramid built for King Djoser. As we drove in, we passed burial sites dug into the rock. 

Then we stopped at a mastaba, an older-style underground burial chamber, where Grant and other intrepid walked down a ramp to an opening shorter than they to view an underground burial place. My claustrophobia kicked in before I got to the dark. I guess better than a panic attack inside. 

At the Step Pyramid, I see Heizer’s inspiration for City, and I appreciate even more his decision to restrict access. What a difference between the absolute quiet in Nevada, and the multitudes at Shakkara. On the other hand, elitism at its finest.

Back on the bus to the Nile Carpet School, where we watched carpets being knotted and loomed and had an opportunity to buy. I sort of liked a 4x6 one in silk, but could not justify the $7,000 price, even if we’d talked to the manager like the sales person Salomon suggested. I was distressed by the children working, but, according to Ehab, they go to school half days and work the other half. 

BBQ lunch at the Shakkara Palm Club, one of the many resorts we passed, complete with beautiful pool, in the agricultural area nearest Cairo. The date palms are just beginning to be harvested, as is the sugarcane. 

Our longest day so far, next we bused to the Citadel, formerly the home of the ruler of Egypt. Pride of place is the mosque of Mohammed Ali Pasha, 1769-1849.