All good things must end

As must the family visit. It was busy, crazy, exciting and just plain good to see family. In the last few days between returning from Luxor and everyone heading home (via Milano – lucky dogs!) we packed in more sight-seeing and some relaxing.

The morning we got back from Luxor, Jack called Al Italia to fight with them about making me and mom go to the airport to get her damn bag. He got on the phone, and was ready to spit nails and tear someone a new orifice. The Al Italia agent burst his bubble – they said they would send a courier right over with the bag! So after only 8 of 12 days in Egypt, mom would get her bag back. AND it even arrived intact! We were sort of expecting that it would be shrink-wrapped back together, stuff missing, generally trashed. All was EXACTLY as it had been packed, a week + earlier!

The family spent a day “doing” the southern (earlier) pyramids near Cairo. The pyramids at Dahshur are from the 4th dynasty (~2600BC) whereas the Giza pyramids came about 100 + years later. We travelled with Lucy Jones’ recommended driver, Mr Said. He was the one to recommed that we go to Dahshur before Sakara (Saqqara, Sakkara). We took his advice and were incredibly impressed.

Dahshur has 3 main pyramids – Steve and I went into the Red Pyramid, we all walked around the Bent Pyramid, and we could see the Black Pyramid in the distance. The Red Pyramid was incredible. We climbed the outer stairs to get to the entrance, where mom (due to her knees) and Kenz (because she thought it looked scary) declined to enter. Steve and I went in anyway. The passage was LONG AND STEEP. Some of the footholds on the ramp were missing, leading to VERY long steps. The passage going down was only about 4 feet high. So we decended 63 meters into the belly of the pyramid. We are pretty sure that we were actually below ground level when we entered the first room. The air was manky, but the room was empty other than us, it had a “corbelled” ceiling – meaning that each block as it rose to the apex was stepped in about 6 inches (?) compared to the one below. The ceiling was an impressive 15 meters high! Both of us were really glad we went in, but by the time we reached the entrance again, our thighs were quivering and our backs were aching. We paid for that climb, in and out, for a few days afterwards!

From the Red Pyramid we went to the Bent Pyramid – so named because the angle of the lower portion is much greater than the angle of the upper portion (54 degrees compared to 43 degrees). We walked completely around this structure. We were about the only people at Dahshur on this morning. It was cool and windy, but fantastically quiet and peaceful.

From Dahshur we went on to Sakara. This is a HUGE area that was a burial ground for over 3500 years. Its most famous structure is the Step Pyramid of Zoser (~2650BC). We spent a long time wandering around the pyramid, its grounds, the funerary complex. It is impressive how much effort, art and importance was focused on death and the afterlife! We explored the Mastaba of Ti – a private tomb of a very rich man (Ti) from the 5th dynasty (~2300BC). It was huge, labrynthine and intricately decorated with reliefs of daily life. Lastly at Sakara, we got mom and Kenz into a pyramid – the pyramid of Teti (~2300BC). From the outside this just looks like a pile of sand, but the short entrance leads to a well carved burial chamber with a basalt sarcophagus! The inner and outer rims of the sarcophagus were intricately inscribed with hieroglyphs.

As so often happens when out exploring, by the time we decided we needed a break and some lunch it was after 2pm. I had figured we’d be back in Zamalek by 3pm! Jack still laughs at my sense of time (or lack thereof). We left Sakara, grinning and awash with information and sand, and headed to Andrea’s, a highly recommended restaurant on the Giza-Sakara road. We ate well – roasted chickens, baba ghanoush, vine leaves, tahina, marinated eggplant, and the most exquisite fresh-out-of-the-clay-oven hot bread!

We had one last stop before heading to Zamalek – the Wissa Wassef art center and school. This is a weaving, pottery and batik center that trains and employs local artisans. I had heard about it, but the reality far exceeded the talk! We spent a good deal of time looking at batiks and weavings. We ALL bought some batik for our respective households. I found a rug that I would LOVE for a mere LE20,000! That’s about $3500. I don’t think I’ll be buying that any time soon – but if I had that kind of disposable income, that rug would be MINE!

Our last tourista adventure in Cairo involved going to the Ibn Toulun mosque. I’ve written about the mosque before, when Jack and I visited on a Faculty Services tour. The mosque was built between 876 and 879AD and now sits in the middle of the city. In the photos, all us girls are covering our hair (not absolutely necessary in this particular mosque for foreigners (and never for children) but still showing respect for Muslim custom) and our street shoes are covered. I think this is one of the most impressive mosques in Cairo!

Thus closes the adventures of the “Family Visit”. It was marvelous (especially for me, as Jack has less stamina for people and needs more “alone time”) to have everyone around and together – IN CAIRO! I got to show off “my new home town” and also see it thru the eyes of others. The worst part was getting up at 2am to get a taxi to take the family to the airport! Jack and I went back to bed after they left, and spent the next 2 days getting used to it only being the two of us in the apartment!

Various pictures from the southern pyramids and Ibn Toulun can be seen HERE.