Last day and we are all in the hotel reception. Everyone’s luggage is packed. I have paid the bill. We are waiting on our guide and the minibus. We are starting the day at Egypt’s most iconic structures, the Giza Plateau. But before we get there we are stopping for an Egyptian breakfast at a local café.
We are ushered upstairs as the owner thinks we will be put off by the heavy smell of cigarettes. Breakfast is a proper Turkish coffee and Aish Baladi bread stuffed with falafel, or with mashed potato. You have no idea how delicious this is. Another definite stop on next year’s tours.
Eventually we arrived at the Grand Gate, the new entrance to the Giza Plateau. I queued and got the extra tickets for those going inside the Great Pyramid and then we made our way through the turnstiles and out onto the old observation point with its panoramic viewpoint.
There is a low wall around this quite substantial area, over which the hawkers and trinket sellers are not allowed. If you, as a tourist, elect to go over you are at their mercy. You only have yourself to blame.
We boarded one of the shuttle buses and headed for the Khafre pyramid. I get the idea, but am not sure if is really working to the benefit of the tourists and guides. Small groups like ours cannot help but get split up, and so there is suddenly a disunity with the group. I think the balance between buses and guides with groups in minibuses needs rethinking.
We arrived safely at the Khafre bus stop and piled off. Our guide all the while giving us a running commentary on what was in front of us. You have to stand next to these monstrous edifices to have any real idea of just how big they truly are. No Instagram pic, YouTube video or TV documentary can convey that to you. These should be on everyone’s bucket-list.
Next on the list after a reasonably short walk, was the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khufu. Originally 146 metres tall, it was called Akhet Khufu meaning the Horizon of Khufu, possibly because the sun passes below the horizon so spectacularly behind it. The two Horizons, i.e. the rising (birth) and setting (death)points of the sun were hugely important in Egyptian religious contexts. So, Khufu’s Horizon or tomb was the same as that of the sun, Ra.
Most of the team were keen to go in, so I accompanied them up the stone side to the present entrance and left them to their adventure. Eventually they all returned quite proud of themselves, and rightly so. I had to laugh as they joyfully related a story of passing other people on their way out who had commented on how difficult it was, not knowing they were talking to conquerors of the Faulty (Bent) Pyramid.
Our next place of significance was the “Father of Fear”, the Arab name for the Great Sphinx. It was packed in here and things moved fairly slowly, giving all of us a chance to marvel at the incredible stonework that is a hallmark of the Valley Temple. Eventually we got within camera-shot of the face of the Sphinx, amidst much jostling from would-be influencers and fashionistas – yes, they were everywhere this trip. We moved toward the back of the Sphinx talking about the theories relating to the age of the Sphinx, and whether (pun intended) the erosion of the walls surrounding the body was from the wind or much older water erosion. Always an interesting discussion.
Time for lunch. We made our way back and went in search of our minibus which was a couple of streets away and found ourselves in a traffic jam of buses, cars and donkey carts all trying to go in different directions. A lot of this was due to the massive influx of people from the music event of the night before. Lunch was at a Syrian restaurant whose speciality was a deboned chicken with all sorts of vegetables and starches based on a popular Syrian street dish. Fantastic food, and even the big eaters were stumped by the sheer volume of food.
Our final visit for this tour was to the Grande Dame of Egyptology; the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square. One of the largest museums in the world, and the first national museum in the Middle East, the Egyptian Museum has been undergoing restoration and upgrading for quite some time now. The last time I was here the garden was all boarded up and you couldn’t see anything, although it does look a bit empty at the moment.
We began, as always, with the Rosetta Stone, or should I say the replica. Next, naturally, is the Narmer Palette. It was very busy, and it was not always easy to get to some of the more interesting pieces. The numbers also made it quite slow getting around. Our guide found it most amusing to show us an obvious family member. Very funny and quite striking. The Yuya and Thuyu collection is looking superb. Sadly most of the remaining pieces in the Tutankhamun gallery had already been removed for their relocation in the GEM. At least the mask was still there, along with some other reasonably large pieces. The museum staff were hurrying people out by now and it was impossible to get back towards the entrance. Several of the group still wanted to get souvenirs from the gift shop, so we made our way to the exit. Maybe we had all got to the “museumed out” stage. All good things must come to an end.
Several members of the team were staying on a day or two extra in Cairo, so we started the drop-off run, leaving them at their chosen hotels. The last of us returned to the hotel we had started at, with its magnificent rooftop, for one last supper together.
It’s always awkward saying goodbye to people that you have been so close to for a period of time. We have lived in each other’s pockets, shared ups and downs, visited spectacular places that many people can only dream of, and, perhaps more importantly, bonded in some way.
Roll on next year when I get to do it all again.
