ur new guide, she is called Heba (she is pictured with Siobhan and mys
elf)She showed us what is left of the City of Memphis. Memphis was Cairos first capital and it has many remarkable treasures. We saw the Colossus of Ramses II which is so enormous it was left where it was found and the building was erected around it. We also saw the Sphinx of Queen Hatshepsut and many
more amazing artifacts.We were beckoned by the security guards and asked if they coul
d take our pictures. They are very corrupt and want money for doing it. I think we had about 4-5 around us and it was strange as they were more interested in us than any security problem that may arise. We took a couple of pics with them and gave them a tip. http://toureg
ypt.net/memphis.htm
King Zosars step pyramid
We then went to Saqqara where King Zosers step pyramid was built to "last until the end of time". This was the first of the pyramids we would see.
http://interoz.com/egypt/stepyram.htm
Heba then took us to a carpet school. This is a school for children to make carpets and also learning to read and write. They attend the scholls during their school holidays. They will take the craft in to adult hood and some young women will weave carpets at home to make money for their families. This is something the western world would never do but it is the Egyptian culture and the children seemed happy enough doing it. The carpets are beautiful. I bought a bag and a small carpet to hang on my wall. One of the little girls invited me to try to weave and showed me how to do it. I was useless without her help! It would take me around a month to do 1 line and she was whizzing along knowing exactly what colour to add to from the maze of wool in front of her. There are no machines, it is all done manually. Egyptian carpets are expensive but, after seeing how much work goes into it, it is worth every penny. This was so humbling and made me realise how lucky my family and I.
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/cairo_carpets.htm
Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx
We then went on
to the pyramids. It was hard to see them from Cairo inner city as the smog from the pollution is so thick. They should be on the sky line. We arrived at the base of to Pyramids and were in awe of them. 3 in a row and all so perfectly built. Siobhan, Richard, Seddon and I took the opportunity to enter one of them and we were taken back by how perfect the geometrics were. I found it a bit of a struggle to walk down ythen up a narrow ramp to the inner room but I did it and was glad I did. It was beautiful and we had on
ly seen a small part of it. No cameras were allowed so I do not have any photos of the inside but I do have one of me on a camel with the pyramids in the background.We then made our way to the Sphinx and was suprised to see that it was not as big as I expected it to be. We were harrassed by some sellers but most of them were very nice. The little girls I met gave me gifts of book marks which was very sweet as we had bought a little camel for Kieran. Just a quick note to put something to bed, THERE IS NO MACDONALDS BESIDE THE PYRAMIDS!!! It maybe close but it is not beside it, I did not see a McDonalds anywhere.
