The trip to see the pyramids was wrought with excitement, drama, and even a little bribery.
As with any other tourist attraction in an oft-visited country, the pyramids and the area surrounding them have a daily closing time. We arrived juuuuust in the nick of time, but the guard at the entrance was a rather haughty bloke. Luckily for the group, our wonderful, local tour guide, Hani, was able to negotiate and provide a little bit of *ahem* monetary compensation for the man so that we could at least get one panoramic picture. "You didn't see anything," he said with a smile. Righto ;)
When we finally got to the prime picture-taking spot, we continued to be harassed by more guards yelling about the closing time (actually, I have no idea what they were yelling about because it was all in Arabic). It was a rather uncomfortable situation: being rushed out of the cramped van by our tour guide to take quick pictures; everyone scrambling over rocks and dust to get good views and Facebook profile-worthy pictures; our dinky little van in continuous motion nearby as our driver attempted to stay clear of the unhappy guards; Hani and the guards in an acerbic exchange in what sounded like a very terrifying language; and all this with the tawny desert sand and golden pyramids setting the background scene.
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| Worthy of a Facebook profile picture, I'd say. |
After making a mad dash back and diving back into the van (hardly an exaggeration, believe me), we headed down the road and saw....
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| a sphinx!! |
This part of the area apparently stayed open a bit longer, so there were no pestering guards to make us fear for our safety. (Although, there was an old guy that followed us around and was also yelling in angry Arabic. I think he was probably drunk.)
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| That's the effervescent Hani on the left :) |
After our lovely excursion to see some of the ancient wonders of the world, we headed back into town for some shopping and snacking in the crowded, noisy, convoluted, fragrant, frightening, amazingly beautiful Khan el-Khalili bazaar. There's really no suitable adjective to describe it. Even comparing it to a scene from "Aladdin" doesn't do justice to the intricacy and circus of the senses one experiences there.
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| Smoking shisha is a major part of Egyptian culture. These hookahs were beautiful! |
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| Gorgeous architecture. |
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| So lovely. |
Things I experienced in the bazaar:
-Encountering CRAZY vendors with no concept of a personal bubble or the word "no" (in any language).
-Eating the BEST FALAFEL IN THE WORLD. I'm not hatin' on Greeks or Persians, but man oh man, it was without a doubt the best I've ever tasted (and folks, I love me some falafel).
-Getting a henna tattoo.
-Visiting one of Hani's favorite mosques and appreciating the beautiful Islamic art and architecture.
After a glorious afternoon/evening discovering Cairo, it was sadly time for us to hop back in the van one last time and head to the airport. Once there, we bid adieu to Hani, thanking him and our driver with all our hearts for a wonderful day in a wonderful city.
On tired yet eager legs, we embarked on our journey to Thailand, trusty cameras and battle-scarred bags in tow.
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