Walk Like an Egyptian

This post is long overdue - we're writing it in Prague in late April.
March 2010
So, I'll be honest here. We're starting to get a bit exhausted from traveling. Don't get me wrong - we're still loving every minute, but the thought of going to another highly visited touristic place makes us a bit tired just thinking about it. I've heard people talk about getting "templed out" on long RTW trips, and thought it sounded bratty - but now, I kind of understand the feeling.
BUT - one place still gave me that giddy "all night the night before like a kid waiting to visit Disney World" feeling - the Egyptian pyramids! So, like any other super busy tourist site, we researched how to get there before all everyone else arrives. We find it rewarding to "beat the masses" and challenge ourselves to find our own way (public buses, taxis, walking) to the sites before the loads of tour buses pull into the parking lot. I think we just find it fun to add sort of an "adventure race" spin to traveling - and we're usually rewarded by having the place to ourselves for a while.

Much to our dismay, we didn't actually find too much information on how best to see the pyramids at sunrise - which is what we planned to do. According to the "LP" (the Egypt Lonely Planet Guide Book), we found that there are a few restaurants you can visit to see the sunrise before the main gate opens at 8:30am. We hired a driver for the day named Jacob, who was recommended to us by our new friend Julie we met via couchsurfing (we'll explain that site better in a future blog). We arrived to the pyramid opening gate at 6am, only to be hounded by a person trying to sell us a super expensive camel ride with a camel that looked like he needed food. We declined and found the restaurant that the LP recommended - only to discover it was in a 5 star hotel and had a less than ideal view. Bah.

We sat there with our 25 Egyptian pound ($5) coffee and tried to figure out what the heck to do next. Our driver who called up a camel stable that a past client had enjoyed. We agreed over the phone to a fair price of 200 Egyptian pounds ($40) each for a 2.5 hour private tour. However, the price seemed to go up quite a bit once we were there. After negotiations we settled on $150 for the tour, which included both entry fees to the pyramid sites, the panorama desert, the Sphinx and our private English speaking guide. We felt like we were getting a bit reamed, but the morning was quickly getting away from us and we wanted to get moving.
The tour was well worth the money. The pyramids were gorgeous. Riding a camel was just as amazing as experiencing the pyramids.
My camel had quite a bit of gas, which Jim noticed more than I did because he rode behind me. Both of our camels made lots of gastric noises, which our tour guide called "Egyptian music."
The Sphinx is carved out of one single stone and therefore is smaller than we imagined it. But, something else looked a bit "off" to us. We then learned the beard has been removed and taken to the British Museum in London. Why couldn't they just leave the poor Sphinx alone?

Jim and the Sphinx without their beards.

The only buzzkill of the trip was the last 10 minutes on the way back to the stable. The manager had said there would be no mention of money during the tour. But, our guide asked us to "give him a tip from the heart." Doesn't that sound like an test of how good of a person you are? Since we already paid the guide $50 for his services, Jim gave him $10 and asked if that was what he was expecting (for reference, our driver cost about $30 for 10 hours). He replied that most people gave at least double that, and sometimes more. The guide said - "no problem, you give what's in your heart and I am happy." He didn't look happy to me. This is quite a good sales/guilt tactic, but made Jim a bit mad.

After we visited the Giza pyramids, Jacob took us to Saqqara, which had some amazing tombs filled with hieroglyphics and beautiful paintings. Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos inside.
We finished the day at Dashur - which had the oldest known pyramid ever built. The tomb here was insane. We had to walk down a LONG slanting staircase which couldn't have been taller than 3.5 feet. If walking down a tomb isn't scary enough for you, try scampering down bent over!

Jim and our driver Jacob

The day well exceeded our expectations. Some advice I would give travelers who want to see the pyramids without the crowds - line up a camel or horse tour with a reputable company before hand. And if you're looking for an awesome driver - send me an email or leave a comment. Jacob was fabulous - he watched out for us, brought us pita and beer and kept us laughing.