Visiting Giza’s Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Museum of Cairo

My Mum and I flew Edinburgh to Cairo, via London with BA. On arrival in Cairo we had to get our visas, which was not very obvious… but we got them in the end.  My Dad had been in Egypt for a few weeks cycling from Cairo to Aswan, so he met us at the airport and we got a taxi to our accommodation, Arabian Nights Hotel.

Day one
We had a nice relaxing breakfast in the sun on the roof terrace of your hotel before getting a taxi to Giza which is located on the West Bank of the Nile, about 13 miles SouthWest of central Cairo.  We visited a papyrus factory where they showed us how its made, by taking strips of papyrus reed and laying them out in horizontal and vertical crosshatched layers to form a mat and then pounding it.  The paintings were so detailed and very colourful, I bought a painting of a tree of life with my name in hieroglyphics beside it.

We went on to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx, and took a camel ride out in to the dessert to get a good view back over Memphis, its Necropolis and the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur.  It was great fun on the camels, and very hot! It’s pretty tricky getting on the camel, especially staying on it when it gets up, I nearly fell off… It wasn’t a cheap trip on the camels, you have to be prepared to barter with them to get the best price, and be prepared to walk away for them to give you a cheaper price. We took a taxi back to the hotel, which was an adventure in itself, the traffic is mental, very busy and there doesn’t seem to be any rules or lanes on the road! Very glad we weren’t driving ourselves!

In the evening we headed to a nearby square beside the Al-Hussein Mosque, there were lots of restaurants to chose from for dinner.  The square also had lots of small narrow side streets going off it where we found lots of market stalls and shops!  The markets were great! But… you get harassed to buy for each of them… When we got back to our hotel, we found our street decorated with banners and fairy lights with traditional Egyptian music playing for a wedding ceremony which was happening.

Having spent the day in and around Cairo, it is hard not to notice how dirty a place it is, with piles of rubbish al over the place, the smog is also very noticeable, but given the number of cars on the road, it’s not surprising.  I’d also recommend to women travelling, ensure you have long sleeved tops and trousers or long skirts, there were very few women out in the evening.

Day two
We visited the Museum of Cairo which is a huge and fascinating museum, stacked full of ancient Egyptian artefacts, some of the rooms are just stacked high with tombs, statues and carved representations of historic figures.  It’s well worth a visit, if not only to see the contents of the tomb of King Tutankhamun, but there is so much else to see!  After the museum we took a walk along the Nile and had lunch on one of the boats moored on its banks.  Then it was back to the hotel to collect our bags and catch the overnight train to Aswan.