Hi, Ash here again. I've just come back from climbing to the Monastery in Petra - a great walk and a very impressive place. However, I digress and speed ahead. Today I am going to kick back a bit, see if I can do a few blogs (catch up a bit) and more generally relax. We have two days here in Petra, Jordan.
On Sun 11th (nearly a fortnight ago) we started our Tour proper with Intrepid. We have been impressed with the Tour, their organization, emphasis on "being with the locals", tips on other things to do, flexibility in approach, etc.
On Sun. it was up early and off to the Giza pyramids. These were as amazing to see as we expected. It was great to see how, at one moment you are travelling through suburbs, the next the houses stop, the desert begins for as far as you can see, and there they are , the Great Pyramids. Some went down in the tomb but we gave it a miss as we knew that more spectacular ones were coming up when we visit the Valley of the Kings near Luxor.
A real highlight (especially for Janet, who was really taken by it) was the Sphinx guarding the pyramids. As everyone says, maybe smaller than you might imagine but still large and awesome in size and dimension.
After the pyramids it was off to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities - a fantastic museum full of all sorts of amazing things, you really could wander in there for days. We concentrated on King Tutankhamen's treasures from his tomb. Gold, jewels, precious stones, gold leafed, beds, chariots, etc, dripping with opulence jumped out at you. Also, the mummy room was fascinating, nine excellent examples of Pharoah mummies. Even better, we got in at Student discount prices with our Teacher's card.
Janet stayed on in the museum and I went back for a bit of a rest and some coffee at a place around the corner from the hotel. She came back by taxi. -------Speaking of which:
The taxis in Cairo would have to be the oldest, most beaten up contraptions you could find anywhere (I'm sure there are other cities in which they are worse but it would be hard to imagine). They have meters but none of them work and even if they did the drivers wouldn't use them anyway. I gave up attempting to put seat belts on as they never worked. Bald tyres were the rule and lights were never turned on at night (I suspect that none of them worked). Navigating our way through traffic reminded me of a dodgem car ride at the Show. The drivers are very skilled, centimetre perfect in their judgement, although we were "freaked" out on a couple of occasions.
Also, the drivers were often distracted by being too keen on peering at Janet in the rear view mirror as her larger body and blonde hair is certainly regarded as beautiful in the Middle East (more of that later - an offer of 100 camels for her is the maximum price so far) . All cars, old and new, have numerous scratches and dents all over them. Why get it fixed when another scratch will be there soon anyway? Negotiating prices was at first difficult, as we were tourists and therefore fair game, but also the traffic density (and hence time to destination ) could vary so much. Once we struck on the formula of 1 Egyptian Pound (25c Aussie) per minute, step out of the taxi, give him the amount with a confident Shukran (thankyou) and walk away, we were right. Certainly paid more than locals which I am more than willingly happy with but didn't pay outrageously either. Throw all these components in and travelling in the crazy, chaotic Cairo traffic in a taxi was an experience which we came to really enjoy and look forward to. It was always exciting and the drivers are so friendly (as are all of the amazing Egyptian people).
After this eventful day we were more than happy to make our way to the train Station and get onto our overnight sleeper to Aswan. More of Aswan and the amazing Abu Simbel in my next blog. Not sure what pics I've already posted but will post a few extra ones of our day at the pyramids. Hope all is well. Ash
