Monday, November 23, 2009

PYRAMIDES AND CAIRO

I had seen everything which a tourist should see in Egypt during the 9 times I have been there, but I had never been to Cairo and I had never seen the Pyramides either. I won't bother you with history and dates if you are interested in knowing more about Cairo just look here in Wikipedia which does it much better than I.

I got a very good offer, for only 120 € (180 $) everything included a driver and a guide took us to Cairo and showed us around.

We left Hurghada at 2 am in this nice Van and arrived in Cairo at around 9 am and had a coffee in the last King of Egypt Farouk's palace, now a Hotel/Restaurant. (I wrote already about that here).

When the sun had raised we finally saw something ! We drove through the desert and along the sea, it was beautiful. That's why I didn't want to take a plane because then you go up for 30 min, go down, look at the pyramides and go back again. I wanted to see some landscape too.

after 500 km (310 miles) we saw the pyramides from far

and a mosque

Unfortunately there were also quite ugly modern buildings

a view from the Pyramides parking places over Cairo

cars, buses and taxis, we were lucky it was not too packed !

A guard

and another, I wished our policemen would also use camels

The entrance of the pyramide

there were so many people there, that we didn't want to line up and loose time. It was also too difficult to get into there with my friend Chantal and her crutches and our guide told us that there was anyhway not much to see.

We believed him and enjoyed the looks from outside

I don't know what I do to camels but as soon as they see me they lay down and roll around. It also happened to me in Morocco !

Finally we sat high up and we had a walk of one hour. Please note that I sat on Michael Jackson !

and then we left our camels and drove over to the Sphinx

Of course I had to be on the photo, to prove that I had really been there. I was a little disappointed I had imagined the Sphynx much taller.

Poor Sphynx had certainly had never seen such a lot of people from all around the world since it was excaved in 18 something, and it gets worse and worse each year.

and then we asked our guide to show us Cairo and let us drive around

We saw a public bus

and also the biggest mosque in Egypt

Vases all along the way

Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church also called The Hanging Church

The traffic was a nightmare ! There were red lights and stop signs but everybody seemed to by colorblind or blind !

Always friendly and very cheerful !

A horse and carriage, waiting for tourists

Alzar University

old and modern houses

we had a little coffee break at a gaz station

just some buildings, photos taken out of the car

another public transport bus

and unfortunately this too is Cairo.

At 4 pm we left and I tried to catch the sunset, but unfortunately we drove in the "wrong" direction, so all I got is this. It had been a wonderful day.

Our guide told us that whole Cairo together with the suburbs etc. counts 30 million inhabitants !

12 comments:

Loree said...

Oh I just had to giggle at the thought of Belgian police on top of a camel. The pyramids look stunning but somehow I didn't think there would be so many people around them.

Anonymous said...

How fun this trip was. The pictures are just truly amazing. I love those pyramids and of course the camels :) Thanks for sharing your wonderful time there...especially the part about the Russians :) LOL

diane b said...

Thank you very much for taking me on a tour of Cairo and to see the pyramids and I didn't have to put up with all the tourists.

Melli said...

I am always disappointed when I get to (finally) a famous landmark to find that there are a million other people with my same idea for that day! I would sO like to visit some of these places withOUT crowds... crowds really distract from the ambiance!

quilly said...

What a spectacular vacation! I so envy you this journey. Next year can I come, too?

Dr.John said...

What a great trip you took us on. I loved it all.
The pyramids somehow seemed smaller than I expected.

LadyFi said...

Great shots - you even managed to get blue skies... (I gather that the air pollution in Cairo is pretty bad).

Gracie said...

One thing I dream about so often is to be inside the Cheope pyramid....maybe one day...for now, thanks for sharing your photos.

Linnea said...

Thanks for the tour. You certainly saw a lot and took some great photos. You're so lucky to be living in Europe where you are so close to so many fabulous destinations. Out here in California we are so far from so many places. Enjoy the week.

Jo said...

Gattina, thanks for giving me the link on email and taking me on the tour of Cairo and the pyramids. I've heard how overrun all this is by tourists. I liked your sunset and the views of Cairo.

thomas said...

Will be there next month,hope it is not too crowded then.

William Kendall said...

Wonderful shots of an iconic place.

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I love writing, traveling and photography. . I am German, married to an Italian and we live in Waterloo (15 km from Brussels) / Belgium since many years. Waterloo is a famous place to many tourists, because Napoleon lost his battle here against Wellington and other European countries.

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