Day two with Grandma and Auntie was very exciting, fun and entertaining.
We started the day by walking past the Great Pyramid. Always magnificent. Especially for people who see it for the first time.
While Auntie and Grandma gazed an the beauty and wonder of the Great Pyramid I was looking at the huge line of tour buses! This was exciting. Although I enjoyed my first adventure at the Pyramids without the tremendous amount of foreigners around, it was very nice to see that Tourism is returning to Egypt. The first time we went in November, there were no tour buses...there were some small tour vans, but, that was about it.
With the increase in tourists comes the increase in vendors trying to sell you stuff. The nice thing now though, is that with the increase of tourists, they did not appear to be as pushy. Especially when we told the that we live here. They tend to back off quickly when we tell them that we live here.
Once we were settled with the idea of being around the pyramids, we ventured in. Hubby stayed outside taking photographs because he had gone up twice. Grandma, Auntie, and I made the climb through the precarious ladder bridge and into the tomb of Khufu. It is a steep climb, but, worth it to say that you were in the Pyramid. The awe and wonder of how they lugged those massive stones becomes really impressive when you stand in front of them. Today however, there was a really strange group of tourists having a seance around the sarcophagus of Khufu. People were climbing into the tomb, laying down and the people were chanting and putting their hands over the tomb. Super weird. Not something you see everyday, and, we were not certain what their motives were. The unfortunate thing is that as other people, ourselves included, entered the tomb, we could not see the sarcophagus because they would not move. But, we were at the museum the day before and saw dozens of sarcophagi, so, we moved on.
Then, we came across the guy that hubby used for the camel ride in January. We did not have to negotiate because he had done that before and very quickly boarded our camel.
Auntie rode Pepsi, Grandma rode Charlie Brown, Hubby rode Moses and I rode Mr. Grumpy Pants aka Mickey Mouse. My camel would moan and groan whenever they wanted him to sit down. We took our camel ride through the desert, around the pyramids, to the panoramic view. We encountered a lot of tourists there, including some Toronto Blue Jay fans. We enjoyed our donkey pop (a phrase I coined for the man on the donkey who brings you a soda). This is where you get the awesome views of all 9 pyramids at a time...and where all tourists take the very cheesy photos that always are good for a laugh.
Then, we ventured down to the Sphinx by camel. It was a long ride, but very, very fun. The Sphinx was equally magnificent but our stay was short. We got our pictures, walked around and carried on to our Egyptian Feast
But first, we had to walk through the vendors. People selling pop, hats, shirts, statues, postcards, pens and the like were all vying for our business. They were pretty calm however, not really causing many problems. But, Hubby always enjoys negotiating with them. He finds it hilarious to watch their faces as he haggles for the lowest price on whatever they are offering. We ended up with some really good deals at the end.
Our Egyptian Feast included Auntie and Hubby helping make the shamy bread. There is no menu at this restaurant. You just sit down, order drinks and they bring food to you. An array of fabulous salads including delicious, garlicky beets and wonderful dips...and of course the fresh shamy bread.
Then the chicken came out. We watched it on the spit on the way in. It was truly divine. Hubby had eaten there before, but, it was the first time for the rest of us. It was a wonderful meal.
We then headed home. Exhausted from the heat, we came for a rest before we retrieved the kiddos from school. All in all a great day that concluded with an awesome dance party.
We started the day by walking past the Great Pyramid. Always magnificent. Especially for people who see it for the first time.
While Auntie and Grandma gazed an the beauty and wonder of the Great Pyramid I was looking at the huge line of tour buses! This was exciting. Although I enjoyed my first adventure at the Pyramids without the tremendous amount of foreigners around, it was very nice to see that Tourism is returning to Egypt. The first time we went in November, there were no tour buses...there were some small tour vans, but, that was about it.
With the increase in tourists comes the increase in vendors trying to sell you stuff. The nice thing now though, is that with the increase of tourists, they did not appear to be as pushy. Especially when we told the that we live here. They tend to back off quickly when we tell them that we live here.
Once we were settled with the idea of being around the pyramids, we ventured in. Hubby stayed outside taking photographs because he had gone up twice. Grandma, Auntie, and I made the climb through the precarious ladder bridge and into the tomb of Khufu. It is a steep climb, but, worth it to say that you were in the Pyramid. The awe and wonder of how they lugged those massive stones becomes really impressive when you stand in front of them. Today however, there was a really strange group of tourists having a seance around the sarcophagus of Khufu. People were climbing into the tomb, laying down and the people were chanting and putting their hands over the tomb. Super weird. Not something you see everyday, and, we were not certain what their motives were. The unfortunate thing is that as other people, ourselves included, entered the tomb, we could not see the sarcophagus because they would not move. But, we were at the museum the day before and saw dozens of sarcophagi, so, we moved on.
Then, we came across the guy that hubby used for the camel ride in January. We did not have to negotiate because he had done that before and very quickly boarded our camel.
Auntie rode Pepsi, Grandma rode Charlie Brown, Hubby rode Moses and I rode Mr. Grumpy Pants aka Mickey Mouse. My camel would moan and groan whenever they wanted him to sit down. We took our camel ride through the desert, around the pyramids, to the panoramic view. We encountered a lot of tourists there, including some Toronto Blue Jay fans. We enjoyed our donkey pop (a phrase I coined for the man on the donkey who brings you a soda). This is where you get the awesome views of all 9 pyramids at a time...and where all tourists take the very cheesy photos that always are good for a laugh.
Then, we ventured down to the Sphinx by camel. It was a long ride, but very, very fun. The Sphinx was equally magnificent but our stay was short. We got our pictures, walked around and carried on to our Egyptian Feast
But first, we had to walk through the vendors. People selling pop, hats, shirts, statues, postcards, pens and the like were all vying for our business. They were pretty calm however, not really causing many problems. But, Hubby always enjoys negotiating with them. He finds it hilarious to watch their faces as he haggles for the lowest price on whatever they are offering. We ended up with some really good deals at the end.
Our Egyptian Feast included Auntie and Hubby helping make the shamy bread. There is no menu at this restaurant. You just sit down, order drinks and they bring food to you. An array of fabulous salads including delicious, garlicky beets and wonderful dips...and of course the fresh shamy bread.
Then the chicken came out. We watched it on the spit on the way in. It was truly divine. Hubby had eaten there before, but, it was the first time for the rest of us. It was a wonderful meal.
We then headed home. Exhausted from the heat, we came for a rest before we retrieved the kiddos from school. All in all a great day that concluded with an awesome dance party.
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| Hanging out on the Great Pyramid |
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| Grandma and Charlie Brown |
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| Auntie on Pepsi |
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| Holding the pyramid |
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| Auntie and I hanging out by the pyramids |
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| Our delicious lunch |
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| Making bread with the ladies |
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| The chickens on the spit |
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