A Day of Firsts

It was pretty nice to be back in Cairo. This time I stayed in a different part of town called Zamalek. It has a lot of colonial-style buildings, lots of trees, and is much quieter than in downtown. Reminds me of parts of New Orleans.

Anyhow, due to my bad luck of not being able to catch an early enough train back, I wasn't sure that I'd have time to visit all the pyramids that I wanted to visit - Giza, Saqqara and Dashur.

Just to make sure that I would at least get in one set, I set off to those at Giza - Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephren), Menkaure (Mycerinus) as well as the Sphinx. As with many locals that cater to the tourist industry, my taxi driver "had a friend" that had horses that people could take to visit the pyramids and the Sphinx. Not really into it but agreeing to at least check it out, I assented.

And boy. Am I glad I did.

After haggling for a decent price, I took off with my guide. It was my first time riding (I don't count the one time I did it when I was like six) and I was a bit nervous. But looking around at the desert around me completely took my mind off of my anxiety. It was so completely incredible! There were very few other people out on horses or camels so it was really quiet. You weren't shepherded in with the hordes of visitors pouring out of the tour buses.

And what a way to approach the pyramids and Sphinx! You come up from the back side through the nearby village called Nazlet as-Samaan at a slow walk to get accustomed to riding (for the newbies) which was pretty cool in and of itself. Then you go over a couple of small dunes. On top of the larger ones, looking behind, you can actually see the other pyramids at Saqqara in the distance with the flat desert in between. To your left is the huge metropolis of Cairo. Standing like this you had the pyramids behind you not too far. I can't even begin to put into words how phenomenal the whole landscape was!

And the pyramids and the Sphinx!!! They were so immense and grand! Woo-hoo! Another life dream turned into reality!

P.S. I never got to see the other pyramids which definitely calls for another visit to Egypt. Also, by the end of my tour of the area by horse (which was named Mickey Mouse, by the way!), I was able to ride at a gallop - no problem! Can I just tell you just how incredibly fantastic it was to have the wind in my face, hair streaming behind as I said good-bye to Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure and the Sphinx while my guide and I raced across the desert flats?! (Well, okay. I was kinda racing to get away from my guide!)