Cairo

 Wow!!! We flew from Istanbul, Turkey to Cairo, Egypt!

But before I share the highlights of Cairo, why did we choose to come to Egypt?

1)      It’s hot in December and not many places in Europe are, so it seemed like a great way to get some good weather.

2)      It’s outside the Schengen Visa zone for Europe, and we need to be out for a while before we are allowed back in.

3)      It’s a huge amazing awesome place with bucket list sights like pyramids to see. And if we aren’t going to make it happen when we have time, and we’re already in Europe, when else would we possibly be able to do this?

4)      The Grade 7 social studies curriculum just happens to be about ancient civilizations, so it seemed handy to have Rachel study Egypt by going in person 😉

5)      It seemed like a great time and place to include my mom (Nana) on this bucket list option as an early Christmas celebration together.

So back in July, we booked a tour of Egypt and Jordan for the 5 of us. We decided to let the tour create a package for the 5 of us that included the highlights of both countries. We felt safer booking an organized trip with higher end accommodations and private transfers than we normally do when we travel.

My mom flew from Canada and landed the day before we did, but it was really fun to see her when we arrived at our fancy hotel in Cairo. Cairo, a city of 20 million people – even bigger than Istanbul. The hotel was right downtown and had a zillion staff that all want to help you with everything (so they can earn your tips). The food, including the huge buffet breakfast, was amazing.

The next morning the 5 of us got picked up by our driver in a van. We picked up our tour guide for the day, and drove to these sights:

a)       The Ancient city of Saqqara and the site of the Stepped pyramid of Djoser.

Our drive south along the Nile was amazing: crazy car traffic in Cairo, donkeys and oxen pulling carts, loads of garbage along the river. Then we arrived at the desert and saw a camel walk over the sand dunes toward the archeological site.

We saw actual archeologists actively digging. It blew me away to see an active digging site! We learned that they recently discovered many more crypts and coffins right there. That’s wild! We were at the site before many other tourists arrived, so it felt like we were one of the few seeing the old stepped pyramid.

Then we were able to descend into a tomb to see hieroglyphs and a sarcophagus. I was particularly proud of my mom here, as she had to crouch and descend in a smaller hall to go underground. She did great!

Cars sharing the road with donkeys and oxen

Camels, desert and the pyramid behind

It was sad to see garbage inside the ruins

MMemphis

Memphis was an open air museum that wasn’t very impressive, but there were a few huge statues to see.

We drove back to Giza and along the way we stopped at a store that sold Papyrus artwork. We had a demonstration of making the ancient paper that was pretty cool, and then we were encouraged to buy some papyrus art. (Nana did.)

We asked our guide to stop for lunch at a street café just to grab something small, which was a hoot. We ordered mystery sandwiches and all 5 of us ate lunch for about $3.

 

       The Great Pyramids of Giza

The pyramids came into view. It was surreal to drive up to them, get out, and walk right up and touch the biggest one. Nana cheered us on while the 4 of us went inside. It was a fun adventure to climb up the narrow stairs and crouch-walk under some lower ceilings to the sarcophagus.

 

We walked over to the “smaller” pyramids and took many photos, enjoying the vastness of the structures and the sunshine.

                The Sphinx

The Sphinx is right around the corner from the pyramids, but we drove down the hill in our car to get to it. All around us were people trying to sell us camel rides and souvenirs, but I was very relieved that the sellers weren’t that aggressive. We were never touched or swarmed and I never felt in any way unsafe for myself or my family. I had heard stories of less pleasant encounters from others – perhaps it’s because we were with a local guide, or perhaps it’s because we never engaged with any of the sellers and just kept walking. But it was way better than I expected (or have experienced in other countries).

We went through a temple to get to the Sphinx, and we were pretty tired by the time we got to this point. Perhaps that’s why we felt that the Sphinx was a bit underwhelming. It was cool and we’re glad we went, but it seemed smaller than we expected and not particularly moving. Still cool to see though.

 

b)   That was our one big day in Cairo, and it was AMAZING.

It was the kind of inspiring day that makes me SO grateful for this trip. To be brave enough to take the plunge and do this year long adventure - it feels so worth it on this kind of a day. It doesn’t feel like it on every day. It’s not easy to pause / slow down work, rent out our house, leave school, leave friends and extended family, leave the comforts of home and our cat and what is familiar. It feels unstable and a scary sometimes. It’s hard to know what is safe and smart and what isn’t when there are wars and pandemics and bombs and scary things on the news.  There are many days where we miss home. There are days when the kids are really sad and homesick. There are many days when we question whether we are making the right parenting choices with this trip. And this particular portion of the trip is not cheap, and that feels extra scary to me.

But I felt like seeing the pyramids in person and going down underground inside a tomb was just outstanding. And to do it with my mom – to be healthy enough to do it together – I am so grateful. I will always remember this special day with her and the sparkle in her eyes.

I think my kids will ALWAYS remember today with joy and awe. Perhaps they will remember the privilege we have as we are living in our nice hotel and have a private driver vs. the poverty we see outside and the trash in the river. I’m sure they will always remember the sight of the great pyramids in the sand. I hope it shapes them to have perspective and to be thankful and to make the world a better place. I hope that they always have the courage to follow their dreams.