Hello, Would You Like to Ride My Camel?

By: Brittany Lyon
Posted In: First Person

Life doesn’t offer many days when you can wake up and know that the next 24 hours will significantly impact your life. Events that fall into this category usually consist of graduation day, your wedding day, the birth of your first child or the morning you found out that Britney Spears shaved her head. However, if you experience such a morning that doesn’t fit into either of these categories-then you must be in Egypt.

From the moment the wheels of the Air Italia hit the runway, I couldn’t tell whether I was in the middle of the Grand Canyon or if I had just had my first experience with sand dunes, but regardless I knew that I was about to experience a ten day awakening under the Eastern sky. After 12 hours of travel, our party of three teachers and 13 students trudged into the Egypt airport doe-eyed and slightly delusional. One of the professors noted that the Cairo airport smelt like a high school boys’ bathroom, and although I am not familiar with that smell I took his word for it and the Egypt adventure began.

We arrived in Cairo around 4 p.m. and because of rush-hour traffic it took an hour to get to the hotel, however I quickly learned that Cairo doesn’t have a rush-hour since traffic is guaranteed all day. Our tour guide, Mohammed, who we affectionately referred to as “Mo,” explained that Egyptians live in 5 percent of the country and therefore traffic is inevitable.

Cairo felt like Times Square on New Year’s Eve; the crowds of people were inescapable. On the highway alone, there was a black Mercedes in front of us, a man on a camel behind us and a women walking with a basket on her head along side of our tour bus. Yet, through the dark haze of the polluted Cairo sky, you could see a glimpse of the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Whenever I had imagined the pyramids I saw them being deep in the desert and having to ride a camel to get to them. In reality, they are an exit off the highway. The pyramids are in the center of Cairo and in broad day light, they can be seen from anywhere in the city. After a quick three minute drive, we had arrived at the pyramids that continue to be admired by the world today as they were thousands of years ago. Their size is overwhelming; words and pictures cannot depict their aura or size like the naked eye. Mesmerized by walking just one side of the pyramid, I completely forgot about the other three. I couldn’t conceptualize that I was seeing the actual pyramids. To walk just one of the pyramids would take at least fifteen minutes and that’s if you don’t get stopped by the men who offer a ride of their camel or 25 postcards for $2.

While walking around the pyramids our tour guide, Mo, offered us the choice to go inside the smaller queen’s pyramid. Around the three Great Pyramids, that held the bodies of the pharos, there were numerous smaller pyramids around them for their daughters, wives, priests and those who build the great Giza pyramids. Entrance in to the queen’s pyramids was free and I was excited to go inside until Mo warned that you should not enter the pyramids if you don’t enjoy smaller, dark, hot spaces that are hard to breathe in. Despite this appealing description I decided to go in anyways. Mo’s description was right on and although it was an uncomfortable place to be in, once I finally climbed down to the burial chamber, it was an incredible experience. The pyramid was a backwards ladder that felt never ending; it was a dirt ramp with horizontal boards to guide you down. The sides were lined with Christmas lights that provided just enough light to make the experience bearable. After an intense trek down the ramp, there was a platform, then another ramp and then a set of horizontal stairs that led to the burial chamber, which looked like an unfinished basement. The burial chamber was not much bigger than the conference section in Jazzman’s, but the room was incredible to see. Just as I was about to take a sigh of relief I realized that I could barely grasp for air and I quickly exited the queen’s pyramid and I realized that I could never be a contestant on Fear Factor.

As if the day couldn’t get any better, here comes the Sphinx. The Sphinx sits in front of the three pyramids as a symbol of protection, but to get to it you must drive to a separate entrance and climb another ramp to get close. The Sphinx was enormous and like the pyramids, I couldn’t imagine how they were build using flint, stones, and man power. The Greeks chopped off the nose of the Sphinx, viewing it as ugly, yet this master piece is quite beautiful. The image of the Sphinx sitting in front of the pyramid is a representation of man’s greatest accomplishments.

In our remaining days in Cairo we toured Mosques and churches and visited a museum. The Mosques were extremely beautiful and upon entering we were given green robes and asked to cover our bodies. The first church that we visited was in ancient Cairo and Mo explained that in the Old Testament there is the story of Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt with Jesus and they were said to have fled to this part of ancient Egypt. The museum came at the end of the day and it featured everything from mummies to stone statues, thrones and jewelry. While looking at turquoise jewelry worn by Queen Hatshepsut I almost tripped over an ancient bowl. Objects were shoved in corners and the museum showed just how advanced their society was. Despite the extreme amount of objects in the museum, Mo explained that archeologist believe they have found only 20 percent of ancient Egypt.

Our days in Cairo were over and we were off to Luxor, the city truly feels like a world away from Cairo, there is less traffic, crowds of people, and overall the city is cleaner and safer. Luxor shows a completely different side of Egypt and highlights how vast the country is. Although I dreamed of seeing the Pyramids of Giza, the best sights were in Luxor. From the Valley of Kings and Queens, the Temple of Karnack, a hot air balloon ride, and a spectacular view of the Nile, Luxor holds the heart of ancient Egypt.

The Karnack Temple is the largest religious temple in the world that continues to stand today. It is a place where the ancient world gathered together to worship their god Amen. It’s a representation of power, faith, and eternity continues to shine today as it would have in the ancient world.

This popular tourist site is made up of four separate temples and only one of them is open to the public. While only part of the temple is open to the public, the world continues to be fascinated by the open-air museum. The temple has 134 columns that are arranged in 16 rows that range from 10 to 21 meters tall. Next to the pyramids it is the second largest tourist site in Egypt.

As the trip continued I couldn’t help but to be in awe of the sites of Egypt. Our days were jammed with activities from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm, yet our tour guide explained that we had only seen 20 percent of Egypt’s highlights. Mo said that Egypt has been preserved because of the dry desert climate and from the sites it seems like Egypt is the luckiest place on earth. Its attractions are preserved, allowing visitors to experience a piece of the world as it was thousands of years ago. Being far from home I felt blessed to be a part of all that Egypt had to offer and each morning I woke up knowing that the day ahead would be a memorable one and today I still hold those memories close.