CHAPTER 6. EGYPT

This was not truly independent travel, in fact it was a tour, but different enough from many tours that we took it. The tour was led by Lisa, a childhood friend of our daughter, who became an Egyptologist, and married an Egyptian, Fattah Sabbahy, who works for Egypt’s Department of Antiquities. He was getting his Ph.D. in Egyptology at UC Berkeley, and they led several 16 person tours to Egypt during his studies. We were lucky to be able to join the tour, along with close friends Bob and Maurine Rollins, and we think we received more from Lisa & Fattah than we would have gained by studying for an independent trip. Besides, learning enough Arabic to get by would have been a major task!

That’s why we find ourselves on a small German tour bus in March, 1984, in heavy Cairo traffic on our way to the Mena House near the Giza pyramids. The first excursion is to the wonderful Cairo Museum, and Lisa is an excellent guide! There are no photographs for us; one either pays a camera fee, or checks cameras at the entrance. We delay photographing until our planned stay in Cairo after the end of the tour.

While at the Mena House we look at the nearby pyramids, the Sphinx, and the solar boat exhibit. The latter is a funeral boat from about 2,500 BC, over 40 meters long, with a Lebanese cedar hull that is remarkably well preserved. It had been buried in a pit that was granite lined and filled with sand. Now it is housed in an air conditioned and humidity controlled building. The pyramids are great to see, but we don’t venture inside, as many do. At the second pyramid we do go inside a tunnel down a steep incline where one has to stoop to walk, then into a larger tunnel where one could stand up. The view ahead is another steep incline, so we turn around and leave. While waiting outside for the others, we take the “mandatory” camel ride and picture.

A trip to the east side of Cairo brings us to the El Azhar Mosque and the Bazaar Kahn El Azhar. Entering the Mosque one leaves shoes in a bin and continues across the courtyard and inside. There are many columns, all alike, and oriental rugs on the floors. Several small groups are worshiping.

Across the street is the bazaar where we visit a government jewelry store. Some of Egyptian family wealth is invested in gold jewelry and a family is buying gold. The streets of the bazaar are narrow and crowded with men sitting and smoking water pipes. Much burnished brass work and inlayed designs are for sale.