Day 8 - Dahshur, Memphis, Sakkara - Thursday, November 24

We woke up at 6:30, went to breakfast at 7, and left on the van at 8. We had a different guard today who wasn't as friendly as the other one. We crossed the Nile to the west bank and drove into the countryside along a vile canal filled with garbage to Dahshur. There were lots of egrets on the trash piles. Alfalfa was growing lushly along the countryside. This is camel/donkey feed. Cabbage, cauliflower, and corn were also growing. We drove through small villages with lots of fruit stands, men in the corner cafes drinking coffee. We passed a mare and a foal pulling a cart, a cow with a blanket on it to keep it warm, a boy on a donkey leading two cows, sheep and goats being herded down the road, date palms, railroad tracks leading out to an oasis, store selling home molding/wood products, falafel maker, camel meat markets with the meat hanging in the front of the open store, bread sellers, camels carrying palm fronds. I got one photo of some fresh camel meat hanging up with a large bucket to catch the blood and small children playing beside it. Aki told us that the people use all parts of the date palm, and we could see examples of that.

We finally arrived at the Red Pyramid in Dahshur. Aki talked about the pyramid. Absolutely no one else was there except cops on camels carrying big guns. There were some Egyptian stray dogs running around including two cute puppies. Bill, Dot, Judy, and Michael climbed to the entrance to the pyramid. The others went in, but Bill stayed outside. They all said it smelled really gross inside since it seems the interior is used as a porta potty. There were lots of tuk tuks (a tricycle type motorized vehicle used to transport passengers) running up and down the road.

We drove a little further down the road to the Bent Pyramid. This was built about 2600 BC. Sandy and I wandered around the pyramid, and Sandy found the bones of a camel. We saw the Black Pyramid in the distance. As we left Dahshur, we drove back the way we had come and saw a trader cart filled with lots of 'stuff' that is traded, not sold. We saw more meat markets, an ambulance, a sewage truck, shelters made from dried palm debris.

We arrived at the town of Mit Rahina to see the Colossus of Ramses II. This is a huge horizontal statue of Ramses II about 33 feet long even without his feet. Aki discussed the statue while we wandered around the viewing platform. Outside we saw a giant alabaster sphinx. We continued on to the Step Pyramid of Sakkara. This is the oldest of Egypt's pyramids and Bill's favorite. We first went to the new Imhotep Museum which was rather interesting. The complex was huge, and there were colonnades to walk through, huge walls topped with cobras. We stayed there for quite a while. Bill and Michael roamed all over. There were more Egyptian dogs running around our van looking for handouts.

At 1:15 we went to lunch at the Sakkara Palm Club. This was a lovely little resort with a huge swimming pool surrounded by lots of palm trees. We ate outside in a covered area. A chef was working on a grill when we were seated. We were first offered a variety of fresh fruit juices - mango, strawberry, white guava (tastes like pina colada). I got the white guava and loved it. These guava are quite different from the pink guava in Hawaii. We were served a large selection of mezza - beans, chickpeas, potatoes (chilled, diced, and spiced), tahine, baba ganoush, The main course was a little buffet by the grill - bbq chicken, kofta (ground spiced beef, rolled, and grilled), rice, peas/carrots, French fries, and grilled onions and peppers. For dessert there was flan, baklava, and kunafa (the great dessert of cream cheese, dough, and dried wheat). It was a lovely lunch in a lovely setting.

As we drove away, there was the usual herd of sheep and goats. These sheep had huge, grotesque looking tails that looked like tumors, but is actually made of fat. They are called fat-tailed sheep. Check out Wikipedia! We stopped just down the road at the Oriental Carpet School. Boys, some handicapped, were weaving silk and wool rugs. They were quite detailed and definitely beautiful. In the showroom, I fell in love again with the silk rugs.

Heading home, we passed a large concrete pigeon roost. We also saw the huge line for exchanging empty propane containers for full ones. We saw this quite often. Back in Cairo we passed the state TV Building which was a big target for the protesters in January. It was under heavy guard and surrounded by lots of barbed wire. A note. Everywhere in Egypt, on rich luxury buildings to the meanest of shacks, TV satellite dishes are everywhere.

When we got back to the hotel, we went up to the Sky Pool for coffee and a lovely last chat with my friend Ahmed. It rained a little, but that didn't bother us. The view was awesome. I did some email in the business center and chatted with Mandy. We had a room service dinner, splitting a burger, salad, and spring rolls. Went to bed at 10pm.