Visiting the pyramids and getting used to Cairo

General impressions out and about in Cairo:

• Egyptians are very friendly people, and I am feeling totally safe. It seems the security concerns perceived from abroad are highly overrated. Highly professional tourism services and well-trained tour guides that are fun to be with.
• Donkeys pulling carts, donkeys transporting people, donkeys for tourists—donkeys everywhere! And lots of shisha smoking . . .
• Lots of seemingly unfinished houses all over the place—admittedly a common sight in many developing countries, but finally I’ve learnt why: The unfinished upper flours are meant for the sons, but would only ever be finished once the sons grow up.

Cultural highlights of my sightseeing day:

Memphis (oldest Egyptian capital):

Ramses II statute and well-preserved sphinx—made interesting by the captivating stories of my charming tourist guide (perhaps not worth visiting without a guide).

Sakkara (location of the oldest pyramids):

Only one month ago, they opened the inside of one of the smaller pyramids, the Pyramid of Unaas, for public viewing. It is considered the most beautiful interior of all Egyptian pyramids, decorated with well-preserved hieroglyphs and shiny alabaster stone. How lucky I got to see this just one month after opening!

Pyramids of Giza and Sphinx:

Well, looks from outside just like on all photos and certainly worth seeing in real—especially now that there’s hardly any tourists around. Inside, there’s not much to see other than empty rooms, but I still loved it: It was cozy warm, and gave me an opportunity to move a little crawling up and down the steep & narrow corridors.

Solar boat at Giza:

Far less known than the pyramids, I found the solar boat far more interesting—a massive wooden boat that was meant to transport the pharaoh to the sun in his afterlife, and that has survived for 4,500 years! That’s because it was buried underground and made of cedar wood—the only type of wood that insects/worms apparently don’t attack.

Mystery highlights of my sightseeing day:

Mirror limestone in Sakkara:

The limestone at the Sakkara main entrance gate is so shiny that it reflects almost like a mirror. Till today, scientists—as I’ve been told—do not know how the ancient Egyptians were able to polish it in such a way. We wouldn’t be able to replicate this mirror effect today.

Story about light effect in Abu Simbel / temple of Ramses II:

Ramses II had a temple built where his statute sits right next to 3 statutes of what was then considered the holy family—something that would have been outrageous at that time. However, they managed to construct the temple in such a way that sunlight floods the interior and lights the statutes only two days every year—the birthday and the coronation day of Ramses II. What ingenuity of architecture and astronomy for people thousands of years ago to construct!

Personal highlights:

• Testing my newly acquired very basic Arabic language skills with the locals: How exciting that people actually understand what I’m saying, and even more so when I understand them!
• Managed to re-assemble my bike alone in my hotel room, and all seems to work fine, . . . so far . . .
• First meetings with some staff and fellow riders—great to have good company! While yesterday evening felt somewhat lonely and cold, today feels almost “homely”. Even the cold has become more manageable—or I’ve simply gotten used to it already.
• Getting a local SIM with 3GB of data—best news of the day for an aspiring blogger!