Day 4: The Appetizer
It is a bit reductive to define Egypt by its pyramids.
Certainly, there is a lot more to like about the country outside of them. But
then again, that is why millions each year travel to a bustling metropolis deep
inside a desert to witness them. Like I do in most things, I’m saving the best
for last, with the Great Pyramids being kept for my final day in Cairo
(Alexandria is the destination the final day before the flight to Luxor). The
temples near Saqqara served as the appetizer. Like in many meals in many
restaurants, the appetizer may turn out to be better than the main course, and
the Great Pyramids will have to fully earn the label ‘great’ to have it exceed
the sereness and astounding history of the temples/pyramids/tombs of Saqqara.
Saqqara isn’t an unknown location, but the nicely sparse
crowds there (admittedly, I came late) definitely gave the impression it was
somewhat under covers. The drive to Saqqara was lengthy (about an hour to go
what would normally take 30 min), but it is well worth it to see more rural
Egypt, which reminds me a lot of a cleaner Goa (the drive was mostly around the
Nile so still somewhat lush). When your turn off into the entrance to the Saqqara
pyramids complex, that quickly turns into beautiful arid desert, if there was
such a thing.
The first stop after a really complex ticket buying
experience (there are like ten different things to buy tickets for that are all
separate, with little clear explanation for your humble English speaker – in the
end, definitely didn’t buy enough of the options) is the Imhotep Museum. Named
after the architect of the famous ‘Step’ Pyramid (aka the Pyramid of Djoser),
the museum is well preserved with a select number of artifacts that were
excavated from the various pyramids and tombs in the complex. Of course, to
take photos inside, you have to pay 300 Egyptian Pounds (~$16), which is a
better deal than it seems as it covers the museum and a few of the tomb sites.
After the museum was the drive up to the Pyramid of Djoser
complex, with the Pyramids and Tombs of King Unas there as well – along with a
lot of the ten things that were offered, off which again I definitely bought
too few. The Step Pyramid is not imposing, but really beautiful in both how
well put together it is and how old it is. That was the general theme of the
entire complex, be it the column entrance, the multiple tomb shafts (all 30+
metres deep), or even the carvings and wall paintings, even if I’m sure a lot
of them were a lot touched up.
Unlike the Egyptian Museum the day before, I got a guide
this time, as apart from the key sites (the pyramids of Djoser and Unas) I
would have hd little knowledge of anything else, despite having a guidebook
(first time in a long time I’m actively using a Lonely Planet book on a trip).
The guide was good, if a little hard to understand, but he was at least
humorous, kept to time, and actively told me not to buy the camel rides which
are sold throughout. It was a tad expensive when converting to Egyptian Pounds
per Minute, but these guides are invaluable to getting the full experience.
After taking in the Djoser area, we went off about 20
minutes further south to the Red and Bent Pyramids, built during the time of
King Senefro – the first King in Dynasty IV, the same Dynasty who’s final king
would build the first of the three Great Pyramids. These pyramids are larger,
more imposing; the red pyramid named so for obvious reasons, and the Bent
pyramid for even more obvious reasons (the top half having a lesser incline up
to the apex point). The Red Pyramid had a cool feature where you could traverse
down to the three tombs (now emptied) down the shaft, which is basically a
literaly mine-shaft where you have to duck and walk backwards to effectively go
down.
The Bent Pyramid had an easier route to the middle. Having
access to these shafts and inner tombs is a real plus – the rest you can only
really witness from above. Overall, the pyramid complex’s are incredible
primarily in their age. The Dyansty IV was about 2700 – 2500 BC. The layout,
aside from the desert aspect, was similar to Machu Picchu, but a good 4,000
years before it. The Egyptians were very advanced for their days (obviously,
since we know little from the other civilizations of their days), and it shows
here.
The Red & Bent Pyramids were exquisitely set-up as well,
giant mountains rising out of flat desert in every direction behind them. We
aren’t deep enough into the Sahara to get real sand dunes, but there are a few
rolling sandy hills around that all create a somewhat mystical setting, if not
a purely mystical feeling. Again, just the idea of being in this spot is pretty
crazy. Civilizations that aged in the 2000+ BC are basically Egypt, or parts of
the world that may never be truly visitable (e.g. Iraq, aka Mesopotamia). Egypt
is different.
My post-pyramid experience was more common to modern day,
but still quite interesting. First was a nice 3pm lunch back in Cairo at Zooba,
a brilliant idea with good food. Pretending to be an olden ‘street food’
set-up, there is a long table in the middle of the restaurant that serves as a
community table, with food served in steel plates and bowls, choosing from a
fairly normal menu of Egyptian street food classics (e.g. Shawarma and the
like). Both the labneh with pita appetizer and spicy diced sausage salad were
really nice. The setting, sitting elbow-to-elbow with what seemed to be a
perfect 50/50 split of locals and tourists (met my first Americans on the trip
in Egypt), was really nice.
Post lunch and what might be a standard ~5pm R&R
session, I headed to the Khal El Khalili bazaar, a giant market woven in a 4x4
block area (all pedestrian only. The drive over there allowed the first
experience to get deep into the muslim part of Cairo – enough so that there
were a good 2-3 mosques in the immediate vicinity of the Khalili bazaar. That
said, like any bazaar, there were a lot of tourists looking to test their
bargaining chops against store owners looking to see how much they can get away
with.
Looking past the number of shops selling statues and
iron-works of the Pyramids, and not even bothering to glance at those selling
t-shirts and shawls, I attacked the bazaar with laser focus, eyes aiming to add
to my coaster collection, and get a few gifts for family, including spice mixes
to use when grilling back home. The coaster hunt was successful in the literal
sense that I bought a set of coasters, but less so in the sense that they weren’t
as good as I would have hoped. There was really nice alabaster jars and curios,
but sadly no alabaster coasters. Many of the stalls sold the same coasters that
were nicely painted, but fairly flimsy – the redeeming quality supposedly being
the little bits of Mother of Pearl in them. That said, the willingness the
store vendors had to drop the price made me seem like they weren’t going to
star in my collection.
These types of markets can be quite a hassle and haggle, and
this one isn’t necessarily different, but it didn’t seem as hawkerish as others
I had been to. There were also a lot of people that outwardly looked like
easier targets to sell overpriced t-shirts to (e.g. white men & women) than
I did. I also liked the myriad coffee shops and/or hookah bars they had
littered throughout. It was certainly a nice experience, if one that didn’t end
with me getting the set of coasters I would have wanted.
Dinner was at Sabaya, in the Intercontinental Hotel – a top
rated restaurant which somewhat disappointed, but mostly because I went a
little too safe in what I ordered (quail – good, but basically smaller
chicken). The appetizer of lamb sausages with hummus and really fluffy pita
bread was great, as was their ‘welcome drink’ which was a grape based cocktail
that I didn’t fully understand the ingredients of when explained. After dinner,
I headed back to Zamalek (the main food & beverage area) to Harry’s Pub, a
really nice pub setting with live music. The music was good, but too loud, and
quickly forced an exit – probably well intentioned as tomorrow as the main
course.
