'Don't call me Junior ...'

Day 305 - Wednesday 12 November 2008

It seems like only yesterday that I picked Henry Jones (also known as Derek/Dad Lemarchand) up from the swanky Cairo International Airport but already I've sent him back. For time flies when you're an adventuring family and we had a treat of a five days exploring Cairo together to say to Dad 'Happy 70 Birthdays'. An immediate mention of thanks needs to go to Wyn/Mum Lemarchand for the idea and Rich/bruv Lemarchand for the support. It was the finest plan for many a year in the Lemarchand household and thinking caps need to be securely fastened for Mum in a few years time!

But Cairo's the kind of place I wouldn't send Mum and Dad on their own. They're well travelled. But not to the world's craziest cities. Compared to New Delhi, Cairo's a haven of tranquility. Compared to leafy Gloucestershire, it's very different. But Dad stepped into Sean Connery's shoes in style and reminded me where I get this explorer spirit. He was right in the thick of Cairo. Jumping on their uber-efficient metro, trying out his Arabic languge skills, conquering the ever present 'baksheesh' and hiking the back streets of Old Cairo. He made me proud to call him my Dad. And it's four or five days we'll never forget.

But I have to say the craziness of Cairo was heavily offset (all a brotherly plan) by the leafy surroundings of the Nile Hilton. Now I'm not sure I've ever stayed five star before but this was a joy. As Lucy told me back in Ho Chi Minh City 'even Indiana Jones stayed in posh hotels you know!'. And how right she was.

We had a mega-view from our balcony of the River Nile. See! Affordable, quality fare (eating beef is a novelty after Hindu Nepal and India). A refreshing swim in, as the Lonely Planet described it, 'the best pool in Cairo'. And the location was the icing on the cake. The bubbles in the Sakkara beer if you like. For we could fall out of bed onto the best museum on the planet ...

The Egyptian Museum is truly unbelievable. In a real Indiana Jones way. For it's dusty, roughly curated and bursting. Literally. I swear if you looked closely at the shot above you'd see an ancient colossus pressed against the window. They have soooooooo many archaeological pieces it's unfathomable. And all from the same civilisation. Now the Metropolitan Museum in New York is arguably the best in the world but that's scoured the entire planet. All of the pieces in here have only had to move a few hundred kilometres up the Nile! I'm so glad I came to Cairo early (I join my final Intrepid trip of the year tomorrow and head through Egypt and Jordan). Not only because it made the Dad visit possible but also because I got to relax and enjoy the EM at a slow place. If you come here believe the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. Give it a day. At least. Dad and I did a day and a half. And we could have easily done more. We also got kicked out on our first visit when they were closing up. And that for me is magical. I've said it before and I'll say it again. When museums start to close up, they get quiet, the artificial lights go on, and they take on a whole new aura of mystery that's one of my favourite things in the world. There's so much that stands out inside it's hard to pin one thing down. The tiny statue of Cheops (the builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza) I loved. The Royal Mummies (controversially on display 'cos can you imagine us sticking the dead body of King Henry VIII in a glass case?!) were ready to jump to life at any minute and scare the pants off you. Now it may be cliched but it's all about Tutankhamun. In my opinion the best archaeological discovery in the history of the world. (All the made up Indiana Jones one's aside!). Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon's magical discoveries fill a quarter of the EM. And that quarter dazzles with gold. The real stuff prized from African rocks. And hammered, shaped, chiselled and scored into the most beautiful objects you could ever place your eyes on. For those of you with kids doing a bit of Egyptology you owe it to them to show them this stuff. George and Toby. We'll have to come here one day? The death mask is so perfectly curved to form his features just like they were in real life. So his soul knew what body to bring back to life in the afterlife. And his life sized sarcophagus is almost half a centimetre thick of solid gold. Weighing 111KG. It's said too often but that's the definition of priceless. Wow ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutankhamun

No photographs in the EM of course for fear of death by 'The Pharoh's Curse' so you'll have to enjoy the Wikipedia link above and one of our own Pharoh outside below!

Now Cairo wasn't an ancient capital of Egypt so there's not loads of tombs kicking around. You need to head south down the Nile and ancient Thebes. But there is the small matter of the rocky Giza Plateau nestled alongside the current town of Nazlet as-Samaan. And you may already know it's home to the Sphinx and the Pyramids ...

The Giza Plateau is full on tourist-ville. It takes just 20-30 minutes in a taxi from the Nile Hilton so it's possible to sip a strong coffee for breakfast, see the Sphinx/Pyramids and be back in time for elevenses. But where's the fun in that. For Dad and me (historians as I like to describe us!) it was a full day. 6 hours. In the desert sun. Missing lunch and surviving on water. For only then can you really get the IJ experience and picture yourself digging into the sand under the noses of the Nazis and discovering the final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. (Go on, watch it again). Your shoes get sandy, you get harassed to take a camel ride, the 'tourist police' even want baksheesh for a photograph and you gaze in awe at objects that become a series of photographs of geometric shapes in your Sony Cybershot. The best bit of all though. Is puzzling how these things were constructed in the days before the wheel, pulley and winch. How many men must have died 'lifting' those things into place?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giza_pyramid_complex

But boy it was worth it. This is my favourite of the three Pyramids. The Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren). It's my fave 'cos it still has the remains of it's outer covering in place. In their prime the limestone casing of the Pyramids would have glistened in the sun and forced a smart Egyptian vizier to invent sunglasses. And we got the best view of the day at lunchtime when all the tour groups were taking lunch, the camel drivers were having a break and our 'out there on foot' attitude saw just us, the Pyramids and the odd camel adding to rather than detracting from a shot ...

The Pyramids are about the oldest thing I've seen on my travels. 2500BC-ish! And you'll know that they're the last remaining Ancient Wonder of the World. The rest have been lost in various ways. Which reminds me. We haven't had a prize blog since Cambodia. So here we go! The first person to 'Post a Comment' (no emails this time so sign up!) naming all the Ancient Wonders of the World will win a prize. I'll give you 'The Pyramids of Giza'. But what were the other 6? Go, the clock's ticking and Sally will be working on it already ...

The Pyramids of Giza are something you could do quickly. But you just shouldn't. There's way too much to see and do! Aside from all the photography there's crumbling tombs to explore (including a couple right in front of the Sphinx), causeways to walk (following in the footsteps of dead Pharohs), a solar barque to enjoy (a massive, cedarwood Pharoh's ship that's been dug out of it's hole in the rock and rebuilt) and Pyramids to crouch down in and pretend you're an ancient Egyptian priest. We only went inside one of the small Queen's Pyramids but it was hot and hewn from solid rock. The Pyramids haven't been built on sand for I'm sure they'd sink. They've been built on rock hard granite. What else could take all that weight in such a small space. And 'cos it's rocky, it's high and overlooks the smog-zone that is downtown Cairo. For when you come here bring a spare set of lungs! Slowly but surely a day on the Giza Plateau turns into a day of contrasting colours. The morning sees the Sphinx lit up like a Christmas tree with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) behind it. And then it all swings north and west lighting the other side. It's iconic shot after iconic shot. And then you have to say 'Well Dad, it's sad, but I guess we have to go. I'll never get this sand out of my shoes.' What a day. And to share it with my Dad was something special. One of the very best of this whole year. And I forgot. The Sphinx. It's beautiful. Bigger than all that 'isn't it small' rubbish. But it's not as impressive a facial image in stone as those at The Bayon of Angkor. But as Del said 'over twice as old mind you ...'

Our second day in Cairo saw our Old Cairo or Islamic Cairo day. A day of sight hopping and persuading rogue-ish taxi drivers to switch on their meters! Not easy when they're not fussed for the business and you're keeping your eye on your Dad. But Dad got a real flavour of my year. Getting around a new and strange city while trying to look like you know what you're doing. And we did it all ourselves. No easy group tour option. This was DIY travel at it's most adventurous. We even pounded the streets for a few kilometres to get the smells, sights and sounds of Old Cairo as it must have appeared all those years ago.

Markets, 'welcome' calls from the local kids, winding streets, getting lost amongst the melee and then 'turn right here' and we ended up in the right place. Ha! Special stuff! We saw The Citadel, the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun and one of the world's most exciting flat-roofed cityscapes from the minaret next to where this shot was taken. Henry and Indiana do Cairo ...

Our final day of exploring was a strange one for me 'cos having been in Asia for 5 months I saw a serious amount of Christianity again. It really feels like the circle is closing. Coptic Cairo is an easy metro ride from downtown and is calm, quiet and Greek Orthodox inspired. It's a little like walking the streets of Old Jerusalem according to the Lonely Planet 'cos it's a subterranean network of churches, monasteries and synagogues. Not to mention bazaars, bookshops and the most beautifully presented museum I've seen since Patan Musem in Kathmandu. The Coptic Museum is in a building full of ornamentally carved woodwork and plenty of leather bound Christian books from the 16th Century that could have inspired George Lucas' vision of Henry Jones' Grail Diary!

But that's it (for now) from Cairo. The River Nile is calling me and a group of international travellers who I can share Africa/the Middle East with for the next two and a half weeks. Good old Intrepid. Let's hope this one is as good as Nepal! I'll try and blog again in that time but if not it'll be the start of December before my fingers type again. And the countdown will really be on. Italy and a few cities featuring the best art ever produced to describe. Not to mention what the Romans ever did for us! But I'm way ahead. Let's bask in the glory of the late afternoon Egyptian sun and my Dad. The finest gentleman, explorer I know. Who could ever wear a pair of Ibn Tulun's 'mosque slippers' so stylishly. I love him.