Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Egypt - Day 12 - 31 March 2019 - Our last Day - Memphis, Sakara, Lunch & Farewell!

Egypt and the Eternal  Nile
Day 12 31 March 2019

Our Last Day in Egypt!
         Memphis 
         Sakara / Saqqara 
         Carpet School
         Another Fantastic Lunch
         Farewell Cocktail Party and Dinner

The day dawned cool, windy and overcast
This is the amazing view of the Nile from our room at the Fairmont Nile City!
 
Just as amazing is the breakfast spread!
The hot food is in front and back in the back is an omelette/eggs to order station!


This table had all kinds of yogurts, fruits, blends, you name it!

My little corner of the world!
Back wall, right side half way down - Awesome Croissants!

On the road - still kind of a "glommy" day

Memphis was a big city and dates to the beginning of Egypt.
But it was lost - buried for centuries

The current museum grounds are a small fraction of ancient Memphis

This display shows what is available to see today

Signage was excellent! 

Text from sign above blown up


Locating and excavating Memphis was (is) a tremendous effort


Add caption

No one figured they'd need jackets in Egypt!




A nice walk around the area of display



 

Judy and Bob give their "dogs" a rest 



Walk like an Egyptian 







Back on the road - behind a "cattle truck"!


From Saqqara, several pyramids are visible in the distance.
The far one appears to be the second we saw the first day in Giza!

The ubiquitous camel!

Not just cold but really windy! 



You know how some times it looks like an opening is REALLY short but then when people get close, it's not that tiny? Not here! I was doubled over - "duck" walking most of the way.
I remember very little about the inside other than it was TINY!


That's more like it! Headroom!


In the background is the step pyramid we're headed for next  but in front of it was one of dozens of mounds that made up tombs and pyramids. (Turns out a pyramid is a Kings tomb, All the rest are mastabas - tombs for everyone else!)



Everywhere we went we had a security guard. You can't see because of his jacket, but these guys packed some serious "heat," usually a 9mm semi-auto or full auto with high capacity magazines. Our guard changed often and this man was especially helpful in taking photos, etc.
His devotion to prayer is evident in the mark from the ground or prayer mat on his forehead.
I asked one of them how often they go to the practice range and he said every few weeks. Hope that's true.

The step pyramid was under repair.

We seldom saw machinery in use.
Lots of good old fashion muscle and elbow grease!

Many of these sites have Egyptians that will offer to dress tourist in decorative costumes and take photos -  then ask for $10-20 fee!  They are VERY persistent and dealing with them was not something I'll miss!

Lots of dogs!
And they all looked just like this one!

And the ubiquitous camel/horse rides!
Mike told the "guides" who offered him a ride he couldn't get on, so (I'm told)  they picked him up (against his will) to put him on the camel! These guys are not fun to deal with!

The wall around the step pyramid was the first large scale structural use of stone block as a building material!

The walls are several yards thick!

Inside the door are decorative, non-functioning stone doors complete with decorative, non-functioning hinges!

Ceilings then were of hewn logs. So, they shaped the cap stones for the ceiling to look like logs!
The visitor then encounters a long colonnade 

But with insufficient experience with stone as a building material, they carried the stone pillars all the way to the wall



Creating little alcoves

Capped with stones shaped to look like logs

Saqqara is huge! Hundreds of tombs! 
Looking south from the step pyramid

Part of the wall around the step pyramid


Sara, Bob, and Nancy


Until a little over a hundred years ago, the Nile flooded annually and deposited rich silt all over the Nile Delta. Now, irrigation canals bring the water but not the silt. Egypt is just now starting to grapple with:
a) the lack of rich nutrients that came with the silt and
b) the build up of silt in Lake Nasser

Pigeon towers (roosts) for raising and training pigeons

Many interesting sights from the bus.
Friendly people



A bridge that once spanned the Nile
(The river moved!)


Large palm tree "forests" are evident in this region

This area is dotted with Carpet Schools
We stopped at one
Very handsome grounds

Vallee makes a new friend!
The boys are supposed to be eleven (I think that's what they said) but this youngster is no where close to that! Turns out he is a brother of a student

There boys hand tie threads faster than your eye can follow!
They had him slow way down for a couple of times just to show us


Then they show the carpets.
I think I heard "No Pressure" 50 times!
Several of our friends bought rugs of various size.
The silk rugs were particularly fascinating in that they had a vastly different sheen or "darkness" when viewed in one direction or another! Viewed from one side a rug might look silvery and when viewed from the other end, gray or brown! 

Hassan took us to another interesting place to eat.
This tower was to be the restaurant but was never completed!
We ate in the structures to the right!


We were one of several tour groups (of all nationalities) eating lunch here

This woman baked the bread we had for lunch in a stone hearth oven

She demonstrated how she coated the dough with (I think) wheat chaff - the outer hulls - to keep them just slightly off the stone.  Anyway, they puff way up and are fabulous hot!
I took one after it had  cooled and it was crispy like a chip!

She then demonstrated ululation - a loud trill done with the throat and tongue. Hassan stated that it is said that women must learn this as a child or they cannot do it as an adult!

On the road home, we pass the Cairo Museum.
Seems like such a long time since we were there!

And the Cairo Tower

We went to the top floor of the hotel to see if we could see the pyramids  (look to the left of the Cairo Tower)

This shows them a little better

That evening, Hassan met us in the lounge and we had a wonderful gathering followed by a wonderful dinner of beef tips.
At the gathering, Hassan asked us to each share what stood out for us as a special memory. 
For me it was lunch with the farmer (Achmed) and his family.
For Theresa it was Hasan's attention to every minute detail, his storehouse of knowledge, and his very evident love for Egypt!
(Thanks to George Gannaway for this photo)
Unfortunately, I have no photo of the dinner.
If you have a photo and send it to me, I'll add it.



Some of our travelers had to leave the hotel shortly after midnight. We were able to sleep in a little to catch our 8:45 flight to Istanbul. 
We arrived back in Chicago pretty much on schedule (Turkish Airlines was pretty nice). Mike's car was safe and sound. I got some good sleep on the plane and was fresh to drive home.  Mike and Janet stayed a couple of days before heading west to Colorado

I hope you have enjoyed this blog.
I hope you'll leave a comment.
Until we meet again, habibi! 
(Hassan's greeting to us - loosely translated "darling" or "loved one")