She's always a woman to me....

This time I've been away because of all the holidays. So, it doesnt seem half as bad;-) First India, my little doll who, even though she had no clue who I was when I met her at the airport, knew that BM is this individual who absolutely adores her and so she accepted me into her world without any fanfare. The wedding, hogged till I had made myself sick and then.....EGYPT!!!!!
Its a cliched statement but in all honesty, words cant possibly describe the sight of the Pyramids. We had a stop over flight via Rome, which meant that by the time we landed in Cairo, all we wanted to do was have a warm shower, stretch our backs and put our feet up with a glass of beer at the side. Four tired souls slouched together in the cab as it drove towards the hotel....and then Voila! - there was the first sight of the Pyramids - the three lords towering over all that surrounds them - and your heart misses a beat. How many pictures, how many stories and still, you look at them and the first reaction is - "Impossible, how could the ancients possibly have made them!" Stone over stone over stone - without iron tools - in perfect alignment, with perfect geographical coordinates.
There's nothing I can say that hasnt already been said or cant be found elsewhere on the internet so this is a recording of all the little pieces of know-how which came as a suprise to me. For starters, the pyramids are all from the Old Kingdom, which means that they all date back to around 2750 BC. Never asked myself but if I had ever stopped to wonder, I'm sure I would have thought that they got the stones from some quarry. But no - the stones have been cut by heating rock surfaces and then chipping away at the cracks which would appear. Without iron tools! They were completely coated with limestone so they shone like white icons from a distance. The wonder of the lines hits you when you see the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid from the Step Pyramid - from a distance, the error of one emphasises the beauty, the symmetry and the mathematical precision of the other.
And finally - my beauty - have waited to see her - only to find its not a woman....the Sphinx is actually the Pharoah - Khafre! The body of a lion and the face of the Pharoah, guarding over the Pyramids. I still have unanswered questions for the Sphinx. For starters, if it is a pharoah and not a woman, why call it a Sphinx. Also, when we went to Kanark and Luxor, the face of the Pharoah had been replaced with the face of the ram headed Amun-Ra. So, what is the logic of the changeable face and the body of the lion? Sphinx is the name we of the new generation have given this depiction/ being. What did they call it?

And finally some tips - dont stay at the Cataract Hotel - five star, my foot!! I cant possibly imagine a hotel which actually runs out of water. Besides, staying at Giza, doesnt have you looking at the Pyramids out of your bedroom window (silly me for imagining so) so you might as well stay in Cairo proper. Felfella, good restaurant, good food - ask the maitre d' for tips, the order might turn out to be better. Felafel is called ta'ammiya in Egypt. They eat it only for breakfast, so if you ask for it at lunch or dinner time, you might end up with the waiter smirking at you like you are an illiterate foriegner who couldnt possibly be expected to know any better. Hummous can be asked for, even if you dont see it on the menu, though they seem to prefer Baba Ghanoush. The difference - the former is made of chick peas, the latter of aubergines.

The Egyptian museum - mind-blowing! A guide - a must-have; lots of time - even more of a must-have.

And a final note, the pictures are courtesy Thomson and my new camera. The former particularly gets a hats-off for the Step Pyamid with the camels - a new cover for Egyptian tourism.