Cultural Cairo

Visiting the Egyptian museum while you're in Cairo is a must. We are absolutely no museum-freaks, but this is something you have to see. When we arrive there it's nice and quiet; we even have Tutanchamon's golden mask all to ourselves, which is rare. The atmospheric old building is literally filled to the top with the most beautiful treasures out of Egyptian history. A lot of the treasures is three- to four-thousand years old. We are impressed and touched by the maquettes and small statues that depict everyday life of the common citizens in that era. Besides those we enjoy seeing the treasures that are found in Tutanchamon's tomb, the mummies, the enormous statues, drawings, hieroglyphics and tomb-gifts. We hear that the museums cellars are filled to the brim with treasures they can't show in the museum anymore. A new museum is being built, close to the pyramids of Gizeh. When the museum is ready and we've cycled all around Africa, we'll pay it a visit.

The pyramids of Gizeh, southwest of town, together with Nigel. A long time ago they laid in the middle of the desert, now Cairo has reached just about the foot of the sphinx. The first sight of the pyramids bring tears to our eyes, and not because of the wind: we were sitting in a cab. Despite the fact that we've seen so many things by now and we've reached everywhere by bicycle, this is a very special treat. We're very glad we haven't booked an organised tour to the pyramids, like they're offering everywhere. We've got all the time in the world to discover everything by foot. It takes us over three hours to have a good look at sphinx, pyramids and the surroundings. We've seen everything except for the sunboat, that's stored in a horrendous ugly building in front of the Cheops-pyramid.

Only the Chephren-pyramid is accessible, which we don't really think is worth the money or the trouble. The entrance to the pyramid is special indeed: via a kind of ventilation-shaft about 65 metres long and one metre high you descent at a gradient of about 45 degrees, so you have to bend very deep. On the inside the only thing to be seen is a warm and empty stone room.

The pyramids are all over 4.500 years old and built on the west bank of the Nile, where the sun sets. The living used to live on the east bank, where the sun rises, the fruitful area. The dead were buried in the barren desert on the westbank.
Every night there is a sound- and lightshow at the pyramids, every time in a different language. The entrance-fee of over seven euro is too much for our budget, so we decide to watch the show from outside the gates. The pyramids are lit in several colours and laserbeams show different symbols. The show is accompanied by a swollen and dramatic voice that tells the story of the pharao's.

A few days later we visit the pyramids of Saqqara and Dahsur by bicycle. A trip of almost 100 kilometres passing Nile, canals, old farming villages, beautiful vistas on the Nile, fields and pyramids.
Saqqara is a strip of land about seven kilometers long in the western desert and contains eleven pyramids and hundreds of tombs of subordinates in a huge necropolis. We inspect the steppyramid of Djoser very carefully. This is the oldest stone monument in the world, built in 2.650 BC by Imhotep. It's an amazing experience to view all of the monuments by bicycle from all sides, sometimes walking through the sand, then cycling again over gravel- and stonestrips. Besides the pyramids there are tombs, statues and a beautiful vista on Gizeh and her pyramids in the distance. To the west we see the ancient past, to the east the present: the enormous city surrounded by smoking industries.

Dahsur, a bit more to the south, is a strip over three kilometres long with pyramids from the fourth and twelfth dynasty. The red pyramid is the oldest pyramid on this earth that can be visited. Via the same kind of entrance as the pyramid of Chephren we arrive in two anti-chambres with twelve-metre high step-shaped ceilings and a fifteen-metre high burial chambre with step-shaped ceiling. Everything is made out of huge stone squares, we think basalt. The bend-pyramid was a experiment of Sneferu's architects and the first attempt to build a pyramid with smooth sides instead of steps. Very special is the fact that the outer layer of the pyramid is almost entirely intact.

During our stay in Cairo we try to get visa for Sudan. To get visa we require a 'letter of recommandation' of the Dutch embassy. The embassy is situated in the quarter Zamalek, in the northern part of the Nile-island Gezira. Here you find lots of embassies, most of their staff live here as well. It's very clear this is one of Cairo's richest and most luxurious parts. On our way to the embassy we pass the 'Cairo tower'. This 185 metres high tower is built in 1960-1961 by president Nasser. America gave him the money to buy weapons in order to fight Russia; America thought the relations between Egypt and Russia were too tight. Egypt cashed the money and used it like they thought fit. The appropriate nickname for the tower is: 'Johnson's erection'.
After waiting for a while in the Dutch embassy we get the necessary document: for free, because it was already manufactured the day before. Normally you pay about 13 euro for it.

At the embassy of Sudan we apply for visa, but we're sent away a few times with nothing achieved. The third time our request is accepted and we can collect our passports three days later, with stamps and everything. We're very relieved.

One week after our arrival in Cairo, the Eid al Adha starts, the sacrificial feast of Islam. This big feast signifies the period of Hadji, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The feast lasts for three days, most offices and shops are closed, it's a real family-happening. Striking are the large amounts of youngsters that roam the streets and party these days.

Everybody who can afford to do so, buys a sheep to have it slaughtered on the first day of the feast and gives part of it to the poor. When we go out these days we really have to take care whilst walking in the streets: there are puddles of blood everywhere and we don't like red shoes. Streets are filled with big stacks of sheepskins, the smell of blood and intestines hangs in the air. To make the town look even more festive a lot of Egyptians dip their hands in the blood and print them on houses and cars. The whole town is filled with the prints after the big slaughtering. We're happy Christianity doesn't know rituals like this.