paperwork, ponies and pyramids

I retrieved my lost bag from the airport in what felt like a scene out of Midnight Express...After calling Egypt Air baggage services for 24 hours with no answer, I finally decided to go to the airport myself. Their partner, United, had found and sent my bag on to Cairo, and I was assured that it had arrived.

The process getting it back would have been completely maddening if I hadn't taken the approach that surfing the Egyptian bureaucracy was an important part of the whole experience. No way was my bag ever going to be delivered to my hotel. Once I figured that out and committed to the long cab ride back to the airport, I was determined not to come back w/o my bag. "passport please" "wait here" "you must talk to the police now" "wait here" "take this form and follow me" "wait here" stamp stamp wait wait "follow me" "found your bag? wait here"...So nice to take a shower and change into clean clothes.

The next day, I headed to Giza with my wonderful driver, Magdy, who had helped me retrieve my bag from the airport. He an "old man" (his words)and has a long grey beard, though I guess he's not really much older than I am. He a pious Muslim, and we had some interesting exchanges. He went out of his way to ensure that I was happy and really did a nice job looking out for me.

Great Pyramid of Giza

The pyramids are amazing from any view. From Cairo, you can barely see them through the pollution, but the sillouette in the haze is very impressive. Coming into Giza, getting the closer view really shows the scale of things. The pyramids of Giza are the oldest as well as the only surviving "wonders of the ancient world" - and were built in the earliest days of the Egyptian civilization. By the time of Ramses and the Valley of the Kings 1500 years later, they were trying to recapture the grand scale of the old days.

Happy Camel

Magdy took me right to his friend who runs a stable of horses and camels outside of the barrier to the pyramids. I had already decided that I wanted to rent a ride out into the desert and not just see the pyramids from the visitor's center flanked with multitudes of air-con coaches. I should have bargained more than I did and quickly got hustled onto a horse and assigned a "boy" to look after me. Feeling like an oversized kid on the pony ride at the zoo, I sucked up my pride and rode on trying to focus on the experience of being at such a remarkable site.


Seeing the pyramids from the desert side opposite where the tour busses queue was well worth the small extravagence. "Baksheesh" was paid to the officials patroling the desert and at the many checkpoints. Keep business flowing and keeps a smile on the faces of the police. Cost me almost $2 to have my picture talken with these two men in blue.

my security detail (so long as I pay)

As we headed back to town after almost three hours on horseback, my young guide decided to put the squeeze on me for a bigger tip, even though what I gave him seemed on the high side to me. In Egypt, this is considered very bad form, and as we were leaving, I related the story to my driver who immediately stopped the car, wanting to go back and confront the boy. Mixed feelings on my part, but obviously not a good business practice - especially in a place like Egypt that takes seriously its reputation for hospitality. My driver was much more upset than I was.

bad boy

Between the cab ride to Giza, 3 hours on a horse, and more bouncing around in the car getting to the step pyramid at Saqqara and a side trip to the train station to book my ticket on a sleeper train to Aswan, I felt like I had spent the day on a roller coaster that never stopped. Amazing place, but hard work.

from the tour bus perspective

being Japanese in Egypt