Traveling to Egypt had long been a dream of mine. Since I was a child, I had been fascinated by the ancient Egyptians. My childhood days were spent pouring over the piles of National Geographic magazines in our family basement, and their stories on mummies, ancient monuments, and cryptic hieroglyphs captured my imagination. My parents even purchased a stamping hieroglyph set from the Royal Ontario Museum, when the King Tut exhibition was mounted. I loved that stamp set, and it brought me hours of joy as I imagined exploring the monuments etched in these markings one day.
In the early days of our relationship, as we chatted online, Moustafa and I bonded over this interest in the history of his country. It was a topic we discussed at length, and he continually promised to take me to each and every place boasting this rich history.
When I visited Cairo, there was no question that we would visit the Pyramids of Giza. Moustafa took great care in planning this excursion for us, as he knew just how important this was for me. He arranged a private tour guide for the day and we planned our afternoon at the necropolis.
While visiting Cairo, we often avoided the mid-day sun, choosing to roam about in the evenings and at night throughout the city. My fair skin and the intense sun during the Egyptian summer were not exactly compatible, but this day we had to make an exception to visit this monument.
I dressed in long loose pants and the lightest blouse I could find, wearing a fedora to protect my head and face. It was intensely hot, but that did not deter me from the excitement of this long dreamed about experience.
We met our tour guide near the entrance of the Giza complex, after negotiating with the security to hand inspect my many rolls of film, avoiding the x-ray scanner. At first, security thought the rolls of medium format film were rounds of ammunition, however Moustafa gracefully convinced them that this was indeed used in one of the cameras I brought that day (yes, of course, I brought two cameras for this - one film and one digital).
As we entered the complex, the pyramids were in the distance. We passed by a long line of merchants selling their souvenirs. Normally, I would have been accosted by each one them, trying to sell their wares, but the tour guide prevented this with a simple gesture of his hand.
We stopped at this spot in front of the Sphinx, the Pyramids towering in the background to take a few pictures. I did not like relinquishing my camera, however, in hindsight, I am happy we have these photos to help remember this experience. The guide forced us into some silly touristy poses, similar to when you visit Piza and stand with your hands outstretched as if you're supporting the leaning tower. We took our hands and held the tip of the Great Pyramid, then pretended to kiss the Sphinx.
After our photo session, we came to the horse drawn cart that would take us around the site. Bless that beast for managing the heat, as without that ride and the cover provided by the carriage, I would have been burnt toast that day.
We explored the entire site, through the ancient ruins, past the Sphinx, and around many angles of the Pyramids. We also entered the Cheops Museum, where artifacts were displayed along with Khufu's spectacularly preserved ship, an incredible sight to see from the various levels inside. It was nice to note the care and preservation attended to these treasures, as some parts of the necropolis were clearly unkempt due to over-tourism.
My absolutely favourite part of the day was when we were able to enter one of the monuments and explore inside the passageways and into a tomb. My venerance for art and ancient artifact were clearly not observed by most of the visitors to this spot, as the walls were smooth from the touch of many hands over time, even over areas where some remnant of hieroglyphs were visible. This lack of respect for the preservation of the site, made me understand why most of the other interior monuments were off-limits to the average visitor.
I look forward to our next visit to the complex, and to other ancient sites in the country. Moustafa has promised a trip to the Valley of the Kings and the monuments of Luxor and Aswan in upper Egypt on our next trip to his native land. I can't wait to explore his country's sites and history further.