Egypt Diary Part Uno

NOTE: I would really appreciate it if NONE of these photos are used without my permission. Please Email hunneyb at msn dot com if anything thank you!

in case you're wondering the photos were taken with my Nikon D40x and Canon G10(not in photo)

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DAY 1 - GIZA & SAQQARA

Ahlan wa Sahlan! (means hello)

finally, I've gathered enough strength and overcame the devil called procrastination to deliver you my longest yet greatest Travel Post of all my blogpost - Egypt - Land of the Sand. (quite lame, I know)

Meh, I'm starting to sound like the guy who does that

"Coming soooonnnnn to theatres near youuuuuuu" (how much does he get per ad anyway?)

ok back to the main story:

So I left Homeland on Egypt Air which to me, is the worst airline I've ever encountered. The whole journey was not pleasant at all, with the loo smelling like pee and wet all over and the food - should I even start?

Why Egypt Air? it's the only direct 10 hours flight to Egypt and dad did not want to waste time lingering around in another airport...

But Oh well, I reached Egypt like super early at Cairo Airport. About 7-8ish a.m. and boarded the bus straight. yep, no shower etc.

First thing I saw was sand and desert....

more sand and desert...oh and the nile....and sand and desert...

houses!

sand and desert....

and before I know it, one of the first living thing I saw (other than people in cars driving past our bus) was a guy on a donkey...

-_-"    totally made my morning

 That's when I knew, we were in Giza (30 minutes from Cairo Airport)

Behold, the majestic wonder of the worldddddddd~

The Giza Pyramid!

 

mandi tak mandi, camwhore tetap pasti!

 

Well, there are about 100+ pyramids scattered all over Egypt but the most famous one and remaining one is the Kufu Pyramid in Giza.

 

Big Pyramids were built for the Kings and they were built only from the 3rd to the 15th Dynasty.

Why until the 15th? well apparently they bury these kings with treasures right? so these pyramids are damn damn huge that they attract attention from far far away (trust me, the whole city can see the pyramids) thus it was like a  huge flag waving at thieves in the old days.

 

 walkpath around the pyramid

(wear shoes, not heeled boots. prepare yourself for a lot of climbing etc)

 

each of the rocks weighs about 2 to 5 tonnes, and there's millions of them in ONE single pyramid.

 

 the pyramids were not just rocks but they were covered in limestones and the tip were topped with a mini gold pyramid. Unfortunately, the top were stolen and the limestone cover were removed by the old Arabs when they ruled the country for other purposes. Thus, we're left with the brown brick colored pyramid like the one you see today.

 

we had an hour to go around the pyramid and camwhore.

TIP: avoid camel rides as they will first quote you a cheap price, after the ride they will ask for more. AND another VERY important tip, do NOT let anyone else other than YOU know hold your camera and take a picture of you. They will charge you, and if you refuse to pay, they will TAKE your camera. They will definitely pester you with everything, but just ignore them and walk OFF.

 

one of these camel riders saw me 'stealing' a picture and asked me for money which I just pretended to not hear and walk very very far away in a very very fast motion. be careful guys, they will do ANYTHING for money.

 walked around the huge pyramid

(climbing isn't allowed, just don't let anyone catch you doing it)

saw another three smaller pyramids for the two wives and daughter.

and more photos:

remember, NO STEALING MY PHOTOS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 we took like another 5 minutes ride to a higher point just near the pyramids to take more photos at a different angle so you can see all three big pyramids...

for me, it was time to change lens!

and how can we NOT take this very embarassing photo doing the 'egyptian' in front of 100 other tourist..yeah, thanks  -_-"

Then we left the lookout point for another famous architectural figure in the world....

THE SPHINX

The Sphinx is actually a gateway towards the pyramids where the body of the King would be brought from the Nile River. The body is a Lion's and the head of the human is supposed to resemble the King's face so that their spirit can recognize the body for reincarnation.

 

The ancient Egyptian looked at the King as the Son of God therefore when the Muslims ruled the country, the destroyed the nose of the sphinx to show that it was only made out of stone.

typical tourist photo...complete with unknown male on the side  -_-"

Left the Sphinx to Saqqara which is about 30km away from Giza

had oriental food, which is a typical Egyptian food

carbs carbs and more carbs

Saqqara is where all the mustabah is. Mustabahs are tombs, for the commoners or anyone below the ranking of King.

The Ancient Egyptian social classes were divided into 5:

- Kings

- Priests, Ministers

- Noblemen

- Dancers

- Peasants/ Farmers

In the photo below is a Mustabah, or more famously known as the "Step Pyramid"

one of my fave photos in this series:

the rays were not edited in, it was a natural thing caused by the super bright sun

The tomb goes down under the pyramid to about 28 metres deep 0_o

and it was built by an architect named Imhotep, no. not the one in the movie. those are bollocks.

ok more photos:

 

If you're wondering, Saqqara is located near the ancient ruins of Memphis, where only a few rubbles of garbage left on it and the housing area seriously reminds me of the slums in India

 

 

and then back to Giza to our hotel

shower (finally), rest and DINNER!

more oriental egyptian food

since it's was the Christmas week, there was a gingerbread house display in the hotel I was staying at, complete with miniature Santas!

 

 

 

 

 wait for the 2nd part Egypt soon!