Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Pyramids and beyond

For the end of the day: or just after the camel ride:

Camels and Cairo

Cairo is considered the cultural capital of the middle east. It is particularly known for the pyramids and the Egyptian museum.

Within the culture it is considered impolite to point any part of your foot at someone or to show someone the soul of your shoe. Not visiting an acquaintance for a long period of time shows how insignificant you feel about you relationship, and it is a compliment for the food if you take a second helping. The people I met were all very helpful and polite.

I saw the Khan El Khalili Bazaar early in the morning. It was actually quite calm with fewer people than I expected. Because it was early in the day. I was told that the way to pronounce the name was Ham Hem Halee. With a short a,e,In first two syllables and long ee in the last syllable. So, many things to see. Jewelry, backpacks, statuettes of all kinds, beautiful long gowns, shoes, sandals, slippers. Linen pants with camels on them and rugs of all kinds. I would like a dozen for my home. A Uber driver said to be sure to get a good price by haggling. He said if they say 100 come back with 50 but don't let them talk you up higher than 70. Inside the bazaar helpful people were only a step away. I saw too many items to describe them all.

The camel ride was just amazing. Mounting was done while the beast rested on the ground. Good thing because once it stood up its long legs (6 feet plus at the shoulder, 7 feet plus at the hump), put us quite a ways up in the air. The first camel kept its head low at the guides shoulder, the others held their heads high and were strung out in a line. Attached to each other by long leads. We waved and called out hellos to other riders as different tours walked past each other. The ride was an hour long. The camels were decked out in beautiful bridles and colorful rugs under their saddles. I enjoyed the long languid walking gate that covered a lot of ground quite quickly as we strolled along. We mainly rode near the area where the pyramids could be seen and there was a lot of sand.

A sign at the entrance said, "Built for Eternity" as we entered the pyramids. You must buy a ticket. There are security guards everywhere who check tickets. Once we were walking on the grounds near the pyramids there were stray dogs wandering among the crowds. I noticed there were also Arabian horses decked out for tours. Once I saw a two-wheel cart being pulled by a team of ponies.

The pyramids were awesome and not anything like I have seen in pictures. The bricks were larger than I expected. One of the pyramids was bent having been not formed properly. I was reminded of a place in the Exodus where the Hebrew's were punished because of an argument Moses had with Pharoh. Their punishment was to make their own bricks for building as well as to maintain their schedule for building. I think the pyramids we were visiting are not the older ones that are not on the tourist guides list for visiting. It was a very long day. I enjoyed everything and learned things I did not ever think about as they applied to Egypt and the pyramids.

Riding camels is fun.

Bye for now.