where's wolmut?: walking egyptian

laurel refuses to give up the hammer pants

million dollar pyramid

suckered into buying these hats

laurel says:
to go to egypt or not go to egypt, that was the question. in the end we decided we could not be an hour flight away from one of the 7 wonders of the world and not pay a visit. so we risked life and limb and headed to cairo. and i am so happy we did. the pyramids of giza are an absolute masterpiece, 4000 years old and still going strong. one of the blessings and curses of the current situation in egypt is that we had these gems nearly all to ourselves. we spent 4 hours walking like an egyptian around the 3 main pyramids and glorious sphinx on a perfect 85 degree day. i was amazed at the sheer scale of the structures and found it difficult to imagine how the slaves/laborers (depending on who you ask) hoisted the huge blocks of limestone 4 centuries ago into exactly the perfect dimensions. you can actually enter 2 of the pyramids and see some of the ancient tombs inside. it is claustrophobic but worth it. and keeping watch over it all is the entrancing sphinx, whose deformed face has an almost hypnotic effect. the only annoyance was having to dodge the extremely aggressive touts who try to sell you everything from a camel ride to a keychain to a pet rock. it wears on you, but at the end of the day you can't help but feel bad for them. tourism to egypt has absolutely plummeted, and everyone is trying to get by. our only brush with downtown cairo was a quick loop thru tahrir square on the way to the airport, the remnants of the previous days' million man protest still very much intact. i truly hope egypt can pull together a democratic election process and return to peace in the near future. i would love to come back one day and experience more of what this ancient and marvelous country has to offer once the political environment simmers down.

camel valet

he couldn't resist

enjoying the pyramids all to ourselves

emil says:
the pyramids of egypt are a monsterous mathematically intricate site to behold. that said i am afraid to wikipedia the number of slave laborers used and killed in the process of their construction. we landed in cairo and headed straight for these collosal structures. the sheer mass and scale is difficult to comprehend, particularly considering these were built circa 2500 bc. the largest of the pyramids took 23 years to complete using 2.3 million building blocks weighing an average of 2.5 tons each. pretty cool considering most of us couldn't build a miniature version using a lego set. but the tourism flow to egypt as a result of the clashes in tahir square make for a rather bleak and sad scene. the area around the pyramids is ground zero for aggressive touts and pushers of all sorts of unnecessary tchotchkes. there are just not enough tourists at the pyramids and, while great for us, you can tell it was really causing some hurt to the local people. one other cool side trip was on the way to airport the cab driver took us for a spin around the infamous tahir square just a day after a 1 million person march. it was an intense little area but here too it seems the media is creating an image of greater disarray and chaos than is really the case.