7/11
I’m going out on a limb here, but this may be our best trip ever. We had a splendorous day.
Breakfast was on the terrace overlooking the pyramids. My plan was to pay for the day pass, pick up a guide, then walk around and see the sights. But, breakfast was a little late in the day and it was starting to really heat up. Once in the park, we didn’t encounter any guides – just camel jockeys soliciting our business. So, we pivoted. We jumped on camels, one per person, and climbed up the dunes to a viewpoint. Spectacular and fun. We spent about 1.5 hours on the camels, which was more than enough. Benji and Marina, former camel virgins, relished the experience. But, when I tipped our guide 33%, he complained! It was annoying. We moved on to exploring the inside of the middle pyramid. It was expensive and not impressive. Ilana got a little claustrophobic but she persevered.
By then it was 11:30 and the heat was getting intense. Benji and I both had headaches. We hightailed it out of the park to our hotel for cold water, cold showers, and air-conditioning.
We had a falafel feast for lunch. More showers and more air-conditioning after Benji got a handsome haircut. They charged us 100 pounds when the locals only pay 16 pounds and I actually tipped another 10 pounds. But, the haircut was gorgeous and still a fraction of what we pay at home. Also, they served me delicious hot sweet tea.
More air-conditioning and more cold showers and at 3:15, the hottest part of the day with 102°F, we ventured back out. We intended to just climb the steps of the big pyramid, but we got an enticing offer from a horse carriage driver. So, we jumped on and he took us to the viewpoint behind all the pyramids. Turns out, he was some kind of cheesy photo savant. He had us pose in all of these hysterical positions: leaning on a pyramid, pushing a pyramid, touching the tip of the pyramid, jumping, feeding the sphinx water, putting sunglasses on the sphinx, kissing the sphinx, etc. In the end, I tipped him 120% of what we agreed because I was pleased with the service. He then stuck with us and gave us a ride down and took more pictures with us. Finally, we had a feel-good service experience. But, I should also mention that our hotel does everything for us. They help us exchange money, arrange trips, give us clean towels, buy our H2O for us at a discount. They do it all.
We washed are seriously dirty, smelly clothes today on the roof deck in 102° temperatures. The clothes dried in minutes. Instant laundry done.
On the way to dinner, Benji bought from the papyrus paintings guy, we chatted with our barber and visited with all the other people we recognize down the street. Dinner was great: sides of falafel balls, baba ghanouj, spicy eggplant, deep fried potatoes, french fries, meatballs, liver and pita. I had to have seconds on the baba ghanouj because it was so good. Mango popsicles for all and a little chicken for Ilana. Then we watched a repeat of the sound and light show before bed. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.
By then it was 11:30 and the heat was getting intense. Benji and I both had headaches. We hightailed it out of the park to our hotel for cold water, cold showers, and air-conditioning.We had a falafel feast for lunch. More showers and more air-conditioning after Benji got a handsome haircut. They charged us 100 pounds when the locals only pay 16 pounds and I actually tipped another 10 pounds. But, the haircut was gorgeous and still a fraction of what we pay at home. Also, they served me delicious hot sweet tea.
More air-conditioning and more cold showers and at 3:15, the hottest part of the day with 102°F, we ventured back out. We intended to just climb the steps of the big pyramid, but we got an enticing offer from a horse carriage driver. So, we jumped on and he took us to the viewpoint behind all the pyramids. Turns out, he was some kind of cheesy photo savant. He had us pose in all of these hysterical positions: leaning on a pyramid, pushing a pyramid, touching the tip of the pyramid, jumping, feeding the sphinx water, putting sunglasses on the sphinx, kissing the sphinx, etc. In the end, I tipped him 120% of what we agreed because I was pleased with the service. He then stuck with us and gave us a ride down and took more pictures with us. Finally, we had a feel-good service experience. But, I should also mention that our hotel does everything for us. They help us exchange money, arrange trips, give us clean towels, buy our H2O for us at a discount. They do it all.
We washed are seriously dirty, smelly clothes today on the roof deck in 102° temperatures. The clothes dried in minutes. Instant laundry done.
On the way to dinner, Benji bought from the papyrus paintings guy, we chatted with our barber and visited with all the other people we recognize down the street. Dinner was great: sides of falafel balls, baba ghanouj, spicy eggplant, deep fried potatoes, french fries, meatballs, liver and pita. I had to have seconds on the baba ghanouj because it was so good. Mango popsicles for all and a little chicken for Ilana. Then we watched a repeat of the sound and light show before bed. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.
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