World Cruise Day 107/152 - Port Said, Egypt - Cairo, Giza, Pyramids & The Sphinx

Cruise day: 107/152

Ports days: 48
Sea days: 59
Countries: 18
Continents: 5
Ports: 35

It's a travel day again - an 11-hour excursion starting at 7AM awaited us this morning.  Of course, 7AM was more of a suggestion as our bus didn't pull out until 7:50AM.  Our destination?  Giza, the pyramids, and sphinx.  Along the way, we would drive through Cairo and get a look at the outskirts of this city.

First - let's chat about our bus. There seems to be a trend with buses in ports lately - hide aging upholstery with stretchy seat covers.  And, these seat covers cover the entire seat, front, and back. 

So what, you say?  Well, look at the lumpy seatback.  Those lumps are the cupholder and tray that are no longer usable.

Here was another interesting item.  This is the emergency exit in the roof.

Notice the zip tie that is securing the release handle?  You can tell OSHA isn't in Egypt.

This was our bus caravan today.

We even had a backup bus in case one broke down.

These are some of the sights as we exited Port Said.  By the way, SAID is pronounced Sigh-ED.

Something interesting to see in an Arab country - a mosque right next to a Christian church

Where everybody knows your name...

Because you need to relax when eating fish eggs

Sounds great

Another church

It's April - is that a Christmas tree and a snowman?

Washers are popular - dryers not so much

By turning the toll booth into a work of art, does it lessen the sting of paying the toll?

A mosque co-located with a gas station

Well...there goes a tank...

Another mosque at a Circle K gas station

More tanks

Our guide said this is a brand new mosque built in the Ottoman style

I want to share some of the traffic we saw.  These photos are a combination of things we saw in Port Said, on the road to Cairo, and in Cairo.  These were all well-traveled, busy roads.  Wow...

Part of our all-day police escort - and that is in addition to armed security on each bus toting submachine guns

Tomatoes anyone?

Yes, I'd like another banana, please...

Motorcycles and scooters were everywhere and split lanes - most riders did not wear helmets and based on their driving style will be organ donors in the near future

And then, the donkey cart goes by

In fact, there were a bunch of donkey carts

See the cows in the fourth truck on the right?

That looks secure

These squished vans were pretty cute

That looks really secure

I wanted to see this guy try to take a corner

Hauling...dudes?

Another donkey cart

There were a bunch of VW buses on the road

Tour buses and police were common sights

Tankers rolling through town

Tons of work trucks of all kinds

General traffic all the time

Throw in the occasional pedestrian and bicyclist

Did I mention donkey carts?

Horse carts were in the mix as well

There were lots of these three-wheeled deals

It appears that horses do not need to proceed in the direction traffic is moving

Who needs a horse trailer when you have a pick-up?

I have no idea what this guy was hauling

Of course, no day would be complete without two guys riding a camel through town

We arrived in Cairo.

I don't know what this place was, but it sure looked nice

The Nile

It was pretty impressive how they crammed this mosque between two buildings

As we cruised through Cairo, our guide explained that bad policy over the last several decades allowed building around the Nile - prime fertile land.  Egypt has a several-year project to tear down aging housing and reclaim the land for agriculture.

 We got our first glimpse of the pyramids.

We arrived at the visitor's center for a look at the pyramids and sphinx.

There are three pyramids at Giza.

• Great Pyramid
• Built for Khufu (Greek: Cheops)
• Largest of the three
• The sides measure 755.75 feet and the height measures 481feet
• Middle Pyramid
• Built for Khafre (Greek: Chephren)
• The sides measure 707.75 feet and the height measures 471 feet
• Southernmost Pyramid
• Built for Menkaure (Greek: Mykerinus)
• The sides measure 356.5 feet and the height measures 218 feet

Our guide explained that the pyramid faces all point to the main points on the compass - north, east, south, and west.  They have determined that when the stones were cut in the quarry, they were cut in the exact orientation that they were intended to be placed.  So, if a stone was to be on the west face of the pyramid, it was cut in the quarry facing west so that it faced the same way when placed.  The detail in the pyramids was incredible.  The Great Pyramid is one of the largest man-made structures on Earth.

The Great Pyramid

The Middle Pyramid

The Southernmost Pyramid

Obligatory tourist photos...

Southernmost

Southernmost with rocks in the foreground

The Great Pyramid from the Middle Pyramid

Great Pyramid

Driver-less carriage - it was just walking around

Middle Pyramid

Earthquakes caused the very outer shell of the pyramids to fall off - they were originally smooth

Southernmost

Left to right - Great, Middle, Southernmost - the Middle looks larger based on proximity and perspective, but the Great Pyramid is larger

Here's how to get a sense of just how big the Great Pyramid is.

Here is Arlona, standing at the base of the Great Pyramid

This is also Arlona, standing at the base of the Great Pyramid

This is where she is - this thing is simply massive

We then headed to the Sphinx - here are the first views from the bus.

This was the mummification chamber where the bodies were mummified

The construction was amazing 90-degree corners formed from solid granite or sandstone with granite on the surface

The floor was beautiful

I have no idea how these huge stones were placed

Vendors at the pyramids were obnoxious and relentless.  Pro tip: don't even acknowledge them when they approach you.  If you do, they will follow you and won't leave you alone. It was awful.

After our visit, we headed to the Marriott for lunch.  

We enjoyed a nice buffet lunch and then the bus stopped at a gift shop featuring Egyptian-made items.  Nothing hit our fancy so we walked away empty-handed which was fine with us.  Then, it was a 3.5-hour ride back to Port Said.

The sun set as we drove and provided a nice show.

As we sailed tonight, the mosques were all lit up for Ramadan.

We departed Port Said and Egypt.

We are now en route for Ashdod, Israel.  We are scheduled to arrive tomorrow around noon and will be anchoring so that Israeli health officials can come on the ship and test everyone for COVID.  It all seems pretty silly as we are all PCR tested daily and there are zero cases on the ship.  So tomorrow will be a sea day and once Israel decides we are good to go, we'll dock in Ashdod for one day and then proceed on to Haifa.

Since Israel (and Turkey) are on the same time - UTC+3, we moved our clocks forward again tonight so we lose an hour tonight and will be on this time for a week or so.

Gosh, we're looking forward to more COVID testing tomorrow afternoon.  Yay! (That's sarcasm)