Goodbye Egypt

By the next morning, I was ready to leave Egypt. But I still had one very important task: the Pyramids. We arrived early, before it got too hot, but also before the pollution could burn off. I was surprised to see how close to the city the pyramids are. We rented horses, which took us around all of the pyramids and to the sphinx. This was the perfect way to see them.





The pyramids were truly spectacular and very worthy of their status as the only remaining Wonder of the World. The stones making up the pyramids are as big as 15 tons. Until the 15th Century, they were the tallest building in the world.

After catching up on air conditioning at the hotel and having our second-best meal in Egypt, we attempted to visit the Citadel. But it had closed early for Ramadan. We were able to visit the Al Kazahar mosque, though. It was beautiful from the ground floor, but the view from the minaret was breathtaking. I t was so peaceful, I didn't want to leave.


On our walk back to find a taxi, a nice guy who was studying English and wanted to practice came up to us. After being hustled so many times in the last week, our initial reaction was to ignore him. But he was insistent that we explore the handicraft market where we could see all of the crafts that we sold at the tourist market actually being made. He seemed genuinely interested in showing us around, and I'm glad that this impression was accurate. He took us all over a part of Egypt that I'm sure most never see. There were some scary looking alleys, covered in trash and muck. But it was all worth being able to see the locals at work.


We weren't hassled or hustled, only welcomed.

Now, looking back on it, there were so many wonderful people in Egypt that were genuinely concerned for us and that wanted us to have a good impression of Egypt and feel welcome. It's easy to focus on the negative, but the same night I was violated at the bazaar, two shopkeepers helped us. One warned me about a man that was following us and another let me stand in his shop while the mosh of people rushed past. They were both very protective. Although I felt violated, irritated, and overwhelmed at times, I never felt seriously in danger (well except maybe crossing the street or riding in a taxi cab). I don't think I would go back (at least not without my husband), but I'm glad I went and I feel that it is a place that one should see.