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A beautiful thing is never perfect
quick trip to the pyramids
a sudden slightly shrill scream escaped from me as the man ran in front of our cab after being picked up from the Cairo airport.
We were speeding along the freeway when it happened, and I having never experienced anything like it before, thought it was a crazy man that just about lost his life.
When it happened several more times before arriving at the hotel, I realized I was wrong.
The hotel was lovely and the front desk attendant extremely friendly as we checked in and were shown to our room.
We dropped off our bags and followed him out to the terrace for a light snack and some delicious red juice of an unknown origin.
I had to catch my breath as we stepped out onto the terrace.
There they were towering majestically into the sky, grander than I ever could have imagined.
Chris is in charge of booking hotels when we travel, and so the locations are usually a surprise to me.
This one was the best surprise of all of our travels to date. I had no idea that we would literally be staying across the street from the pyramids.
check out this view at breakfast the next morning from our balcony.
Breakfast wasn’t bad either!
Egypt has been on our radar for a while, and we decided to take an extended layover there as we made our way home from Europe.
However, the timing wasn’t ideal, as we arrived during Ramadan.
Chris and I are both foodies and when we travel our favorite things to do usually revolve around the local cuisine.
This was difficult to do because of Ramadan and the first evening we arrived the only option we had for dinner was the Pizza Hut down the street.
Attitude is everything when traveling though, and our first dinner in Egypt was very unique.
Our view ended up being pretty epic as we enjoyed our pizza.
Although it was a little disappointing that we wouldn’t get to try authentic Egyptian food, it would give us another reason to return one day.
We usually don’t do the whole tour thing when we travel, as we prefer to explore on our own, but with it being Ramadan in Egypt we decided to hire a driver/tour guide for the day.
We would be flying out late that night, so we had to pack everything we wanted to do and see into one day.
Our eager to please guide picked us up bright and early in the morning and drove us across the street to the Pyramids of Giza where our tour would begin.
We started with an epic camel ride around the pyramids, followed by a climb on one of the giants, and lastly a photo shoot with the Sphinx.
next on our tour was a small papyrus factory/art store.
We were offered a glass of the popular red juice (hibiscus juice) as we were shown the Egyptian customs of making paper out of papyrus.
After selecting a couple paintings to add to our collection at home, we were off to the next destination on our tour.
Essential oils are a large part of Egyptian culture as they were what were used in the mummification process, so next our guide took us to a sweet-smelling essential oil boutique where we smelled, sampled and learnt all about the aromatic oils.
Of course, we couldn’t leave empty handed, and I was pleased with our new little collection of oils in their delicate but oh so beautiful tiny bottles.
The Egypt sun was intense, and we were very thankful for the air-conditioned car as we made our way to the museum, the last stop before lunch on the Nile.
It was surreal as we made our way through isles of stately Egyptian statues, magnificent jewels and precious artifacts.
It got real when we stepped into the room filled with cases of mummies. They still had hair, teeth and faces just like us, the only difference being they had been dead for thousands of years. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing as I stared into their withered faces.
After getting our feel of the fascinating Egyptian history our guide took us to the Nile river where a boat and lunch was waiting for us. The breeze on the river was refreshing and a nice break from the intense heat.
After a lovely afternoon on the Nile we could tell that our guide was eager to join his family for their Ramadan feast and we were exhausted after our eventful day, so after a quick stop at the market we had him drop us off at the airport earlier than planned.
Because our flight wasn’t leaving until late in the night, we booked a room by the hour at the airport hotel.
We had no idea what to expect, but the airport hotel was amazing.
The room was gorgeous and very luxurious.
Our view was overlooking a very large, modern and enticing pool area and we threw on our bathing suits and headed that way.
As wonderful as the cool water felt It was slightly awkward for me because all the women swimming were dressed head to toe in robes. I felt like I might as well have been naked in my bathing suit.
After swimming we made our way to the poolside bar where we smoked shisha and had a few cold brews before heading to dinner.
Dinner was buffet style and I can honestly say the best buffet I had ever had the pleasure of partaking in.
I was feeling quite tipsy and worn out from the day and I can’t even recall what I ate, but I do remember that everything was flavorful and satisfying and it was a perfect end to a perfect day.
A few hours of sleep in a bed fit for royalty and it was time for us to say goodbye to Egypt.
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