Egypt, final installment

Next stop the Sphinx! We heard more about Egypt's history as we checked out the Sphinx and surrounding tombs and embalming chambers. Then on to see more of the town of Giza.Our next stop was a perfume factory, but they didn't make perfume as far as we could tell. They produce flower essence. This place is owned by a Bedouin family and they have an oasis out in the desert where they raise flowers etc that are used to extract the essence. They crush the flowers between 2 granite wheels with a hole in the middle and the essence drips out. This is sold to large perfume countries around the world. No oil or water is added, it is 100% pure. The essence is used as a base for massage therapy, aromatherapy and perfume. There was also a glassblower that made ornate bottles.We went to a papyrus shop and learned the method of making papyrus and then did a little shopping.
It was 4:00 and finally time for lunch. We had lunch at a local restaurant with the pyramid view and then went to check into our hotel. It also had a pyramid view.
We were picked up by our tour manger and driver for the drive to our Nile River dinner cruise. Driving through Cairo after dark was quite an experience. This is another place where there are 6 lanes of traffic on 4 lanes of road. The cars are all driving like they are pebbles rolling down a hill, every which way. In fact we almost got hit by one guy and then we saw him about one block later. He had hit a nice van and the people had yanked him out of the car and were hitting him. Anyway, Cairo at night is really an experience. We passed donkeys, camels, bikes, horses, nice cars, women in burkas, little holes in the wall where people were cooking etc. I tried like mad to take it all in. There were people everywhere.

We arrived at the dinner boat and had a nice cruise.There was also a belly dancer. Actually she was more a boob dancer than a belly dancer. She really had quite a technique. There was also a Bedouin dancer that was really great. It was a man in a dress with 3 layers of skirts. He could really get them going on all different levels. Roscoe tells us they are called a whirling dervish.

The next day we did it all in reverse starting at 4:20 AM. We were back on this ship by 9:30 AM which was a great feeling. We were beat. On the way to the airport we were shocked to see the city going at full steam at 4:30 I asked Ackmed what was going on. He said, “It's Cairo! It's always busy.”

Sail away was at 1 PM and it was a great view of the harbour. We also saw a sand spout for lack of a better name. It was really windy, notice the spout in front of the mountains.