Cairo (Egypt)

I travelled to Egypt with a company called Explore Worldwide who specialise in what they call "small group exploratory holidays". They are perfect for those travelling alone, as I was, or for those on a budget or for anyone who wants to go off the beaten track but still have some back-up in the form of a guide and a group of fellow travellers!

Their web site is www.exploreworldwide.com and my trip to Egypt was the Nile Felucca Sailtrek, this is part 1 of my travelogue covering day 1 of the 10 day trip - if you want to read about the other places we visited please see my other opinions.I've wanted to see Egypt for most of my life, I'm not sure when this started but I have a fascination with ancient history particularly the Egyptians, Incas and the Aztecs. A couple of years ago finding myself single with money to spend on myself and in need of a holiday I began to think about fulfilling my dream and visiting the Pyramids. However, being a single woman, travelling to Egypt without a companion did not seem sensible and as most of my friends have young children finding a travel companion seemed unlikely so I began to dismiss the idea. Then a friend lent me "The Alchemist" by Paolo Coelho, a modern fable about following your dreams (I intend writing about the book in an article soon) and it inspired me to find a way. Then a work colleague, also a single woman who loves to travel to out of the way places, introduced me to a travel company called Explore (see my article Lone Traveller - you can see the world) and on 20 November 1999 I was on the plane to Cairo.
Arriving in Cairo at midnight and being driven straight to the hotel, my first real sight of the city was early the next morning when we set out through Cairo to visit the pyramids. Driving through the morning rush hour and looking out at the city I realised I wasn't just in another country but another continent. I was in Africa.
Cairo is one of the world's most populous cities and looking out at the busy streets it was easy to believe. The roads teemed with traffic cars & motorbikes next to donkey carts and camels and people, thousands of people.
The contrast of the city is what hits you most you travel along the Avenue of the pyramids through skyscrapers and traffic and suddenly there they are. The Pyramids. The city ends at the base of the sphinx and the pyramids themselves are on higher ground at the edge of the desert a mere few hundred yards from a KFC and a neon sign advertising Coca Cola. This somehow doesn't detract from them but adds to the impact of first seeing them. You don't get to watch them growing bigger across miles of desert you simply come upon them above the skyline of the city and you are there.
At the only remaining wonder of the ancient world.
I'd spent so much of my life dreaming about seeing the pyramids that my greatest fear had been that I would be disappointed but I needn't have worried. As I first saw them I was struck speechless and slightly choked up. The sheer size is awe inspiring and then you remember how old they are and how long they have stood there and it makes you feel even smaller. You find yourself questioning the sheer determination it must have taken to build such imposing and longlasting monuments to human endeavour.
The Sphinx is below the pyramids within a temple complexa nd simply exudes beauty. It's serene expression acquires new meaning when you realize it stares out across the modern city of Cairo, with the bustle of 20th Century humans and it's permanent cloak of smog. The expression seems like that of an elderly relative looking on indulgently at the antics of the younger generation. You look at it and wonder what of the 20th Century will still be here in 5 thousand years time.
The pyramids had always held a fascination for me and now that I've seen them that fascination is even greater and I can't wait to visit them again.
Although I saw many other amazing monuments whilst I was in Egypt (which I will write about soon) I didn't see anything that compared to that first sight of the pyramids, and I don't know if I ever will.

If you want to hear more about my adventures in Egypt keep looking as I intend to post more articles recounting the whole amazing experience.