Monday, March 8, 2010

Tourist Day, Cairo



"We do not even risk the adventure alone, for the heros of all time have gone before us, the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the heros path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god....., where we had thought to travel outward, we come to the center of our own existence, and where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world."
Joseph Campbell 1990

Today we took a tourist day. Met up with the Oasis group and nine of us went to the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and the Egyptian Museum. With four million cars, many motor cycles, numerous horse and donkey carts and a few camels traffic does not move fast. The little over 20 miles we covered today took almost 4 hours by minibus with the driver making a number of u turns to try and find a street where traffic was moving. No doubt some day Cairo may become the first city to achieve total grid lock. On one elevated highway we saw many passengers get out and walk to avoid the wait.

The Egyptian Museum is an incredible place. We had a great guide which really helped. At the Pyramids got to see the Solar Boat Museum which houses an over 100 foot long boat made of cedar from Lebanem which was buried by the Pyramid. It is nicely displayed above the pit it was excaveted from. At 6:00 we meet at hotel to head for the train station for the 12 hour train ride to Aswan.

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