Meeting the Riddler

For a few days, le spleen Baudelairien tempted me. Despite the great professional and social experience, it may have been one too many stares, one too many articles about Egypt or life circumstances, it started to dawn on me. One uplifting light in the horizon was the upcoming visit of relatives and there is nothing like kinship love! 

In Istanbul, the thought of having visitors first induced a feeling of pride and personally, I paraded Istanbul to my friends and family, head high up around the tourist sites and smiling endlessly, my eyes full of love and satisfaction as we cruised on the Bosphorous and embraced one hos geldiniz after the next.

Selling Cairo is tough and it would be lying but to say that pride was the predominant feeling. The exaggerating and disgustingly sensationalist media have depicted an incredibly unfair picture of the capital of Egypt and the Spleen wasn’t helping.

The week end consisting of Friday and Saturday, the options are limited and Friday, after prayer (around 1 o’clock) isn’t the best time to be in town, as protests are still happening, and even though they have significantly decreased, the curfew is on at 7.00 pm.

Well, “they” say that routine is deadly, seek adventures! And we did, we went to town, Giza, to the pyramids on Friday morning and I shall stress that “they” are damn right!

The mist, which has never been so strong since our arrival, greeted us Friday morning and took a long time to fade; it actually left Cairo by noon. As you drive through town and the far glimpses of rubbish and poverty come into focus, you glance at your relatives to see the expressions in their eyes, and it is great to see a non judgmental look, simply an observation; this is the way it is.

It was difficult to distinguish whether we had arrived, as everything in the far was blurry and foggy, yet, the same way as I first glimpsed at the pyramids, I saw the Sphinx, in the distance, between two decaying buildings. It was a one second sight, and in that time, my throat was tight, my eyes were watery and it had touched my heart.

A dream came true around 8.30 and it lasted 3 hours. As you grow up, there are a few dreams that follow you, despite the way life goes, some dreams just remain. One of mine, as a little girl was to visit Egypt and see the pyramids, as I grew older, it never changed. The kind of obsession that made me steal books from libraries, about the history, the temples and the civilisation. 

When my appointment in Cairo was confirmed, it was my first thought and I became antsy about visiting the place, but never dared until now, due to troubles in town.

As you walked in the site, you pay for your passes and the beauty strikes you, mist of not. Here he is: 

8.30 am, and nobody is on the site. It is just us and the Sphinx. The story of his riddle overwhelms us and as we walk closer and around him, you selfishly appreciate the lack of tourists, because it is as though someone has booked the entire site for you (and the camels and donkeys).

There are a few sellers, who do come to you and try to sell but it does NOT affect negatively your experience, they do not persist after a couple of “laa”(no) and our Egyptian friend and guide had a courteous, yet determined “laa” indeed.

The beauty of the mystery mist is that as you pass the Sphinx and walk upward, Khufu slowly appears, first its shape and then the massive pyramid is upon you.

 

It is elating; it is humbling and deeply touching. As you stare upward, many questions are overtaken by the sense of awe on site. The silence around and absence of crowd is wonderful and fully appreciated.

As you go around, you can also get a chance to visit some tombs, and discover the place where someone was once buried, along with gold, jewels, food and drinks for his or her after life.

To be able to see the tomb, you have to turn around and walk backward, downwards and bent over, down a narrow tunnel. We were fortunate enough to visit four different tombs. The first two were designed with the main area for the sarcophagus and stairs on the sides for the afterlife gifts.

The Third had incredible hieroglyphs, extremely clear and showing how the rocks were transported on ships which used to stop right by the pyramids, as the Nile had not retreated yet. All felt hot and very humid, and the advice not to visit the pyramids in August now made sense; the weather outside being cooler now (25 degrees) makes it bearable once inside (35 degrees).

 

I have to mention the man who guarded the fourth tomb. It is the custom to give a little tip for the person who allows you in and there is no harm in that, on the contrary. One of them was keen to take us in and give us his interpretation of the hieroglyphs. And so he told us, with a very serious look, that the main statue on the floor was a relative of Cheops, and the four statues in front of him were his sons; in addition, the hieroglyphs around him represented people dancing and laughing, and that is why Egyptian laugh and dance nowadays. He believed in his story and gave us his best convincing presentation J. A nice man and we thanked him generously.

The veil that had covered the landscape was now almost lifted and all the pyramids showed themselves, as we walked towards the museum of Khufu’s boat, the best preserved vessel discovered in the world, also called the solar barge and dates back to 2500BC. This beautiful boat can be seen for a mere 60 Egyptian Liras ticket (6 euros) and it was the cherry on our cake!

As we walked away and looked back, the time ticking away and 11.30 being our time to start driving back, we all looked back.

 

By that time, the sellers had come out and started to sell the typical three pyramids and Sphinx souvenirs. We saw a lot of Egyptians making their way to the pyramids and could see the site filling up with people.

We had come at a perfect time, and left at a perfect time. The visit was moving, touching and simply wonderful. My words are too weak to truly express the feelings.

The thought that accompanied us on the drive back was the reflection of Cairo, what it was 4000 years ago, what it is today. I would be curious to hear the perspective of Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure and the Sphinx about how the city has changed since they were erected and today.

More than twenty years after dreaming it, my biggest dream of travelling came true and I wish it to you all, as it deletes the Spleen, makes you reflect and give you back the pride you needed about living here, where once a majestic civilisation left behind one of the most beautiful world wonders.