ruins and dips and friends and camels

The next day we troddled on over to the brand new Acropolis museum- mere steps from our abode in Plaka (did we mention we can see the Acropolis from basically anywhere?!)paid our 1 euro entrance, and battled the tour groups gone mad for a small bit of space. The museum was phenomenal and incredibly well done. Oli was particularly tickled by the short film, however there were no copies to be found in the gift shop. We enjoyed every second of it!!! Next up we visited the Archeological Museum- fantastic!! Then back to our hotel for another night of lounging on the balcony, avoiding the rain.



On Friday we hopped on a bus and headed out to Nafplio- a gorgeous seaside town with a lotta history. It was the first capital of the Hellenic Republic, has a massive fortress or 3, and is a very nice place to sit in a cafe over a coffee. My old friend Angelo, whom I knew back in the old days at CSUC, lives there, and we were able to meet up for a few hours. He gave us a fab tour of the town and along the water and we were immediately jealous of his living in this paradise. We climbed around the fortress a bit in the afternoon, then hopped on the bus then the metro then to the hostel then the metro to the airport to wait until our 11pm flight to Egypt!!!!!!



The flight was uneventful but when we arrived in Cairo things spiced up a bit. It was vaguely reminiscent of our landing in Chennai all those months ago. Hot chaos, people hassling, grabbing, begging for your attention so they can get your money. We hired a car from the Limo company so we wouldn't have to haggle over the price upon arrival at our hotel, and set off. The purported 20 minute ride was nothing of the sort due to our poor timing right after an accident with a flipped vehicle whose passengers they had to break out through the windshield and which caused gridlock for 90 minutes as we were on an overpass. Then off we went, zooming through the streets of Cairo only to realize that our cab driver had no clue where he was, no clue where the hotel was, and no clue how to get from point a to point b. Fabulous, especially at 2 am (3 am on our body clocks due to the time change). What was even better was that he couldn't read our map or let us direct him as he spoke no English. He had to resort to screaming out the car window at bums sleeping on cardboard boxes, reverse through many streets, and then barely believed us when we shouted that we were pulled up by the hotel. And then emerged another gem of Egypt-Baksheesh. Now, we have encountered this before, a bit of bribery here and there to make things run smoothly, but here it takes on a new level. As the average wage is 8 Egyptian pounds- less then $1.50USD, people rely on baksheesh to make ends meet. So every time someone opens the door for you, points out something (obvious as it may be) has any sort of social interaction with you, you are expected and socially required to give them baksheesh. Now this may range from a few pounds upwards to 10 or more, and they always want more. We fled from our stupid cab driver after he refused to take our measly few pounds tip, but what did he expect? The past 3 hours with him were not exactly pleasant nor did we think we would come out alive, and we had already paid him for the cab. However we did have to shell out to the bum who ran to our building and opened the elevator door for us. And so it continued.

We checked in and passed out.

The next morning we headed off to see the famed Egyptian Museum. Housing a massive unparalleled collection, we expected the museum to impress us as well. Unfortunately, no care is taken with the artifacts- they are all dirty and jumbled together. Many things are out in the open and as we have learned, with every "don't touch" sign there are 99% of people who will immediately touch once having read said sign. We were incredibly pissed watching the guards sit around and nap while all these priceless artifacts were desecrated. There were a few rooms that had obviously been recently renovated but for the most part everything was a shambles- disappointing after $30USD entrance per person. We did see the mummies, who looked a bit raisiny and had surprisingly intact eyelashes, and viewed Tutankhamen's royal burial goodies which was sweet. We may sound a bit jaded, but after seeing as many museums as we have lately we are becoming sticklers for quality.

The afternoon was mellow, dodging touts and overly friendly men, eating fabulous falafel and dips, and going to bed early to try and kick this cold that is just not ready to quit.

This morning we were up super duper early and hopped in our hired car to head out for a day of pyramid-hopping. We couldn't imagine a day of haggling with random cabs so we decided with a private driver from our hotel- a rarely afforded luxury. First we stopped at the bus station to buy our tix to Nuieba for TONIGHT, then (drumroll please) the Great Pyramids of Giza. Plunked in the middle of urban Giza, or rather having watched with Giza encircled them, the pyramids are as impressive as you could imagine. Massive and sandy. We tried to dodge most of the touts but Oli did get attacked by a man with Arab head wraps who wouldn't take no or running away for an answer (the photo says it all). After the obligatory baksheesh, we climbed on inside the biggest pyramid. The climb inside was surprisingly short and we only passed one woman hyperventilating from the claustrophobia. The final room was smelly and dark. I guess you just do it for the novelty- its pretty cool to be under all that stone. Not much of a view inside, however. We did our lap of the 3 pyramids, posed with the Sphinx, then hopped in the car for the rest of our adventures.

We visited the Steps pyramid at the Saqqara (oldest stone monument in the world), then off to Memphis with a cool old statue of Ramses II, then to Dashur to see the red pyramid (oldest pyramid in the world) where we climbed inside, it smelled like pee, but was a bit more impressing than Giza as the ceilings were vaulted. Back to the hotel for some reading and now here we are! Time for some dinner and sheesha, then off to sleep on a bus! Less than a month left....