John Mark’s Study Abroad

You can watch a short video of our trip in Cairo, Egypt. 

Cairo, Egypt: Day 1

I flew out of Birmingham Saturday at 2:00pm then to Dallas, to London, to Cairo, then the bus to the hotel arriving at the Hilton by the Nile at 1:00am on Monday. 

Due to the fact it felt like 5:00 pm in Birmingham, no one was tired, so we all went to the rooftop bar, overlooking the Nile River, and Cairo, Egypt.

Our first activity of the trip was a visit to the Arab Contractors construction site.  They were so generous to us providing both breakfast, and a 3-course lunch.  The project was part of a new 1 billion dollar facility.

After visiting the site, they took us to their private yacht club over looking the Nile River.  Here they served us a traditional Egyptian meal, as well as gave us a beautiful plaque for  the BSCI building as a token of their appreciation… we gave them a key chain.

On the evening of the first night we got to go to the sound and light show at the Great Pyramids in Giza. It was a great show, lighting up the pyramids and telling us a little of the history.

The biggest rush of the evening came that night when we were walking around the city.  After watching a few locals run across the 8 lanes of interstate, with cars moving at 50 mph… we figured it was an opportunity that would only arise once, and dashed across.  I felt much like “Frogger”, stopping in the middle of the road as buses rushed pass, but we made it safe, and it was a huge adrenaline rush.

Cairo Day 2

Today we woke up early in the morning and went to the step pyramid.   This was the first pyramid built in Egypt.

We also had the chance to visit several other burial sites, with beautiful carving and paintings, but photography was not allowed in order to preserve the hieroglyphics. 

The next site we traveled to was the “bent pyramid”, this pyramid has retained a large amount of the smooth limestone finish, where as many other pyramids have had their smooth finishes removed by others.

The last site we visited was the first true pyramid, we were even allowed to go down through the shaft into the burial chamber. And I even climb up part of the part of the pyramid, where the smooth facing was removed and it was much easier to climb.

On the way home we stopped by a “Carpet School”, children go to school in the morning then in the afternoon spend hours weaving beautiful silk carpets. Some of the carpets cost $50,000 dollars.

That night was possibly our biggest treat of all, we got to meet with Dr. Hawass.  He is an Egyptian Native that has been studying the pyramids all his life.  Dr. Hawass has been on just about every National Geographic/ Travel Channel special on the pyramids, and he came to speak to our group.  The Nile River Hilton considered it a huge honor, just to have Dr. Hawass come to their hotel.

Dr. Hawass told us all about is adventures, and tours he had given, (to both President Bill Clinton, and Prime Minister Tony Blair, and many famous actors).  As well as gave us tons of knowledge about construction of the pyramid.  Since were traveling to the pyramids the next day Dr. Hawass personally invited us into the burial chamber of the great pyramid, down to actually touch the sphinx, and to the village of the workers.  To go inside the pyramid you must pay a huge entrance fee, to touch the sphinx is off limits to visitors, no matter how much you pay.  And the Valley of the workers is not even open to the public.  With just a note from Dr. Hawass, and his signature, we got back-stage VIP treatment the entire day.

Egypt Day 3 

  We again got started early on our day, leaving for the Giza Plateau at 7:45 am.  It is surprising how this ancient wonder of the world looks right over the city.

The great pyramid’s size is indescribable.  Each course of stone block is about 3.5 feet high, and there are over 160 rows of block.  It is remarkable how they lifted these stones that weigh tons, over 400 feet in the air.  The great pyramid remained the tallest structure from when it was built in 2500 BC till the Eiffel tower just decades ago.  No other builders could surpass it.

Our next adventure was a camel ride through the desert, most of our group chose to ride the camels… which if you were a good bargainer only cost 3 dollars.

One of my favorite parts of the day was getting to go down and touch the sphinx.  The entire original Sphinx was cut out of one single rock, although restoration has added many new stones.  It is a beautiful piece that has been preserved quite well because for some time it was buried under sand.

Our most unique adventure today was getting to go to the Valley of the Workers, discovered by archeologist Dr. Hiawass only years ago.  The Valley of the Workers is all the housing for the builders of the pyramids has been buried under sand.  We were not allowed to take photographs, because it is still under excavation and closed to the public.  But it is remarkable how advanced this civilization was, so many years ago.

Our last stop of the day was going to a beautiful Muslim Mosque, and then walking the streets bartering with local vendors for souvenirs.  

Tomorrow afternoon, we leave for Luxor, Egypt.