What you are about to embark upon is none other than the tale of an epic journey undertaken to the middle east, the holy land, the place of sun and scouring sands, wherein the grail is hidden, the stargate buried, and the mummy returned. Some of the things you might see in these posts will shock you, some might amuse you, and some might just change the way you see the world (I like to aim high). With that in mind, I invite you to put on your sunscreen, grab your desert gear and join me, Indiana Josh and my trusty sidekick Short Round as we set forth on THE ROAD TO JORDAN.
Day one begins in the bustling hubbub of Cairo, 6th largest city in the world, capital of Egypt, and home to the last standing ancient wonder of the world, which shortly will be revealed. But first, let's once again meet the perpetrators of this pilgrimage of pain, peril and panache, Indiana Josh and Short Round.
Some of you may remember short round from the Thailand: Bangkok Dangerous adventure...if not, you will see plenty more of him in the posts to come. Some folks bring along stuffed animals or good luck charms on their trips...I bring sidekicks, an essential component of all hero-ing.
So we begin with perhaps one of the quintessential, nay, archetypal sites of Egypt
The Great Pyramids of Giza, the only one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world still remaining today (bonus adventure points if you can name the 6 lost to the sands of time).
Turns out that contrary to popular belief the great pyramids were not built by slaves at all. No the egyptians viewed their leaders as gods, and to assist in building the house of a god was an event to be remembered to your grandchildren. Slaves would be allowed nowhere near these sacred grounds.
Nor would most tourists. To climb the pyramids outside the steps to go into designated areas is to invite a 6 month jail stay minimum.
So of course you know where this was taken.
Luckily I can always rely on short round to pull my bacon out of the frying pan when the tourist police draw near. Or the hand of god himself.
Okay, while i will probably reference God a lot on this trip (it IS the holy land) I urge you to recall that God helps those who help themselves. So the finger of God?
Really the finger of The Josh.
Still, it's not hard to see how this is considered a wonder of the world. To look upon such scale and splendor and realize it was all done by the hands of man, and without the use of modern technology, no less...Truly wondrous.
That moment of silence aside, on with the tour!
Oh...erm...not that tour though. That group was never seen again.
The big hole in the middle was from some governmental type looking for the entrance, but the granite casing at the bottom is a restoration of the original. You see, the pyramids used to be smooth all over, but time has worn them down.
hey, lets see how you look after several thousand years.
How marvelous the sphinx! A little smaller in real life than you would think, mostly due to scale comparisons with the pyramids, but still. How noble! How majestic!
WET WILLY!
Sacred monument defaced I make a nonchalant escape walking like an Egyptian.
As you can tell, I blend in with the locals almost instantly, and short round tags along as we explore further...
No stargate in Giza, but don't let such early defeats get to me...I will find it.
Now lets learn to make paper the way the ancients did...with papyrus.
Boy, that worked up an appetite.
This is the most daring thing I ate the whole trip. It is called khoshari, and its the Egyptian mac and cheese...instead they use tomato sauce and spices instead of cheese, and pasta and rice instead of mac. Good stuff.
Well that's all for the moment...tune in next post when I journey onward to the step pyramid of Saqqara.
The Great Pyramids of Giza, the only one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world still remaining today (bonus adventure points if you can name the 6 lost to the sands of time).
So of course you know where this was taken.
Luckily I can always rely on short round to pull my bacon out of the frying pan when the tourist police draw near. Or the hand of god himself.
hey, lets see how you look after several thousand years.
Sacred monument defaced I make a nonchalant escape walking like an Egyptian.
As you can tell, I blend in with the locals almost instantly, and short round tags along as we explore further...
No stargate in Giza, but don't let such early defeats get to me...I will find it.
Now lets learn to make paper the way the ancients did...with papyrus.
Comments (8)
This is awesome I thought this is a movie that contains a treasure, money or even a payday loan searching. Keep it up!! You've got the best shots!
Very nice photos I am glad you enjoyed my country! One of the things I find hilarious is the mentality of Egyptian architecture- baisically they treat all their buildings like the pyramids- bulid it well enough the first time then leave it to fend for itself!
Nice entry
@Jaylee - thanks jaylee! If you visit my regular site you can read about the rest of the tour and who knows? there may be treasure yet discovered!
@kipahni@xanga - kiphani, I couldnt have put it better myself...but I gotta say when your people built something, they did it to last!@My_blog_for_2009@xanga - thanks, glad you enjoyed
Awesome! I was there in December
I also tried khoshari after seeing Anthony Bourdain, or was it Andrew Simmons, eat them. Although we had a hard time enjoying food in Egypt. I found that variety was limited and also not many restaurants around. Or was it just me?
Haha, this post was awesome! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I will definitely be visiting all the places you've mentioned.
Hahaha. Great post. Thanks for sharing!
Really? Great! I am a regular reader of this tripcrazed. Where can I find your article? At Rveblade@xanga? Thanks, it is much appreciated.