Tuesday, June 2, 2009
I've been in Cairo several days now, I think I like it better than Alexandria. The place I'm staying half as much as my place in Alexandria and twice as nice. Just as in Alex, I usually fit right in here, as long as I don't where my basketball shorts around, cause everyone here wheres pants no matter how hot it is.
I met some really cool people at the hostel here and went with them sight seeing the last couple of days. We took a taxi all day for about 10 bucks and he showed us the Pyramids of Giza, Darshour, and Saqqara, or however you spell it. We rented some horses for the Giza pyramids, and I was glad we did because the grounds are huge. As we made our way through the city, the pyramids came into view through the morning fog; they were huge! Its been a while since i've been stunned by a tourist attraction, but so far the pyramids surpassed my expectations. They are really small mountains and as you get closer they just keep getting bigger and bigger. Its ridiculous. Our tour guide with the horses was a young lad that spoke pretty good english. He got in an argument with one of the security guards; they both pulled out guns! But then they settled down and everything was cool.
The blocks at the base of the pyramid are huge. later in the day we went to other pyramids and went inside of one. we had to climb backwards down a tiny corridor that had just enough space to let someone pass by you on their way out. It was amazing seeing how precise the stonework was given the size of the blocks and the overall size of the structure.
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You crazy bugger, sweet travels huh. Have you seen Taken? Good thing your not a girl ;)
ReplyDeleteRe: pyramid blocks. They are huge and precise. The limestone was quarried east of the river in chunks. It was ground to powder and transported across the river usually at flood stage in baskets. Water from the river was added to reconstitute the limestone as cement as blocks were formed upon previously cast blocks and filled and cured. Then the forms were moved and the last block became part of the next casting. The conclusive evidence is the mica. It is not found in the limestone in the quarries from which record show it came, but is found in the limestone of the pyramids. It comes from the Nile source in Mount K, and abounds in the lower Nile at flood stage.
ReplyDeletebluemels, whats up; i havent seen taken and i'm not a girl, so no worries.
ReplyDeleteAl; very interesting stuff, the rock does seem to be too consistent in its makeup to be actual rock in some places, but i saw a lot of stone that had to have been stone just by looking at the makeup of it. probably a mixture of both depending on the period.