Giza city

Our horse and buggy driver and this was our ride around the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx. All these pictures were taken from this horse and buggy. We had to go into the main road and into traffic. At that moment I self flagellated and was upset that I got steered into riding this contraption. Now, as I uploading these pictures, I am smiling from ear to ear and am glad I did it. Now I think it was worth it as you shall also see.

If not for the Nile, Egypt would be one big desolate desert. It is amazing what water can do, coax some sand into producing abundance. Water is the stuff of life. All along the Nile, plants and therefore life spring into life. There are date palms and underneath them grows tomatoes, green vegetables, bananas, cotton, citrus and other things. There is no shortage of produce. Unfortunately the unchecked population growth takes away arable land because unlicensed buildings takes its place. There's always a very delicate balance between living spaces and arable land.

All along the Nile are thriving communities. The guidebooks say to go to some oasis to see Egyptian country life. One does not really have to go far to see it. In Giza, the country life exists side by side with new building constructions and tourists buses. Cars compete for space on the road with mule carts, horse buggies and maybe camels. There are camels but they probably don't go on the main paved roads.

I know this because our taxi driver steered us into taking a horse and buggy ride from one of his friends. The guidebooks say you don't need a camel or horse and cart to go to see the Giza pyramids. It's true. I only agreed to the horse and cart because it was going to be a long day. The taxi driver agreed to take us to Giza, Saqqara and Dashur. I'm glad I did the horse and cart because the photographs we took were exceptional. We saw the area where the horses and camels were kept. We saw the back streets of Giza where the country life is lived. If we had just driven to the pyramid field, we would have missed all this action. It explains why pictures taken by most visitors to Giza are so sterile. The tour bus takes you straight to the pyramids and back and you wouldn't have seen a thing of Giza city. Looking back I'm glad we paid the 250Le for the horse and cart and something extra for our driver.

We got to see the area where the camels and horses are kept. We got to see the desperate poverty which fascinated us. We got to see the dirty camels, one of them peed, spreading its hind legs and in a slightly squatting position pissed!

As we headed towards the entry to the pyramid field, we can see them through the trees. Wow! What a sight! We are here! Here we are on a cart driven by a horse and driver, riding along with traffic and heading over to see the Giza pyramids. All our pictures were taken from the horse and buggy. It was a lot of fun, I do recommend it! I do recommend the horse and buggy. You get this colorful contraption and an Egyptian in a 'night shirt' as your driver. It makes for happy memories and beautiful pictures.
You can see the silhouette of the pyramid through the trees.