Day 3 – The Valley of the Whales - 1/28/2009

Our third day started with breakfast at the hotel Auberge de Faoum. Amazingly they lacked Cocoa Puffs but thankfully they had plain vanilla non-Cocoa Puffs which were nearly as good.

Instead of all twenty-four of us piling into a giant bus we had seven Land Rovers at our disposal. We were heading off into the desert, no place for a bus. We were packed in four to a SUV, with the seventh Land Rover used as a spare. The Land Rover has a very nice suspension. Many was the time in Kenya when we envied the glorious Land Rover in favor of the bumpier white vans we were stuck with.

Our expert desert guide, Tamer was the leader of the expedition to the Wadi El-Hitan or Valley of the Whales. The site gets fewer than a thousand visitors each year due to the remote location. Tamer drove the lead vehicle. Tamer has something of a lead foot so our passage was swift despite the nominal speed limit of 45 MPH. The roads to the World Heritage protected site were much better than the previous day. The areas we traveled through seemed less poor, less enamored of tourists and much cleaner than elsewhere in the Fayun.

Gradually the areas we passed through became more rural, dry and much less populated. Finally we reached the Wadi El-Ryan Protected Area. This is a vast desert area surrounded by steep hills. There are no paved roads in this area, only roads of graded sands that only 4WD vehicles can use.

Our first stop was a waterfall. The waterfall feeds a man-made lake that dates back to the Middle Kingdom. The lake is the result of excess irrigation water. The waterfall drops in three separate stages each about fifty feet. We walked along the shore of the stream. There we found many coin shaped fossils called nummulites. Shark teeth were also found in the area, though we ourselves discovered none our guard was willing to sell us some for $5 per tooth.

As we continued onward toward the Valley of the Wales the road got worse. Only sand, mesas and rock could be seen in any direction. Travel over the sand road would kick up dust that lowered visibility to only a few dozen feet. Our driver slowed down until the sand settled. This was particularly problematic when our over enthusiastic police escort speeded along ahead of our convoy.

Before we reached the visitor center we passed a helipad out in the middle of nowhere. It seemed odd that a sight that gets less than 1,000 people per year would require a helipad. It turns out however it was installed for the Egyptian President’s wife when she attended the grand opening of the visitor center.

When we reached the visitor center we found a cluster of buildings that looked straight out of Star Wars. These were made from mud brick and proved to be very cool. It included much-needed WCs as well as a shop and rest area. Tamer began to prepare us for the two-hour walk ahead. We were provided with large bottles of water and a headscarf called a Kufiya appropriate to the occasion. They attempted to teach us how to wrap it around our head, with little success. Our driver wrapped Charles’ Kufiya around his head. I chose my own technique that lasted about an hour before unraveling.

The area surrounding the Valley of the Wales was once a vast sea. It is believed increases in temperatures caused the land dwelling ancestor of whales to enter the shallow areas where mangrove trees grew. These animals gradually adapted to the aquatic environment, eventually losing their fore and hind legs. One of the most important specimens found in the valley of the whales was found with intact vestigial fore and hind legs.

On our walk we saw the fossilized roots of the mangrove tree. Just above this layer are found the fossilized bones of the whales themselves. We saw many massive nearly intact whale skeletons, some with even their teeth intact. Some of these skeletons were over twenty feet long.

After returning from our two-hour walk we found that Tamer had prepared lunch for us. It was a buffet including barbequed chicken, rice, potato chips, vegetables, bananas, oranges, bread and pop. There was much rejoicing.

We returned to the hotel Auberge de Faoum to pick up the bags we left behind and made our way back to the Mena House. Dinner was on our own. Charles and I rested for a while before leaving to find dinner. Desperately attempting not to cross a major Cairo street we followed the path of our first night’s dinner. Unfortunately there were no restaurants on that side of the street, much to our chagrin.

So we crossed the dreaded street and returned to Felfela Café. I had the stuffed pigeon that I regretted not taking the first time. Chares had the Kabab Halla veal stew. The stuffed pigeon was satisfying, tasting like a mix between chicken and turkey but of course had very little meat. The stuffing was okay, being a mildly spiced rice. Charles expressed his satisfaction with the stew, saying it had a mild “stewy” taste. Service was a little bit slow that night. There was a huge soccer match between Egypt and Algeria. A little TV in the corner of the restaurant occupied much of the four waiters and owner’s time. At stake was a spot in the Africa Cup, which I assume was their version of the Superbowl, who could blame them? On paying our bill we did find out that much of our Egyptian money that we saved from our 2004 trip was in fact in piastres and not pounds. We had a half dozen or so fifty piastre notes that are worth one hundredth of a fifty pound note. Oops. We still had plenty enough to pay for the $26 meal.

We eschewed having desert at the café, instead deciding to pick up candy bars at a “On the Go” mart at a gas station that was on the way. On the way we spotted a cat that seemed to be resting a little too peacefully in the middle of the sidewalk. I preferred to think it was sleeping. The “On the Go” store was a heavenly experience. It had everything one would expect a gas station store to have: snicker bars, pepsi, coke, candy and Pringles.

Back at the hotel as we were eating our snicker and Kit Kat bars we heard a loud ruckus like a riot. Previously the only sound we had heard were the regular call to prayers. Quickly however we deduced that Egypt had won the soccer game by 4-0 and that a regime change was not imminent.

Day 2 - Three Pyramids in the Fayum - 1/27/2010

Our first working day started with a continental breakfast. One odd thing I’ve noticed in foreign travels is how common Cocoa Crisp cereal is. At least half the hotel breakfasts will have a big column of Cocoa Crisp cereal, or at least a reasonable semblance of such. I’ve never seen it offered in the US. Breakfast was for the most part the usual affair. I downed at least four glasses of some reddish juice. The pancake was passable. The French toast wasn’t very good at all. There was some meat that looked like pork, but I assume was beef. It was rather tough. The mashed potatoes were good however. After a sizable bowl of Coca Crisp breakfast was complete.

The weather was still cold in Cairo as we waited to board our bus to Fayum and our adventure to see three rarely visited pyramids. Tamer joined us that day. Tamer was educated in the United States, Virginia to be specific. He has joined Ken on six or more trips, primarily in the desert. The most dangerous trip was to the Sudan. All agreed that the Sudan trip was most exciting and they never want to go there again.

Also joining us was a rather serious looking bodyguard. He resembled an Egyptian version of the Secret Service agent. As with our last trip, any large groups are accompanied by security. Last time our bodyguard only had a rather lame pistol, the new one was packing a rather cool looking automatic pistol. He seemed to like practicing English.

After leaving the immediate vicinity of the pyramids, the streets grew crowded with traffic. Trash lies strewn along all the streets, sometimes dogs and people are seen rummaging through it. Even the paths between the large brick tenement buildings are littered with garbage. Clearly Egypt needs better garbage disposal. I’ve heard that with the H1N1 virus (swine flu) the Egyptian government cleverly decided to kill all the Christian’s pigs. They however did not think about what to do with all the organic waste the pigs ate. Apparently they decided to line the streets with it. Clearly they succeeded.

Along the way our imperious leader, Ken Ostrand allowed us a vote on which pyramids to visit. Of the four potential pyramids only three could be visited in the allotted time. By 3pm we had to be headed to the hotel. The choices for exclusion were Silas, Medum, Hawara and Il Lahun. Everyone on the trip had already previously visited Medum, it was excluded with over half the vote.

After about half an hour travel we left the city and started entering the desert areas. The immediate desert surrounding Cairo is filled with construction but as we headed outward toward Fayum only run down brick buildings could be seen.

On the way we picked up a local geologist. He was renowned for having discovered the “Valley of the Wales”. He joined us at the turn off towards Silas and gave a short speech. He accompanied us for the trip to the pyramids, discussing points of geologic interest.

Our first stop was for the very rarely seen pyramid of Silas. Silas was unusually placed on top of a desert hill far from civilization, but still with sight of the much larger pyramid of Medum. The same pharaoh built both Silas and Medum. Pyramids are funerary sights, so why does one pharaoh need two pyramids?

Ken Ostrand had previously been to the pyramid and vaguely remembered the way. The last time he had been led in circles by the local police and spent four hours trying to find the pyramid. As we turned off toward Silas we picked up a pickup truck full of police who tried to lead us. We promptly ignored their suggestion, turning on a road parallel to a train tracks. Their pickup truck hurriedly turned around to follow us. Ken remembered the path being along the train tracks so we followed a parallel road. The remnants of an old train wreck lay on the side of the tracks. Others spotted a pack of dogs following a path near the tracks.

Not too soon after the leaving the main road the streets grew narrow. If I hadn’t the prior experience with giant buses and narrow roads from numerous prior trips I would have been amazed the bus fit down roads more meant for donkeys and motorbikes. These roads were not used to tourist buses. Children would come out and run after the buses yelling “Halo, halo.” After a bit of discussion, a local guide was found. The local guide rode ahead of the bus leading the way on his motorcycle.

After leaving the train tracks we headed into irrigated farmland. The roads would parallel the irrigation canal. Narrow bridges allowed crossing these canals. The people here seemed amazed to see a bus. The Silas pyramid is not a frequently visited one. The long, slow trip to Silas allowed us to see the daily lives of the rural Egyptian. Tending fields, fishing in the canal, raising goats, cattle, water buffalo and chickens. Some houses were extremely colorful. New construction was everywhere, primarily using limestone bricks quarried far away. Previously they had been built from mud bricks, but that used up the limited fertile soil.

As we continued we saw mountains rise in the distance. The irrigated farmland was flat and bounded by deserts on side and mountains on the other. At the top of the mountains, past a modern (only centuries old) Muslim graveyard lay the hidden pyramid of Silas. The bus could only go so far before being stopped by a narrow bridge over an irrigation channel. It was a half a mile walk to the Muslim graveyard at the base of the mountain. Our path led through the graveyard up a cleft in the mountains. Along the way we found fossilized shells from millions of years ago when this area had been the bottom of the ocean. The temperature here was much warmer than Cairo and the path followed the slope of the mountain upwards. The path was made of loose sand that made footing difficult.

After half an hours walk we reached the top of the range.

Along the way Ken had made joking attempts to build anticipation for the first sight of the pyramid. One of our fellow travelers screeched in mock delight at the first sight of the pyramid. Truly it was a modest pyramid, only 50 or so feet in height and much of it was crumbled. It was odd to see a pyramid built out of sight in such a remote location. Yet, resting on top of the hill it was in view of the much larger pyramid of Medum. We could see the irrigated valley below to one side and on the other the desert wasteland in which the pyramid of Medum lay. After much rejoicing we trudged back down the mountain ready for our next pyramid of the day.

The next two pyramids we visited were mud-brick pyramids of the Middle Kingdom: Hawara and Il Lahun. First up was Hawara. Originally covered with limestone capstones only the mud brick center remains. Not having been reinforced by interior structures the pyramid has warped and collapsed in places. Frequently people of later generations bury their dead near or inside these pyramids.



As we approached Hawara we saw the exposed bones from one of these burials unearthed by erosion. Usually pyramids are built with entrances in the north side. These lead to the burial chambers. To thwart grave robbers the designer of Hawara placed it on the opposite side. This confused archaeologists that spent a year digging on the wrong side.







We were led into the entrance of the pyramid. We could only progress 30 or so feet before flooding stopped us.  Adjacent to the pyramids is a canal that dates back to the Middle Kingdom. We were led down to the canal where we say a cartouche and drawings of a god or pharaoh that also dated back to the Middle Kingdom. One of the greatest wonders of the world used to lie adjacent next to this pyramid. Ancient Romans would ignore the pyramids and head straight to this giant palace then thousands of years old. It was so large it was compared to a maze. Legend had it that this maze was the inspiration for the mythical maze of the minotaur in Crete. They quarried the stone blocks from the palace to build a rode back in the 1800’s and now nothing remains.

We boarded the bus to head for Il Lahun and as we rode we lunched on sandwiches, fruit and potato chips courtesy of  Tamer. On the way to the pyramid our bus hit a donkey. Luckily we were going so slow the animal was only dazed and managed to walk away from the incident.

Il Lahun is also a mud-brick pyramid but with internal stone columns that section off the mud-brick giving it stability. There is no warping as seen in Hawara. Underneath the pyramid is a series of tunnels that are a hundred feet down, and very scary to stand next to. These lead to the burial chamber. Surrounding the pyramid are forty or so homes of workers. Their excavation led to many discoveries about daily life of the common man.

We headed to our new hotel: the Helnan International. It used to be the hunting lodge for an Egyptian king. It did resemble in many ways the lodges we stayed at in Kenya. The room was nice but the TV didn’t work and there was no Internet. We sat by the pool until Charles got too chilly.

Dinner was at 7pm. Before dinner Ken gave me a copy of the day’s edition of Egyptian Gazette, a 130-year-old newspaper. An article on the last page of the newspaper caught my eye. It was about a woman who owned very many cats. The title of the article was ‘I love my furry Pussy!” which referenced one of her cats named “Pussy.” I think the paper may need an editor more fluent in English slang.

Dinner was a buffet and was passable. Egypt is not the place to go for food. The highlight of the dinner was the celebration of Ken’s 70^th birthday. He was very embarrassed. After dinner we had a talk and presentation on the Valley of the Whales by the geologist  who discovered it.