I'm Off My Beaten Track Solar sailing...

... today.  Yes, I know that sounds odd, but read on.  Through my journal, I'm revisiting the museum at Giza that houses the ancient Solar boats used by the pharaohs in the afterlife...

SOLAR SAILING 

...next to the pyramid of Cheops is a strange-shaped modern building that houses the Solar Boats.  It neither toned nor blended with the scenery or nearby ancient buildings.  I was reminded of something the Prince of Wales said.  The substantial modern construction in front of me really did fit the description 'monstrous carbuncle'.  A bit like the oversized shed that one's neighbour builds in the back garden.  You know it's awful but dare not say so, and at the same time, you hate your neighbour for making you look over the fence at something so ugly.

On entering the 'boathouse', we were all given soft overshoes to put on.  They made my feet look as though I had on size eleven monster slippers!  I wasn't impressed, but I coped.

The museum was built over the actual location where the solar boats were discovered.  In total, there were six, all buried in kit form - they must have had Ikea in ancient times, too, I thought!

I kind of lagged behind everyone else as I stared at the stunning shape of the boat.  In length, it is 43 metres (141 feet) and 8 metres (26 feet) high.  The hull curves upwards from the central section, rising to elegant posts, both at the stern and the prow.  Made of Cedarwood imported from Lebanon, the boat was constructed and shaped and then dismantled again to enable it to be buried for use in the Afterworld.  It was assumed that the Pharoah would have lots of servants to rebuild the boat so that he could continue his journey.  At 4500 years old, it looked to me as though it could have been built yesterday... 

...back onto the coach and a short ride to the Sphinx with a stop in the middle of the desert to take a few long shots of the pyramids and hopefully purchase a scarab or two - 'very cheap price' - from the nearby vendors.

Some of my Fellow Travellers didn't get out to look for themselves.  I could not understand this, and I know a photograph can never replace the experience of the sight itself and never will.  But it can invoke long-forgotten memories.  Naturally, I looked for myself.  In front of me were monuments that were between three and five thousand years old, and when I turned to my right, I could see electricity pylons striding across the sand, asserting their possession of the current century.

A more easily photographed model of a Solar Boat

It was when I looked back to the pyramids sitting in amongst the sand of the western desert that I suddenly realised how wrong I had been about this landscape.  The desert is so much more than a vast expanse of sand.  It has contours and a myriad of colours.  It changes with the light and the wind.  As I gazed across the vista, I realised that no other individual on any other day would see the desert as it presented itself there and in that moment.  

I reached for the camera but changed my mind. Some realisations are awesome, and you just can't photograph that...

You can read more excerpts from my Egyptian Journal on September 27th.

You can read my thoughts on Cairo and Giza by clicking each name.