Me, David, and some others caught a cab during Iftar to some stable by the Pyramids (so the normally 2 hour ride took 30 minutes), and rented some horses. The sun had just set, and with the pyramids to the right, we trotted off through a small part of Giza, into the desert. Shortly after passing a cemetery, and a stinky area of makeshift garbage dump, we hit the sand dunes. Basically, it was just open track, and the horses were able to take off, going upwards. Clicking the horse along at walks, trots and canters up passed the Pyramids (about a mile away, but seeming so close) - which were being lit yellow, red and green by the nightly light show that tells a story of the pyramids (I saw this in January), we made it up to a beduin hut, beckoned by his fire. This dude basically hangs out at this spot in the desert and provides warm tea and cigarettes to those coming up on the horses. But it is a welcoming feeling to be standing in the desert at this man's hut.
The moment of clarity came while we were returning, when me and David stopped, gazed at the pyramids, and then took off in a gallop back towards Cairo. Both of us shrieking Yella Yella! to which the horses respond well. The sand was lit by the full moon and the glow of Cairo, and with the pyramids now on the left and the expansive city of Cairo right in front, I felt like Laurence of Arabia, swooping down on some Arab village. All you could hear was the thump of the hooves on the sand, the bounce in the saddle, and the dissonance of prayer and traffic which became much louder as we got closer to Giza. All said and done, the cab ride there was 5$, and the horse rental for an hour and a half was 7$.
Yella!!
David
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1 comment:
I take it this time 'round you didn't fall on your butt? Sounds like fun dude!
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