Day 3 Part I - Sakkara & Perfumery

Dec 11, 2005 (Part I)

Today's is the day! The day that we get to witness one of the Wonders of the World, the Egyptian Pyramids :) We brought along our bags that has been packed the night before as we will be leaving for Aswan in the evening, and after we finished our breakfast (they have very very good peach jam, yum :)), we sat in the lobby awhile as Kok Hin and Woonie discussed our travel initinerary with Ahmad, the PIC (person in charge) for our tour from the Egyptian tour agency. Actually our itinerary was screwed up by the Malaysian travel agent as the initial PIC resigned and there was no follow-up from his other colleagues and we only got our travel initinerary one day before our flight (also the Malaysian travel agent lady didnt reply my eamil! >:( ). We were unsatisfied as initially we thought that travelling to Abu Simbel will be part of our itinerary, but it wasn't in the list...In the end, we had to pay an extra $USD80 in order to go to book the trip to Abu Simbel...sigh...there goes a big chunk of my shopping money...sigh...

At first Noha planned to bring us to the Great Pyramids of Giza, but as there was a pretty heavy mist (again, a chilly morning ), we decided to head to Sakkara to see the Step Pyramids first. In order to get there, we went through a more "kampung", greener side of Cairo where there was lush agriculture. From what I saw they plant lots of cabbages and dates. We also saw a lot of donkeys (either pulling carts, being ridden on or carrying things), horses, and even a whole flock of sheep which went past our van! :)


Soon we reached the arid area of the Step Pyramids. It was quite a big contrast...on one side all you could see were light brown earth, and yet when you turn around, there was like an estate-ful of palm trees! :P And of course, there was the Step Pyramid looming in front of us... :) Did you know? That the there is actually an evolution of the Pyramids before they perfected the art of making them into those perfect triangle-shaped structure:P The Step Pyramids were actually the first of the Pyramids and it got its name from all the tingkat-tingkat:P All in all (regardless of their shape or whether they are still standing or has crumbled down), there are (or was) around 101 Pyramids in Egypt. The Pyramids, of course, were built as the final resting place of Pharaohs and their mummified bodies as well as the treasures and things that they will need in the after life are buried with them...its something like an extra, extra big tombstone, and then some:P

We walked around the place for quite awhile, not just admiring the Pyramid but also looking at the ruins of the walls that used to enclose the area. The size of the blocks these guys used to build them...there were almost as tall as me (gasp!)! As we walked along, we also saw a camel up close for the first time in Egypt :) I really couldn't help myself and gave the fellow a pat, and, well, it is as good a photo opportunity as any! :) So I took a couple of pictures with the camel (the feeling of the camel rising up and you're up there looking down at the world is so cool! :) ), and when it was over, tipped the camel rider and his camel $USD1 for the "service" :P.


We then returned to the city of Cairo, again passing the rural streets... as our van was moving along the road leading to town, guess what we saw??? A Kancil!!! =D Managed to catch this not so clear pic of it on the road...:P hey it's hard to get a good shot when the car's moving in and out you know:P Anyways, what can I say? Malaysia Boleh! :)




Our next stop was not yet the Great Pyramids, but to a perfumery to see and learn more about the traditional perfume and essential oils of Egypt. After weaving in and out of several narrow alleys and little backstreets (at least seems like that to me:P), we arrived outside a building with the sign "Golden Eagle Perfume Palace" on it. When we walked into the place, I was dazzled by the array of colourful glass perfume bottles, in all shapes and sizes, on display...the walls were lined with mirrors so along with the glass perfume bottles it made the whole place look like this delicate glass palace... also the heady perfume of thousands of unnamed flowers greeted our senses from the first step. We were led to a long room which had a counter at the end (on which there were several big bottles containing clear-coloured essential oils). We were then asked to sit down on the sofa, and offered a welcome drink of our choice (either tea, coffee or Hibiscus Tea). We later found out that the welcome drink is a common gesture of hospitality in Egypt. Of course all of us were game to try out the local drink so we chose Hibiscus Tea. The tea is red in colour and quite sweet, with a tangy taste to it and a flowery aroma :). It is mostly served cold.

When we were settled down, our guide at the factory, whose name was either Ahmad or Mohammad (I really can't remember:P) started explaining about essential oils to us. He gave us a list of names of the essential oils available in the factory which were divided into three categories which are "Essences of Flower Perfumes", meaning that these oils are extracted from one main flower or plant, the "Blend" category, which are essential oils made from a mixture of extracts of differet flower/plants, as well as "Spice Scent" which is pretty self-explanatory. According to our guide, the essential oils are actually the main ingredient used to make all the famous perfumes in the world, and he was even able to give names! Seems that the major cosmetics label would take an essential oil, mix it up with alcohol and other ingredients (normally the essential oil only forms 5%-10% of the perfume), package it beautifully and then sell it for those outrageous prices (me thinks the money mostly goes to the adverts, packaging and marketing:P). For example, my Ralph Lauren Blue perfume comes from the essential oil blend named "Shahrzad". Also normally a certain range (example Ralph Lauren) will use the same essential oil for their whole range of perfume, just mixing it with different ingredients or in different quantities in order to create slightly differing scents in order that the signature scent of the range or brand is still retained.

It was quite a scent-sory (pardon the pun:P) experience for all of us as the guide dabbed different essential oils on our wrists and fingers for us to smell and try :) My personal favourite was the Lily of the Valley extract (used to make Estee Lauder's Pleasures Intense) as well as the not exported, found only in Egypt "Secret of the Desert" essential oil blend (made from extracts of 55 different flowers). Why is it not exported? Well, supposedly, the "Secret of the Desert" essential oil (for her) and its 'for him' alter ego, called "Arabian Night" are both very powerful aphrodisiacs, which, according to our guide (and I quote him) "will make one like horse on the wedding night", so he says "we keep these two for ourselves, and you can only buy it in Egypt, nowhere else in the world." ;)

After sniffing so many scents, our noses were on an overdrive, so out came the magic weapon...voila! A tray of grounded coffee bean was placed in front of us and we were asked to sniff it too. Turns out that the aroma of coffee beans can help neutralize scents or something like that, so everytime the scents all start to smell the same, take a sniff of the coffee beans and your nose will be as acute as ever :P With all the explanations done, it was time for the sales pitch :P Basically the smallest jar of essential oil costs USD$15, and though I found the essential oils undoubtedly tempting, knowing that I was already USD$80 poorer without having even started on my souvenir shopping list, I resisted the urge to get one myself :P. Neither Woonie and Kok Hin bought any either.

Read on for Part 2 in the next entry...:)