Kareena at Saqqara: A Mistaken Identity Lands Me a 1000 Camel Trade

Saqqara is an ancient necropolis, the city of the dead, that’s an hour from Cairo depending on how enthusiastically your driver and tour guide interpret Egyptian road rules.

Our first stop was the tomb of the Royal scribe Kagemni, a tall handsome Egyptian man, who almost pierced my heart with his reed pen. Never mind, he was a 5000 year old stone inscription.

And damn, that power can only come from literacy, not brute force.

But I digress.

Read about it later HERE. For now, I will tell you a story of how I was mistaken for a Bollywood heroine and nearly traded for 1000 camels.

After visiting Kagemni, I was already in a dream state. Our tour guides had dutifully brought us to the next quick stop within the complex.

We walked through the tall stone entrance of the complex. The pillars were designed to mimic the plant papyrus’ stalks. As I walked through these giant welcome pillars looking like an absolute dwarf, I wondered how did ancient people quarry, transport, carve, and position objects like this thousands of years ago?

Once we passed through the entrance, our tour guides asked us to check out the compound while they settled themselves down on a stone ledge.

Every now and then, when I turned around to locate them, I could see them looking in our way even in a distance. I felt assured as we began walking around.

As we walked around, we saw donkeys and camels and their owners patiently waiting to offer tourists a ride. As soon as we met eyes with a man who had teeth that matched the color of his tanned face, he shouted at me and my husband, “Kareena! Shahrukh Khan!”

I wanted to launch into my lifelong love hate relationship for Bollywood but understood that in this context they were simply trying to get us to take a ride on their camel.

And it was funny how up north in Alexandria, they were even familiar with Baahubali. But here, this interior into main land, I was not sure if pirated movies of pan Indian cinema had been able to penetrate.

As we smiled and started to walk away, he came directly in front of us and said, “Only 10$, two camels. And I take pictures, so many pictures. Namaste!” He assured us.

I looked at the poor camels and somehow, within seconds, their wellbeing and food needs felt like my sudden obligation. I told my husband that we have to take a ride, and he said it won’t be necessary, but I insisted.

We climbed up the camel, laughed, took pictures as they asked us to and climbed back down. As we continued to take pictures with them, the men offered to take me home in exchange for a few camels. When my husband looked thoughtful, they drummed up the offer to 1000 camels.

“Keep the camels and take her.” My husband told them much to their amusement.

The camel men burst into laughter.

I said, “Thank you, Habibi.”

One of them immediately turned to the other and laughed.

“See! She called us Habibi!”

“What does Habibi mean?” I was amused and confused at the same time.

“Lover,” he said.

Turns out across the past few days along the breadth and length of Egypt, I have been called men Habibis – assuming it meant friend. Oops.

Oh well, cultural exchange is important.

I walked a little bit more and bought scarfs and a few trinkets before we left the complex.

The Djoser Step Pyramid at Saqqara, the home to the first pyramid, is a magnificent sight to behold. As far as the eye, in those sunset moments, we could see the sandy complex of the architectural marvel, with people and camels within the frame as if we were time traveling a few thousand years back.

The pyramid was built for Pharaoh Djoser and his famous architect Imhotep in the Third Dynasty. It was used as a burial ground for thousands of years for Mummies, and to act as tombs for priests and officials. To think of the people who built this first stone monument had no blueprint from anything else is truly awe inspiring. The smooth-sided pyramids of Giza came much later.

After the surprise date with the camel men, I walked back toward our parked car. And before I could shift my focus back to anything else, I took a selfie of me to confirm what those two men were thinking.

Obviously, it couldn’t possibly have been only the $20 I gave them each.

Surely, even in my mid 40’s, I still had enough Bollywood heroine left in me to be worth at least a thousand camels.

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