Day 4

6/15/10

Pyramid Day!!

Today we left for Giza; home of the three largest pyramids and the sphinx. It was jaw-dropping amazing. We all felt like " This isn't happening. This isn't real. It cant be four thousand years old, and i'm CLIMBING inside and on it!" Even though I still didn't have my camera, we took dozens of pictures. After we climbed and took pics of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, we traveled to a plateau where we could get great pics of the three pyramids and two smaller queens' pyramids.

There was a small bazaar there, and I bought a foot tall blue lioness statue for sixty dollars or 300 egyptain pounds. I don't quite have the haggling down pat yet. I keep getting confused with the exchange rate of five.

Next we parked between the middle pyramid of Kafre and the small pyramid of Menkaure. The middle pyramid is the pyramid we climbed inside. Karin, Mark, myself, and a lady named Anne from our trip all climbed down this two foot tall shaft that goes at a diagonal. You are hunched over and nearly crawling to get though. It was soooo hot down there, even more than outside in the sun. I found myself thinking "I can't wait to get outside where it is cooler". And this about the Egyptian desert in the middle of a heat wave.

A giant stone sarcophagus was still inside with its lid propped open. Mark laid down inside and we wished we had our cameras. We were not permitted to bring them inside. The workmanship was amazing, and karin and I kept finding other passageways and wistfully wishing we could deviate and explore.

After climbing back up the shaft, we went back to the bus and AIR CONDITIONING! Mark left to take more pictures, but un inside got our names written in arabic on our name tags by Sam.

Next we were off to the sphinx a couple of miles away. There I received my first dowry offer of 2000 chickens. Pictures were spectacular with the pyramids in the backgroud.

Speaking of pictures, here we bought a new memory chip for my from an outdoor vendor. It was still in its packaging, and we negotiated it down to normal price at home. Then we had to rush to our group photo in front of the Sphinx.

After photo ops at the Sphinx, we headed to lunch. We ate at a nice restaurant called the Carvery. From the windows you could see pyramids in the distance behind electricity lines. Wow, to have them be part of your every day life!!!

After lunch we left for Saqqara and the Step-Pyramid complex. Most of you should know that last year's history fair project was on the Step-Pyramid. It is the first pyramid and first large stone structure built in the 3rd dynasty by Imhotep and Pharaoh Djoser, roughly 4500 years ago.

There we took pictures of the complex and Sam lectured to the uninformed, and we were able to see two pyramids of Snefru, the Bent pyramid and the Red pyramid.

During the free time, Karin throught of questions she had for Sam, and we sat and talked with her for several minutes. She is not a Dr. Zahi Hawaas fan like Karin. Now for you non-Egypt-freaks, Dr. Hawass is in charge of all Egyptain Antiquities. He decides everything from how the museum is organized to who can dig and research, to what is shown on tv. He has a major ego and is very hostile to anyone with differing ideas and plans for digs and research. That at least is our opinion. (And the opinion of many others) We had a good talk of other subjects too.

We started back and nearly fell asleep on the way back to the hotel. When I got back, I spent the afternoon postcarding and reading. Grandma and Karin went to the pool and I had the room and the fan on the air conditioning all to myself.

After the pool we tried dinner at a restaurant in the hotel called Harry's Irish Pub. The food was supposed to be English and American, but they failed. It was still good, just different. Though there was a strange moment when we all thought I had broken a tooth. There was a loud sound and we all were apprehensive because dental in Egypt is scary and the trip would have to be canceled. Thankfully I was fine, it was just weird.

When we tried to leave back the way we came, we were told we could not do so. We had to walk out around the hotel to another entreance and walk through a metal detector again just like the front entrance. At first we had no idea that they were trying to tell us this, but eventually we got it. When we went back, Grandma stopped in Karin's room and never came back, so I went looking for her, and we stayed there and chatted for a while before bed.

Good news!!! My camera works with the new chip!!!!! Hopefully this will be the end of the camera distaster.

Tune in tomorrow for more of Sarah's Egypt Adventure