Giza, Saqqara and Memphis

We started out the day today with a visit to Saqqara, where the first pyramids were built. The tomb of Ka-Gmni was a mastaba (bench shaped building) with fantastic paintings and hieroglyphics inside.

We got to go inside the tomb of Teti, which was great, except for the low ceilings which made walking really tough. I lifted my head and smacked it on the rock when someone said "Watch your head!" This was right on top of the bonking I got while climbing into the van in the morning! Ouch!

There is a lovely reconstructed wall at the complex that includes the Step Pyramid.

On the other side of the wall we found a beautiful passageway with papyrus-bundle columns.

The vendors were very aggressive at Saqqara, as well as every site we visited. I wanted to take a selfie with our group. In the far back you see famous Step Pyramid, and in the near back you see a vendor photo-bombing our picture. I think he wanted to charge us $2 for his image, but I was having none of that!

I did buy a $5 necklace at Saqqara. Then we went to learn how they hand-knotted rugs at a fancy shop. When we saw these small children working so hard we wanted to help support them, but the carpets were way outside my price range! I did buy one about the right size for our Barbie house!

Next we stopped at Memphis to see the King. Not Elvis Presley, but Ramses II, the most famous of all Egyptian kings!

There was a really lovely park area where more of the discoveries at Memphis were on display, including this standing statue of the king.

The beautiful sphinx at Memphis was fun to see, with his perfectly shaped face and a nose that hasn't been destroyed!

Finally, we got to the main event--the Great Pyramids of Cheops! It was amazing to see one of the seven wonders of the world!

The stones on the bottom of the pyramid were gigantic! It would not have been easy to climb even if you wanted to (Happily, it is not allowed)! There were some steps up to the entryway that we were able to climb, even though we opted not to go down and see the tomb!

There was a nice view of Cairo from the steps of the pyramid. It is amazing to see that the pyramids have been incorporated into greater Cairo! The are no longer way out in the dessert by themselves!

The three pyramids were built by Khufu (Cheops), his son Khafre, and his grandson Mancaure. They were once covered by white limestone, as in the top of the second one pictured here. Most of that outer layer was carted off to Cairo for other building projects!

Our camel ride along the pyramids was the icing on the cake of a really great day!

Ken enjoyed it thoroughly, although it looks like he's playing words with friends on his cell phone in this picture!

They were just cleaning up the chairs from a performance of Aida the night before! It made us think of Amanda when she sang the part of the High Priestess at that opera in Germany!

We finished up by stopping by to see the giant Sphinx statue. Even without a nose, he is really impressive. The Egyptians did things in grand scale!

Kudos to our great guide, Lamia, who not only entertained us, but kept us safe in Egypt. We learned so much about daily life of people in the cities as well as the countryside from her! Thanks also for our driver, Mohammed, who maneuvered so skillfully in the free-for-all that are the roads in Egypt.

We arrived in Jordan tonight. We're anxious to see Petra tomorrow. We're humming the Indian Jones theme song in our heads as we prepare for it!