Egypt, Day 3

PYRAMIDS!

This was a day I checked a biggie off my bucket list--I saw the Pyramids of Giza, actually went inside a pyramid, and took loads of tacky tourist pictures! Put it all together and it made for one of the most memorable days of my life :D

Our first stop was at the Second Pyramid, Kaphre's Pyramid (the one that looks like it's snow-capped!) The entrance is a ramp down to this narrow, cramped tunnel you shuffle down while bent in half (bad if you're claustrophobic!) for a ways, and then you switch and go upwards through another tunnel the same cramped size... when I could finally stand up and look around, I was in the burial chamber. Oh my goodness.  There wasn't much oxygen in there and it was surprisingly warm... but looking in the sarcophagus at the far end of the small, high-ceiling room, I kept imagining what it must have been like when the pharaoh's mummy was first placed in that room, before it had been looted and emptied.  It must have been quite a sight! Also, looking around and thinking about the genius mathematical minds and all the sweat and blood that went into the computer-less architecture and machine-less manual labor... too much for me to comprehend!

Getting back out into the fresh air was a good feeling :)  And it was definitely time just embrace the infamous tacky tourist in me that was aching to spring out for pictures! So... we all did :) This whole week--hats, sunglasses, headsets, some fanny packs, sandals, cheesy overdone poses... it was great :D

Here's Kaphre's Pyramid!

Feeling Egyptian with Mickell :)

 Found it! ;)

 

Tahna, Rachel, and Amy... and the Pyramids!

 

 

My Jerusalem family- Tessa, Jacqueline, and Megan!

 

Isn't it gorgeous??

Yeah....

I'm going to stop here and spare myself further embarrassment. Just had to get these up!

Real quick: this whole pyramid thing was done by lunchtime!  We also stopped at a papyrus factory, which was really neat.  We got a demonstration of how they make it, and then got suckered into actually buying stuff :)  It was fun, though!

Megan, Megan, and Jacqueline at the papyrus factory in Giza

Then- Saqqara and Memphis (the real one, not the one in Tennessee!)  Memphis is home to the enormous statue of the the legendary and seemingly egotistical Ramses II (who is, according to many scholars, likely the pharaoh of the Exodus.)  Truly a magnificent statue, though

There he is!

Then on to Saqqara, the necropolis for ancient Memphis and home of the stepped pyramid of King Djoser and the tomb of Ti, just one of the many tombs in that area.  I was amazed by how well the color in the tomb has withstood the past 3000 years! If I'd been allowed to take pictures, I would have :)

It was a little windy- gotta keep the tourist hat on!

After all this fun stuff today, we actually loaded up all our junk and headed to the airport to fly from Cairo to Luxor! It was only about an hour-long flight, but saved us an awful lot of driving with 90 people.  Got to the hotel, ate dinner, crashed... and that was the end of day 3!