Day 2

So, today is the day I've been waiting for for what seems like my whole life. It is the iconic symbol of Egypt.....the Pyramids!!!!! I was so excited, I could barely sleep last night. We woke up very early and had breakfast at the hotel, quite good, but if you like juice in the morning you will be disappointed on your whole trip through Egypt...the OJ is more like Tang, but the coffee is pretty good.

We gathered on the bus and took a 15 minute ride up to Giza. As we approached the Pyramids, you could see everyones mouths wide open in awe...including mine!! They were every bit as amazing as I thought they would be. We climbed on one of the Pyramids and had the option to go into another. You had to pay extra for this, not much though, and so I opted to do it, because, well, if you are in Egypt at the pyramids and have the option to go inside, you have to right? Well, big mistake for me anyway. As we were entering, a guy from our group came out and said he only went in about 5 steps and had to come out because he was claustrophobic. I figured he was over reacting and went in anyway. Well, not only is it a dark, tight space that is about 150 degrees, it is a tough climb up and down stairs, all while slouching down so far if you have a backpack you will have to wear it on your front. You follow a line of people up and down ( with a chance to stand up for a second about half way through) until you come to the end where there is an empty sarcophagus. I was not that impressed, but at least I could say I was inside the pyramid.

We were back on the bus, driving to a spot where you were able to view all 3 pyramids at once. We had the option to take photos on top of a camel with the pyramids in the background for 5le, about 1 dollar. Most of us did it. They say not to get on a camel near the pyramids for a ride because they will take you out far away for an agreed upon price, but wont bring you back until you give them more money. It didn't really matter to us, because there was not enough time for that anyway.

Next we were on to the Sphinx. That was also very cool. This is where they take the group picture ( you buy it at the end of the trip). Then, you are on your own for about 20 minutes or so. There are some great photo ops at the Sphinx, like pretending you are kissing him.

We then made a stop for lunch at Felfela. It was very good food. They start you off with lots of mezzes and then you have the option of what meat you want. I do believe they had a veggie option as well. I got mix grill which had chicken and lamb and kofta ( a sort of lamb patty). It was around 10 dollars for lunch with drinks extra. Try the hibiscus tea, it is soooo good. A few people got mango or strawberry juice, also tasty.

The next stop was the Egyptian Museum. You had to check your camera, so there was no taking pics inside. We were led around the museum and told about a few key pieces of art. It was quite interesting when you could hear, because we were being taken to all the most famous pieces, so were all the other tour groups. People from other groups were pushing to get to the front to see the art and you could barely hear Sherif at times because you had 5 other tours in 5 other languages right next to you. We were then let on our own for a while to explore King Tutankhamen's burial mask and his other items from the tomb. You could purchase a pass for the mummy room for about $20.00. I did it and thought it was worth it, but if you are on a tight budget, it is not really necessary. Even cooler than the human mummies were the animal mummies.

Next we made a stop at a papyrus factory. They showed you a short demo on how it was made and then you had time to look around and purchase if you like. There was no pressure to buy, which was nice. If you did make a purchase, they held it for you until the last day, so you don't have to carry it all over. Then we stopped at a perfume factory if you wanted to buy any perfume oils (all this I'm sure is kickbacks for Sherif, but there was never any pressure). They also collected the money here if you wanted to do any optional tours. They charge you $25 for various tips so they don't keep asking for 1 dollar here and 1 dollar there.....THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL!!!!!

If the pyramids were what I was waiting for, this is what I was dreading......the overnight train. We got to the station early and could by snacks and drinks if we wanted. The train was every bit as bad as I thought. Very uncomfortable, bad food and smelly toilet. At one point in the middle of the night I had to go to the bathroom (shared by roughly 50 ppl) and my pajama pants got soaked in what I believe to be pee from the floor, I was so disgusted that I took them off and ran back to the room with no bottoms on....GROSSSSSSS!!!!!! I was up extra early (o.k., I couldn't sleep) and it was rather peaceful watching life on the Nile River go by out of my window. I booked a single on the tour and knew that there was no single supp. on the train ride, but I thought I would be rooming with someone else on the tour because we were an even number of people. I was wrong, I roomed with a stranger. It was o.k. , but she didn't speak any English so, I couldn't really converse with her. I thought after having such a long day I would be able to sleep better, but I got hardly any sleep again. I'll need to muster up all the energy I can for the next day.....