We survived our travel day yesterday and got to the hotel around 7 pm local time (9 hours later than Edmonton time), had supper and went to bed. We got up bright and early for breakfast and tour briefing. I took a moment to look outside my room window in daylight and the pyramids were right there in front of me.

There are 24 people on the tour, 5 Canadians and 19 Americans. We were all in different stages of jet lag so things got off to a late start. By 10 am we were on our way to the Giza Plateau.

The great pyramid is huge. To give a perspective, Dale is 2 metres tall and he is standing at the base of this pyramid. the large pyramid is 480 ft tall. The second one is 450 ft but built on higher ground so looks larger. We noticed the third one was much smaller and not much was said about it. We wandered around the pyramids and were allowed to climb up a few blocks to get a sense of the build. It was impressive.

There were “hawker-Ozzi” (people who sell souvenirs at the stops we made) and it”s challenging because they are persistent. We learned that saying “no thank you” sternly wasn’t a winning solution. Avoiding eye contact seems to work.

Our second stop was an opportunity to go for a scenic view of the Giza plateau and a camel ride. The gang went for a brief ride while I focused on the camels. They are massive and fun to ride. They are also “working” police animals.

After the ride ended, we headed to the Sphinx. It was massive and has long been the protector of the Giza plateau.

The immensity of the Pyramids was mind blowing. Our guide described the various theories about how they were built but the reality is, no one really knows. He pointed out that the architects planned the buildings with precision for their purpose and to withstand threats such as earthquakes. For example, notice how there is no mortar between the rocks and how each stone is cut to fit together. This makes it sturdy, even if the ground shakes.

Our afternoon was spent at the Egyptian museum. There was so much to see. Our guide focused us on statues for our 2.5 hour tour. We appreciated this as you could wander here for days and not see everything.

Most of the Tutenkahmen artifacts have been moved to the new, huge Egyptian museum that isn’t open yet. However we saw his thrones, jewelry and his sarcophagi (240 pounds of solid gold in one sarcophagus) and his death mask. We weren’t able to take pictures of them, but we could stare in awe. The new museum is across from our hotel and it is massive. We will have to come back and spend a month just walking it’s halls.

We were hungry and tired at the end of our day but hugely satisfied with all we experienced. We are excited to see what tomorrow brings.