The Oasis Giza

I had no idea there were pyramids in Sudan! But there are, and many of them. Sudan houses over 220 pyramids! Much more than neighboring Egypt. They are referred to as the Nubian Pyramids and have not received much mainstream attention. Hmm... I wonder why...

For more info, please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubian_pyr amids

Day 1 was the pyramids and the Great Sphinx. What a way to start off! The area was locked down like Ft. Knox understandably. There were 9 pyramids in the area and lots of smaller tombs built for the Foreman and other high ranking officials. Thousands of unmarked tombs of slaves who died on the job also exist in the area. This was to ensure that in the afterlife, the poor would come back as poor and the rich would gain previous entitlements.

... tour guide to visit the Egyptian Museum which houses around 250.000 antique pieces in its 107 halls. It comprises the world's greatest collection of Ancient Egyptian Artifacts. Then visit the Citadel Of Saladin, a spectacular medieval fortress dating from 12th century and perched on a hill above the city. Also located in the Citadel are the Alabaster Mosque and Tomb of the Ottoman ruler, Mohamed Ali. At the end of your tour proceed to the ...

... so there is a much better balance of guys and girls.

The only downside of the day has been the discovery that our tour guide, Sherif, is the most annoying person ever! He likes to talk very loud and excitedly and constantly over uses his catch phrase of “Ladies and gentlemen, get ready, get excited this is the moment you’ve been waiting for all your lives - the Pyramids of Giza” or whatever it is we are about to visit, including restaurants, carparks etc ...

On the plane trip back to Cairo I was able to see and photograph, naturally, the cliffs that separate the upper and lower Nile. I always thought upper was the part of the river with the source being the "up" river (which it is) but it actually refers to the high land plateau the Nile passes through.

Once in Cairo we quickly drove to the Giza plateau and the pyramids, three together plus the Sphinx. The "panorama" position is slightly elevated and ...

S*l*m * li kum!

Well it's been * few weeks *nd surprise, surprise, I’ve been up to my usu*l shen*****ns over here, so get re*dy, set *nd GO!

First order of business: I’m coming b*ck to the USA! I booked my tickets right before spring bre*k so Inch All*h I’ll be there from July 7th to July 21st. (I’m flying in to N*shville *nd then b*ck from Detroit.) So, I hope th*t you c*n m*rk your c*lend*rs *nd m*ybe find * w*y to meet up. I ...

We went to the Pyramids, and they were so amazing that Dave and I were lightheaded when we were there. We were euphoric. We have never seen anything as fascinating. It is hard to comprehend how they could be built today, let alone so long ago. Each brick is HUGE. The dimensions are so exact. Who carried the bricks? We climbed inside the Great Pyramid, which is the biggest (13 acres at the base) to see a tomb. We went for a camel ride around the ...

... apply for my visa. The Consulate is only open for business about 10 hours each week, in typical fashion. I never even got through the front gate. I've now pulled a few strings and I think the General Manager of Aeroflot Egypt has made an appointment for me at the Consulate on Tuesday (Aeroflot is Russia's main airline through whom my tickets were booked to Moscow). We'll see. My passport is currently at the Chinese Consulate and my visa should ...

... surveying the whole admirable scene, and thereafter we experienced the most memorable of our Cairo traffic adventures. The first came when Kev negotiated the price for a Kombi to take us back to the Happyton downtown. Including the driver there were twelve of us in the van so there wasn’t much space to move around and, like all other Kombis on the road, it had the back flap open to try and stop the engine from over-heating. Despite the noise and frenetic activity going on around ...

... bar for our first water pipe smoke of the trip. A mutual friend of ours of Egyptian ancestry had a sheesha back in Sydney, until the glass bottom was shattered in a tragic accident, and the plan was to buy a replacement here for Hoges to courier back (which despite the numbers of sheeshas that were purchased along the way didn’t happen). I must admit I’ve never ever dragged on a cigarette in my entire life but am quite partial to a nice fruit ...