Sakkara Country Club Cairo

... you can see where you are going. Thankfully once you reach the bottom of the pyramid the ceiling height increases. In this Pyramid there are three rooms. The first one you arrive in is the foyer. To the left, there is a room that presumably contained some treasure at some point. To the right there is a larger room containing a sarcophagus. We had a good look around before we made our way up and out of the pyramid. We then went over to explore the area ...

... group all the way from Cairo to Amman, but this time we have had our tour group split into two, we have had to change hotels, and have also had 3 different guides within 2 weeks. Some guides are doing this segment for the first time. Some are not tour leaders and there has been no continuity, leadership, or organization. It is like the right hand does not know what the left is doing. Room assignments have been bizarre and absurd ...

... which we found difficult to envisage when seeing them separately. There was also a section for the mummified remains of animals which were in amazingly recognisable condition after so many years. Once the flock had been gathered it was then on to the bus again for the crawl out of Cairo in the late afternoon traffic and then back to Alexandria on the desert road. For some reason the air conditioning on the bus was jacked up to an ambient temperature ...

... sleeved shirt to the pyramids in the dessert without removing it for a while. Lots of europeans wearing short skirts, tight tanks, and belly tops, not exactly the thing to wear here, but hey if they dont mind being gawked at, eye raped, and cat called every 2 minutes.......wait a minute that's what's happening to me!!! : (
I'll wear less clothing in Dahab where it's appropriate! Yaaaay bikinis!!

Oh well, that's the way she goes sometimes ...

... instructions to buy us the newer model of our stolen camera. And they came through for us! So in total we were only without a camera for a few days.

A funny moment epitomizing our decline in all things civilized was illustrated when Joe posed the question, “How about these rooms?” Excitedly we exclaimed, “Ya, can you believe how nice these are?!” and at the same time Darienne noted, “These rooms are terrible ...

... disassembled and buried next to the Great Pyramid. Pretty interesting to see it back in one piece and imagine it being rowed down the Nile so many years ago. It was also nice to get out of the sun for a few minutes and some people took advantage of the clean toilets.

Next it was back in our van for a brief air conditioned drive down to the chaos that was the Sphinx viewing area. In person the Sphinx is quite small and the viewing area is even ...

... two American travelling companions) to Maccas as the girls arent that hungry, but the boys want to eat local food at a street vendor. Still having digestive issues so street food is vetoed for the moment! I have a happy meal and Dan has a Big Mac Chicken.. essentially a Big mac...with chicken fillets ..and then sleep!
We've just done the washing and heading to bed, it's a 7.30 start tomorrow for the pyramids..and we are going to see if we can go in one of them tomorrow :)

... area which is vry small with pleasent churches - mainly in honour of St George of all people. There ar many mosaics, tapestries and mechanical moving parts of George slaying the poor dragon into infinity. It was a nice ventur away from downtown but an hour was fine. Then we went back, picked up a few bits and pieces and got on the train to Alexandria.

... the change in policy will have to reflect that tone for real change in the region to occur. And that is the big question: will the policy credibly allign with the tone? I picked up the Egypt Daily in English today and that is what, for instance, Hamas leaders were saying. Obama can call the Israeli occupation intolerable, but will he use his leverage as president of the country that finances the Israeli army to end it?

What Obama offered that ...

... interested in the long traditional robes (djellabas) worn by local men.

Our last destination before leaving Cairo was the Muhammad Ali Mosque (also called the Alabaster Mosque), built by a Turkish governor in the 1800's copying the style of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. This is a magnificent mosque faced with marble and surrounded by sharp ...