Egypt

What can I say?  As a young girl in Elementary school, I remember doing a project on the pyramids of Egypt.  Egypt seemed so mystical and far away.  Never, in my wildest dreams did I ever think that some day I would actually go to Egypt and not only touch the pyramids, but walk inside one of them.  We have all seen pictures of Egypt, the pyramids, and the Sphinx, but those pictures do not do any of them justice!  I think I walked around most of the time with my jaw dragging on the ground.  It is just so unreal.  

The trip down the Nile was incredibly relaxing.  The waters of the Nile flow so gently and there is always something to see on shore.  We stopped at 3 different temples on the way from Luxor to Aswan, but I am sure there were several other places we could have stopped.  I would definitely go back to Egypt and yes, Egypt still has a certain mystical quality that I tried to drink up as much as I could.

I will only include some of the 814 pictures of my trip and label those that I think require an explanation. 

     

First night in Cairo.  I am standing on the balcony that overlooks the Nile.  The two pictures below are taken the next morning from our balcony.  I was pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. 

 

 

 

I was not allowed to take my camera inside the pyramid, but when I came back out, one of the guards was willing to take this picture of me.  What you can't see is how sweaty I was from being inside the pyramid.

KW was my travelling companion.  Here she is checking out one of the camels.  I think that the camel is enjoying the scratch.

Just to give you an idea of just how big the pyramids are.  This is just a tiny part of one side of the pyramid and it dwarfs the people.

 

 

From atop my camel.

 

Shawki, our taxi driver.  He was such a gentle man and we were so lucky to have him to take us around.  I never once felt uncomfortable in my surroundings.  Having Shawki to show us around and accompany us during our time in Cairo was truly a blessing.


I just couldn't resist taking these next few pictures.  I must admit that I have never seen this much garlic all in one place.  If we had wanted, I am sure we could have driven by all these vendors and bought supper on the way back from the pyramids to the hotel.  I said could have not that we did.  

Fish any one?

Motorcycles are a way of life in many of the places that I have travelled this year.  This picture is truly one of my favourites.  In Cairo, we regularly saw 3 people on one bike.  These guys are a fine example of what we saw.  I will leave it at that.

This is the front of  "The Egyptian Museum is situated at Tahrir square in Cairo. It was built during the reign of Khedive Abbass Helmi II in 1897, and opened on November 15, 1902. It has 107 halls. At the ground floor there are the huge statues.  (And they do mean HUGE).  The upper floor houses small statues, jewels, Tutankhamon treasures and the mummies.

The Egyptian museum comprises many sections arranged in chronological order

• The first section houses Tutankhamon's treasures.
  

• The second section houses the pre-dynasty and the Old Kingdom monuments.
  

• The third section houses the first intermediate period and the Middle Kingdom monuments.
  

• The forth section houses the monuments of the Modern Kingdom.
  

• The fifth section houses the monuments of the late period and the Greek and Roman periods.
  

• The sixth section houses coins and papyrus.
  

• The seventh section houses sarcophagi and scrabs.
  

A hall for the royal mummies was opened at the museum, housing eleven kings and queens. More than a million and half tourists visit the museum annually, in addition to half a million Egyptians."
http://www.touregypt.net/egyptmuseum/egyptian_museum.htm

This is one of the sphinx's that are sitting in front of the Egyptian Museum.  No one is allowed to take a camera into the museum, so I don't have any pictures from inside.  All I can say is that the museum is stuffed with artifacts and of course Tutankhamon's display was mind boggling.  I would go back to the museum just to see that part again and then to try to look at some of the other rooms that I didn't even make it into.  I realize that I have not really been to a big, well known museum before, but I have to say, I was overwhelmed with the sheer number of artifacts that are housed here.