Day 2

I barely slept because I knew what I would be seeing the next day. At 8:30, we met Abdo and started our sight seeing. First he took us over a bridge with a great view of the Nile.  And he took our picture.  He then took us to the Step pyramid of Djoser and then Memphis and Saqqara. We actually climbed and went into the Red Pyramid of Snefru and King Titi's pyramid at Djoser. It is illegal to take pictures inside the pyramids but if you tip the guy in there the right amount, he will take your picture for you :)  Then we went to a papyrus store where were saw how it was made and we were pressured to buy something. It was all very neat but very expensive for us.  Then, they Great pyramids of Giza.  Walking down and into the Red pyramid was amazing but very difficult and it was so hot and there were a lot of people at Giza. So I passed. There were other things that I wanted to do in Cairo (like the mummy room at the museum) and so I opted not to pay extra go in.  Just standing there and climbing on it was enough for me. The Sphinx is breathtaking. The detail is amazing and we cannot fathom or figure out how such perfect detail was put into their stone work.  It is perfect. I also realized that the Sphinx has a tail!  We ate at a restaurant that was pretty good, called "The Sphinx" and Jeff bought a Sphinx at the Sphinx.  A little boy hustling goods told me I look Egyptian and then continued to call me Shakira. He later approached me and asked how many camels for me. I said, Honey, you don't have enough."  He laughed.  It was a very busy day and we just took it all in. I took about 350 pictures and Jeff took almost 200.  We went to a village right outside of the Giza pyramids around sunset. We hired two camels and a guide to take us into the desert overlooking the pyramids for sunset. This was the highlight of my day. We had to ride the camels through the village that is very poor and dirty. Kids were playing in the streets and there was trash everywhere. There were also dead horses and dogs eating them. Right across from a dead horse would be children eating dinner and laughing with their families on the street. It really made me realize how well we have it in the USA. We saw a girl collecting drinking water from a facet at a cemetery.

For me, the most amazing thing was riding the camel back through the village and watching the people.  Then to my left were the pyramids with the sun setting behind them. Then...the prayer call would come over the loud speaker calling people to the mosque to pray. That was a very emotional moment for me and I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. I actually pulled out my camera and started recording. Once I figure out how to post the video on here I will. 

We got back to Abdo and the car and headed back to the hotel. Remember when I said the people drive like maniacs....well, as we were in a very crowded section of Cairo, Abdo's car stalled. So after looking it over, they were going to have me drive and pop the clutch. I didn't want to do that so I said I would push. Jeff and I pushed and Abdo popped the clutch and the car started back up. How we found enough room to push I have no idea. We got a little ways down the road and th car stalled again. So we pushed again with great success.....then we got on the highway.  This is scary enough IN a moving car.....poor Abdo's car stalled again. This time, it was smelling bad. So he managed to roll to the side of the highway and we all got out. Now, there was a concrete barricade and then a trash strewn hill that led down to a street where there were men gathered and watching. We really had no choice so Abdo went down to talk to them. Jeff and I stood behind the barricade praying to God that no one came along and hit the car or us. Then Abdo had to leave us and go find the mechanic down the street.  Jeff and I couldn't just leave his car there so we stood there and waited; two whities, in the dark, along the side of a highway, with our watches on, my purse and he was wearing a backpack. After what was about 5 minutes, the "men" at the bottom of the hill split into two groups and start climbing the hill towards us. I almost peed my pants. Half sat on one side and the other 4 on the other side. At the same time, a Mercedes and a newer Jeep pull up behind Abdos car and a bunch of men got out to talk to each other. We were scared to death.  It wasn't until the men got in their car and left that I took my eyes off them and realized that these "men" on either side of us were about 12 years old. They started trying to talk to us in Arabic.  Of course we couldn't understand each other. I kKNOW that they spoke some English and we all joked about it. We laughed and talked to these kids until Abdo came back.  Their picture is above and I got a kiss on the cheek....We ended up having to take  a taxi to our hotel so Abdo could get his car fixed. It was an exhausting day.  But one of the best days of my life.