Pyramids, Sphinx and Egyptian Museum

Saturday was our first full day of touring with the group. There are 38 people including a group of 22 with their travel agent from Phillip Island. All Australian except for a couple of Kiwis.

We left at 7am for the pyramids and Sphinx which was good to have an early start as we were there before the crowds. Brad went into the Great Pyramid to look at the burial chamber. I passed on this as I don't do narrow enclosed spaces and from all reports it was quite difficult. We then took in the pyramids from the panorama viewpoint where some members of the group partook in a camel ride (and I think some of them regretted doing it) and finally onto the Sphinx which fortunately only had a small amount of scaffolding. Last time we were here (2014 - on a cruise ship tour) quite a lot of the Sphinx was under restoration.

After umpteen photos, we went to a place where they demonstrated how to make papyrus followed of course by the option to buy some of the artistic pieces. Nice, but no from us. Then lunch at a park that was a reclaimed garbage dump, then off to the Egyptian Museum, home of King Tutenkhaman's treasures including his famous golden mask. Absolutely beautiful but we were not able to take photos because there was a 3 metre tall, 400kg Egyptian security guard with an AK47, bazooka and a slingshot whose vocabulary extended as far as NO PHOTO which he grunted at us several times. Seriously though, it was very interesting and all authentic artifacts except for the Rosetta Stone which was the key to translating the hieroglyphs and is the reason we know who each of these Egyptian kings and queens were. It is just a pity that the Grand Museum which has been under construction since 2012 is still not open. When it does it will be the largest museum of its kind in the world. It is due to open 2019, so maybe next year 🤔

Almost the end of the day and we still had not been to the bazaar. Last thing we wanted to do was go shopping for junk souvenirs so we waited in a coffee shop until it was time for a small group of us to see the sound and light show at the pyramids. Basically different lighting effects on the pyramids and a storyline about the history of pharoahs connected with these pyramids. It wasn't too bad but it certainly was a long day.Read more