Tourists In Egypt

Giza, Egypt

From Gwen Comes To Egypt

It was at the top of Gwen's list of things to see in Egypt, as well it should be, so today we headed straight for Giza and the Great Pyramids. It was a great day for it, warm enough for short sleeves but not unbearably hot, like the other times I've been there. It was interesting to compare this trip, a deux, to previous solo and group experiences. We were bothered by more hawkers and camel drivers than when I last came in a big group, but as two people engaged in deep conversation about history, culture, etc., we were not pursued as intensely as when I was there alone.

It turned out at the end of the day that Andrew and his family, and Erin and her family were all at the pyramids at the same time today, but we didn't run into each other. It's a huge plateau, and Gwen and I only had the energy to explore the Great Pyramid of Cheops and the surrounding mastabas, and then head down to the Sphinx, but even that is enough to appreciate the scale of what the pharaohs, with their Stone Age technology, were able to conceive of and achieve.

In the evening, we did something that had been on my list for a long time, and took a Nile River cruise, complete with whirling dervish and belly dancer! It was the kind of 5-star luxury that is the opposite of the life I usually live in Egypt.