Egypt, Day 3!

So I am going to finally write about my pyramid experience. WOOT! So we woke up on Tuesday the 25^th and we headed off to the pyramids. We drove right up to them in our fatty tour bus, all the other tour buses there with us. Hello tourist sight! There were tons of people there! The great pyramid was huge! It was really a spectacular sight and amazing to me that human beings built it so long ago. The experience was special to me in that there really were ancient peoples who built these architectural wonders and buried people in them. I just always have felt so removed from the reality of this and so it was really cool to be there and see the workmanship for myself. We saw the three main Giza pyramids. The one I liked best was the littlest one which was covered in red granite like halfway up it. In ancient times the granite would have been polished till it shone, like a granite countertop, so that when the sun hit it, it would just glisten. It sounds soo amazing! I can’t even imagine it! But it is for real! We also got to go in this pyramid and I would be lying if I said it was the best thing ever. First you like climb down this steep ramp with people going up and down on it blocking the light so its super dark and stuffy and wayyy hot. It isn’t like when you go under ground and its cold, its way warm in there. We saw a few rooms, like the burial chamber and such and that was that. So after this we took some nice shots at the pyramid overlook where you can see all three pyramids, it was fun. After these pyramids we saw the sphinx which was sweet! It is such a huge sculpture! I walked around to the back side of it and it’s so well preserved on the back side because that side backs up into a hill and is not as exposed to the elements, it was way cool, you could see like the individual bricks and such. I tried taking a picture of me kissing the Sphinx but it didn’t pan out too well, sadness! Oh well. So after this we went to Saqqara and Memphis. I don’t have my notebook with me so I don’t remember exactly what we saw there but I am sure it was just super. We ate lunch and then went to the papyrus factory which was more like a papyrus showroom, it was great. The papyrus making process is pretty long but it yields beautiful paper on which artists can paint and make beautiful pieces of art. There were some huge papyri there and I am really wishing I would have bought the three facsimiles for my parents! Oh well. I was really amazed at the beautiful artwork though, I enjoyed wandering around and soaking it all up. After this we went back to our hotel, ate dinner, and then headed to the airport for an evening flight to Luxor. Our flight was uneventful although the security line right before you board the plane was a little crazy. These Asian business men kept cutting us in line and tried pushing through security. Our teacher was there and told the security and made the men back off. It was a little intense though, more intense than I would have liked but oh well. The flight was pleasant and then we were in Luxor, in the nicest hotel ever! Ok not ever but one of the nicest I have stayed at. I will write more about that tomorrow! Good night to all!