The Pyramids and the Sphink-ess

Giza may have been a separate town at one point, it is now a district stuck onto the side of Cairo. It is home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Great Pyramids of Giza.

Did you know that there are a whole lot more pyramids than these at Giza? There are 108 in Egypt all together. See how much you learn when you have your Own Private Egyptologist.

After we left lunch, we crossed back over the river in our bus and drove into Giza. As we were all excitedly chatting away, our guide casually says, "I think you can see the pyramids from here." All western conversation stopped and I grabbed the camera.
Here is our first sighting. You can kinda see one peeking out from behind that building. We were SO excited about this. Let me say a couple of things about visiting the pyramids.
1. It's HOT. Wear loose cotton or linen that covers your arms.
2. People will try to sell you stuff. Just ignore them unless you really want papyrus or a model of the sphink-ess.
3. Don't forget your camera because it is great!
4. Americans will constantly be reminded of the one dollar bill but won't mention it to their non-American companions.

The pyramids used to have a beautiful smooth covering of limestone, but the limestone facing fell off. There's still a chunk left on the top of one plus a little bit left at the bottom.
This is the bit left at the bottom.

We actually went into one of them. It was really hot and close. You had to bend over the whole way down and back up again. It was a bit claustrophobic and again cameras weren't allowed. I'm glad I did it because I don't have to do it again. That's another box ticked. We went over to the area where everybody has that photo taken of them touching the top of one of the pyramids. Here is beautiful Emily doing her part for tourism.

Neck-est was the Sphink-ess.

A great deal of damage has been done to the Sphink-ess by visitors. The first to do a big chunk of damage was Napoleon. He shot the ceremonial beard off the face of the Sphink-ess. The British Army used it for target as well at some point. In any case, the fact that it is looking so rough is not his/her fault.

The temple that is just beneath/in front of the Sphink-ess is spectacular. We were amazed at the engineering - all done without the aid of powertools. I mean LOOK! It's amazing! This is a shot that either I or Henry took. We both seperately took a photo of the same corner of the temple.