Walk like an Egyptian!

Today has been a very long but amazing day. It began with our wakeup call at 6am. We had to have our luggage at the front desk before breakfast, and then we went and ate before loading the bus. (Left - Me walking like an Egyptian in front of a pyramid).
Our first stop was the Giza Pyramids. We went inside the middle pyramid. It was great. We had to go down this tiny shaft that was especially awkward for the tall people. Then we had a short way to go where we could walk relatively normally before climbing up a tiny shaft into the burial chamber. It was so hot in there! We were in there for quite some time, and then went out the way we came. We went to take pictures, but didn’t have as much time as I would have liked. We then went on a camel ride! It was a lot of fun, though mainly just to take pictures.
Next we went to see the Sphinx. That was way smaller than I was expecting. I learned that the nose is missing because it was used as target practice for cannons. Sad, huh? We had to wait for about 40 minutes on the bus because one person lost his camera bag and had to go back and get it. He got it back relatively quickly, but they made him go all the way down to the station to fill out a form. Poor guy, he didn’t get to see the Sphinx or the temple there.
Our next stop was the papyrus factory where we learned how papyrus is made. (Right - camel ride with Heather as guide). Basically you take the stem of the plant and cut it into the size that you want. Then you peel it and slice it into strips. The strips are then soaked in water for 6 days after which they are lightly pounded with a wooden mallet and then rolled with a rolling pin to make the strips strong and flexible. Next, the strips are layed overlapping horizontally than vertically and placed between two mats (that seemed like Astroturf with 2 pieces of cloth inside) and put on a metal press and pressed for 6 days. Once the paper is made, it is strong, flexible, fixable, and can even get wet without damaging the paper. That makes me wonder why all paper isn’t made out of papyrus. It would sure save trees!
(Left - weighing the pyramids). We had lunch which was followed by a stop in Saqqara to see the step pyramids. We went inside a tomb where they had wonderful relief paintings on the walls. I tried to figure out what was written, but I only knew a few symbols. Next we went to see the first pyramid in the world. Saqqara was very windy and I got sand all in my hair.
We went to a shop called Jewels of the Nile where you can get some nice jewelry. I was the last one out of there because it was taking a long time. It was alright though because our flight left Cairo 2 hours late, so we had plenty of time to spare. We flew here to Luxor. I slept on the flight but am still so tired. We are staying at Hotel Mercure.

In front of the Sphinx and the pyramids Learning to make papyrus Woman baking bread for our lunch Jumping for joy in front of the pyramids Standing in front of the very first pyramid in the world With this picture you can see how windy and sandy it was in Saqqara