This time period is going to come in chunks for 2 reasons. First, our vacation was split in 2, with the first half in Egypt and the second half in Ireland. Second, there is a whole ton to write and I can't do it all in one night.
Egypt was our first destination. We flew out of Frankfurt's main airport directly to Hurghada, a resort town on the Red Sea, almost directly across from the southernmost tip of the Sinai peninsula. The flight landed in Hurghada about 8 or so in the evening, so it was dark and as we were landing you could see the fires lit at the oil wells across the desert.
Our first experience in Hurghada set the standard immediately for what we could expect in Egypt. Our trip was booked through a German travel agency called "TUI" and they had provided Savannah and I with vouchers for everything we needed showing we had prepaid- the flights, resort stay, train rides and visas. Unfortunatley, they didn't provide us a voucher for an Egyptian Tourist Visa for Timmy. Apparently German infants don't require them, so they figured we wouldn't need them. They were incorrect. When we disembarked the plane and went into the airport, they took the vouchers for Savannah and I and issued us visas, but we needed to buy Timmy a visa separately. This is where we ran into a bit of a snag, because we didn't have any cash on us. All our American money we left at home and we didn't have more than five Euros in cash on hand.
The bus ride to the resort was about an hour long after dropping off other passengers along the way. Our resort was called the "Ali Baba Palace". Its primary clintele are Germans and Russians, so the front desk staff spoke very little English. But I digress. The bus drove up to the resort and before we could grab our bags from the bus, two bellhops got them for us and brought them in the lobby. This is another part of Egyptian culture that we learned about quickly. Egyptians are only nice to you if they think they can get money from you. The bellhops, for instance, looking for a tip.
The Ali Baba, according to the travel agent, is a 4-star resort. As it turns out, the resort was a lot like the Walt Disney castle- it looks pretty on the surface, but on the inside it's all plaster. The resort had all the superficial features of a gorgeous retreat- the palm trees, nice pool, second-floor balcony, etc., but there was a lot of substance lacking. The room itself would've been rated as probably a 2-star room in the U.S. as far as its furnishings and care are concerned. The bathroom was outfitted with a small bottle of shampoo and two small bars of soap- for the whole week- and the 
air conditioning system was such that it was only functional when the room key was in the "lights" slot by the door (some hotels in the states do this, where your room key fits into a slot by the door which allows you to turn on the lights- its a way of preventing guests from leaving the lights on while they're away). This meant that after a whole day of running around, we came back to a very hot room.
Day 2 started off with a walk down the shore of the Red Sea. The weather every day was gorgeous- Sunny and hot. Timmy got slathered with plenty of sunscreen and we managed to keep him from burning all week. The walk down the beach was very pleasant- There are a lot of resorts there, so there were plenty of people in the water and on the sand, but there were a few parts of the beach that were quiet and we were able to look around for some sea glass, coral and shells. During this first jaunt, we saw our first camel. 
This guy has his camel on the beach and gives rides for about 50 pounds. The price was negotiable, as all prices there are, but we didn't know this yet. Nor did we ride the camel yet- that comes in a day or two. The original purpose of the walk down the beach, however, was to recover our missing voucher book. This is where our second self-inflicted wound comes in. You see, the night before, the guy at the front desk had told me over the phone what resort it was in. I thought it started with an 'H', and I know for sure he said, 'nach Jasmine', which means, "near Jasmine" (Jasmine being a resort a couple doors down). So, I thought we'd walk down to Jasmine resort and look for a neighboring one that sounded familiar. The only resort near Jasmine was the 'Alladin', and that definately wasn't it, as we asked at their front desk for our packet and they looked at us like we were mad. Dejected, we walked back to the Ali Baba along the street.
Day 3 arrived like Day 2 did before it. Sunny and warm outside. We took Timmy swimming in the pool and he loved it. Timmy takes to water like a fish and will cry like the dickens when you take him out of it. We swam quite a bit this day. I think this was also the day we went down to the beach and sat in the beach chairs for a little bit. We took it pretty easy because we were finally ready to relax a bit. Savannah got her camel ride at the beach with Timmy (Daddy took pictures) and we signed up for our 2-day Cairo trip later in the week.
After leaving the bazar, we walked up and down the streets of downtown Hurghada, just to get a look at what an Egyptian city looks like. Just like by the strip mall, all the store owners were in-your-face and doing and saying anything they could get away with to get you in their store. By this point, though, we had no cash again and weren't willing to listen to the song-and-dance. We ignored most of the shopkeepers and bushed off the rest. 
Before long, we got tired of it and walked back to the cabbie (who was still waiting for us- a good indication that you overpaid your cabbie) and rode back to the hotel. The ride back to the hotel, we took pictures from inside the cab. The picture of the cabbie is while he's "driving" down the road at 100kph.
The Cairo Bazar was crazy. The taxi took us to the edge of it. It was like walking though Cedar Point on its busiest day where everyone is shoulder-to-shoulder. We opted to carry Timmy instead of using the carrier as we thought it'd be safer for him. Here, Savannah bought a woven wall hanging and this is where Manuela schooled us on bartering. We got a deal on the wall hanging and Savannah bought a couple stone statuettes later on in the bazar. The bazar itself was a lot like you see in movies. Very loud, very smelly (both good and bad odors) and very dirty. We wove though a lot of the small, back streets that are about as wide as a person and big streets that, despite being almost 20 yards wide, were still jammed. This bazar wasn't the tourist bazar, though. The cabbie hooked us up with the bazar for the locals. It was a lot of fun and a big learning experience.
Back to the pyramids. Savannah and I bought a couple tickets to crawl down inside the second pyramid. We went one at a time because we didn't want to bring Tim down there- we heard it was terribly damp and dank. It was good we didn't bring Tim. Being under the pyramid (you had to go down a steep ramp for quite awhile, then back up into the center of the ediface) felt like being in a Sauna. Only you knew that the moisture in this "Sauna" was from everyone else's sweat and not water poured over the coals. In the middle was little more than a tomb room. Not even any heiroglypics on the walls.
We got a lot of very good pictures by the pyramids, and then in front of the Sphinx. We even got a couple of funny pictures with the Sphinx, too!
Egypt was our first destination. We flew out of Frankfurt's main airport directly to Hurghada, a resort town on the Red Sea, almost directly across from the southernmost tip of the Sinai peninsula. The flight landed in Hurghada about 8 or so in the evening, so it was dark and as we were landing you could see the fires lit at the oil wells across the desert.
Our first experience in Hurghada set the standard immediately for what we could expect in Egypt. Our trip was booked through a German travel agency called "TUI" and they had provided Savannah and I with vouchers for everything we needed showing we had prepaid- the flights, resort stay, train rides and visas. Unfortunatley, they didn't provide us a voucher for an Egyptian Tourist Visa for Timmy. Apparently German infants don't require them, so they figured we wouldn't need them. They were incorrect. When we disembarked the plane and went into the airport, they took the vouchers for Savannah and I and issued us visas, but we needed to buy Timmy a visa separately. This is where we ran into a bit of a snag, because we didn't have any cash on us. All our American money we left at home and we didn't have more than five Euros in cash on hand.But the Egyptians to the rescue! They very conveniently provide "banking" services right there, for just such a need! The best way to describe this is through an episode of "Family Guy". The Griffin family had gone to the deep South in a Witness Protection Program. The only ATM in this town was a yokel in a cardboard box to whom you handed your debit card and he returned cash to you. He even asks you if you'd like to accept or decline the service charge. Back to Egypt. This is very similar, but instead of a cardboard box, it's a booth in the airport. Surprise, surprise, our bank card didn't work with this fella. Fortunately, the guy selling the Visas was "nice" enough to let us have Timmy's until we could get on the other side of passport control to use a real ATM. I put "nice" in quotations because, as it turns out, the guy fleeced us for about 10 bucks more than what the Visa was supposed to cost.
Any way, we go though Passport control (no security or customs here, and this very sophisticated airport!) and walk outside to where TUI was to have busses for us. This is where we met our second scam of the trip. As we were loading up on the bus, the bus driver "graciously" offered to make change for us by giving us 10 single euro coins for our 10 euro bill. Well, fortunately, we couldn't be taken on this one because, as you may remember, we only had a fiver on us. We didn't learn until later, however, that the coin for 1 Egyptian Pound looks very, very similar to the coin for 1 Euro. The driver was trying to pass off Pounds as Euros and, seeing as a Euro is worth about 7 Pounds, was looking to make some easy money, too.
The bus ride to the resort was about an hour long after dropping off other passengers along the way. Our resort was called the "Ali Baba Palace". Its primary clintele are Germans and Russians, so the front desk staff spoke very little English. But I digress. The bus drove up to the resort and before we could grab our bags from the bus, two bellhops got them for us and brought them in the lobby. This is another part of Egyptian culture that we learned about quickly. Egyptians are only nice to you if they think they can get money from you. The bellhops, for instance, looking for a tip.This is the point where our first self-inflicted wound occurs. You see, while on the bus, we accidentally left the TUI voucher packet (the one saying we had paid for all these things) in the seat. When we went to check in, we didn't have it. After a mild panic, they checked us in anyway with a promise that we'd deliver the voucher as soon as we got it. This was no big deal to us- we had the room keys. The bigger deal was the vouchers for the flight home- yikes!
By the time we had walked to our room, however, the front desk called to say the bus driver found our vouchers. Instead of having them sent to the Ali Baba, however, he dropped them off at his next stop- a resort about a kilometer and a half away- and we could pick them up at the front desk there. By this time we were very hot and tired and Timmy was getting cranky. Looking around, we saw there was no crib, even though our reservation for the room specifically indicated an infant. Being the creative folk we are, we crafted a crib from the fold-out couch, some blankets and pillows. Timmy was quite comfortable. We finally nodded off around 11 or so in a very, very warm room. End of day 1.
**Interlude: The Room**
The Ali Baba, according to the travel agent, is a 4-star resort. As it turns out, the resort was a lot like the Walt Disney castle- it looks pretty on the surface, but on the inside it's all plaster. The resort had all the superficial features of a gorgeous retreat- the palm trees, nice pool, second-floor balcony, etc., but there was a lot of substance lacking. The room itself would've been rated as probably a 2-star room in the U.S. as far as its furnishings and care are concerned. The bathroom was outfitted with a small bottle of shampoo and two small bars of soap- for the whole week- and the 
air conditioning system was such that it was only functional when the room key was in the "lights" slot by the door (some hotels in the states do this, where your room key fits into a slot by the door which allows you to turn on the lights- its a way of preventing guests from leaving the lights on while they're away). This meant that after a whole day of running around, we came back to a very hot room.**End of the Interlude**
Day 2 started off with a walk down the shore of the Red Sea. The weather every day was gorgeous- Sunny and hot. Timmy got slathered with plenty of sunscreen and we managed to keep him from burning all week. The walk down the beach was very pleasant- There are a lot of resorts there, so there were plenty of people in the water and on the sand, but there were a few parts of the beach that were quiet and we were able to look around for some sea glass, coral and shells. During this first jaunt, we saw our first camel. 
This guy has his camel on the beach and gives rides for about 50 pounds. The price was negotiable, as all prices there are, but we didn't know this yet. Nor did we ride the camel yet- that comes in a day or two. The original purpose of the walk down the beach, however, was to recover our missing voucher book. This is where our second self-inflicted wound comes in. You see, the night before, the guy at the front desk had told me over the phone what resort it was in. I thought it started with an 'H', and I know for sure he said, 'nach Jasmine', which means, "near Jasmine" (Jasmine being a resort a couple doors down). So, I thought we'd walk down to Jasmine resort and look for a neighboring one that sounded familiar. The only resort near Jasmine was the 'Alladin', and that definately wasn't it, as we asked at their front desk for our packet and they looked at us like we were mad. Dejected, we walked back to the Ali Baba along the street. Walking along the street in Hurghada was interesting. As we were walking, every Taxi that passed honked its horn at us. (At least, that's what we thought). We counted two dozen honks as we walked the block or so back to Ali Baba. Entering Ali Baba, the guy at the front desk called us over and asked about where our voucher was. He seemed very annoyed. We told him about how we forgot what resort it was at and said we'd just call up the travel agent. (This desk clerk was differant from the one the night before and didn't know anything about the ordeal). We proceeded to go to the room, as Timmy needed a nap, and took a rest ourselves. About 20 minutes later, the front desk calls again. The guy must've been worried, because he contacted the bus company just like the fella the night before had and tracked down our vouchers again. This time we wrote the name down- the High Seas resort. Only, with the Arabic accent, it doesn't sound anything like how it would be said in English. Of course, it is "near" Jasmine- only a short Taxi ride away. *sigh*.
Well, we walked down to the High Seas any way, all along the beach. It was a nice walk on a nice day and we made it there with no trouble. They had our voucher book and we walked back, along the road. Now that we were set with the vouchers, we decided to try to get some Egyptian money to start enjoying our stay. The ATM in our hotel didn't work, so we went for a walk for a functioning one. As it turns out, the ATMs in all the resorts on our street were out of order for one reason or another. We decided to walk down to the local shopping plaza to see if there was an ATM there. This is where we were hit with one of the harshest realities of Egyptian culture- shopping.
The shopping plaza was a strip mall with about a dozen or so shops. In front of each shop sits the shopkeeper. Whenever they see someone walk by their store, they do their pitch. If the customers are new enough- and suckers (as we, at this point in time most certainly were), he'll reel you in with his song and dance. It goes something like this: (This is a real conversation from the front of the perfume shop).
Shopkeeper (as he walks in front of you and blocks your path): Hello. Hello! Hi! How are you? Speak English? Where you from? (then he looks at you, expectantly).
Doug (looking cautiously at Savannah, then back to the shopkeeper): Canada.
Shopkeeper: Canada? You're the first person I've met from Canada! Won't you please come in? This is my store. Just come in for some Tea- Let me show you Egyptian hospitality. Please! Come in for a cup of Tea.
Doug: We don't have any money. We're looking for an ATM, actually. We can't buy anything.
Shopkeeper (Herding aforementioned suckers into the store): No no no- you don't have to buy anything. Just come for a cup of tea! I make you welcome, you feel comfortable, maybe you come back later!
This is actually a pretty tame sounding version of the pitch, now that I write it out, but believe me, if you're not expecting it, it throws you for a loop. In the end, we all went into the perfume shop, Savannah, Tim and I (With Tim in the hiking pack). I spent the first ten minutes on my toes, ready to cradle Tim in my arms and jump through the front store window, if necessary. As it turns out, the shopkeeper didn't really want to kill us. He just wanted all our money. A cup of tea later, he pulls out his perfume oils and Savannah starts smelling them. Then he tells us about his cousin Ackbar or Achmed or whatever makes them in Al-din-who-knows-where and that only his oils are any good and the rest suck and if you buy 100g you get a free 25g and on and on and on. Eventually he asks us how much were going to buy, to which I reply again that we have no money.
No problem! he says. There's an ATM down the street that works! (lo and behold.) In the end we bought some perfume oil and got an escort to the ATM (the escort was to make sure we paid). Fortunately this ATM worked and we paid our fortune in perfume to the shopkeeper's aide, who then made a beeline for the Mosque because its Ramadan and by this time it was 6 o'clock- the end of their daily fast. This experience proved valuable in 3 ways, however. First, the guy told us his price for perfume was set by the Government. When the next perfume shop offered to sell it for less, we realized that all the shopkeepers are complete liars. Second, this was the first go I gave at bartering, where I talked the guy down from 1100 pounds to 900 pounds. And third, we found a functional ATM which served us well over the course of the week.
Now we had some spare cash and overpriced perfume. Dinner at the resort, some vodkas over the evening, and this was the end of day 2.
**Interlude: The Food**
Ah. Where to begin with the food. To start, I personally didn't like Egyptian food. I thought it was either too spicy or too weird tasting for the particular meal it was served with. Nonetheless, we all made an attempt at the Egyptian food, much to our mutual chagrin. The only complimentary gift Egypt let us leave with was heavy digestive discomfort as a result of the food. As a matter of fact, we're still feeling its aftereffects now, over a week later.
The resort's food was both interesting and, I thought, disappointing. The first day was great- a lot of new things to try. But it wasn't long before we realized the resort served the same dishes every day. Every breakfast was the same, every lunch, and every dinner. Along with the consistent dishes came the consistent pestering by the resort staff at each meal. Without exception, each meal would begin with a guy offering a glass freshly squeezed orange juice. This guy was slick- If you were new to the resort, you didn't know that the freshly squeezed orange juice didn't count as a complimentary beverege. The guy, when offering it, would set it down in front of you and simply say, "Fresh squeezed juice". Savannah and I were wise enough by the time he tried it on us to ask if it were free before we took a sip. From that point on, we just said no and waved the guy away any time he came close. It didn't stop him from trying, though- every day. The second pesterer was a guy offering special dinners. In addition to the all-inclusive dinner, you could also order a special meal for the evening if you wante something... well, special. We did this once. To the resort's credit, the meal really was very good. But it does get very annoying to be asked about it in the middle of every other meal you're eating.
We didn't eat any food outside of the resort- mainly because we figured we'd get horribly sick if we did.
**End of this Interlude**
Day 3 arrived like Day 2 did before it. Sunny and warm outside. We took Timmy swimming in the pool and he loved it. Timmy takes to water like a fish and will cry like the dickens when you take him out of it. We swam quite a bit this day. I think this was also the day we went down to the beach and sat in the beach chairs for a little bit. We took it pretty easy because we were finally ready to relax a bit. Savannah got her camel ride at the beach with Timmy (Daddy took pictures) and we signed up for our 2-day Cairo trip later in the week.Day 4 was very exciting. This was when we went into Downtown Hurghada in the evening. 
Visiting the Bazar in Hurghada was something Savannah really wanted to do, so we went ahead around 6 o'clock or so and got a Taxi out the front gate. Here, we went against all guidance and common sense and got an un-registered Taxi. That is, we got an independant free-lancer. This guy's car was definately unique. After we negotiated a price (70 pounds round trip- very steep, as we'd learn later), he showed us to his car. Timmy and Savannah sat in back (without functioning seatbelts) and I sat in front, ready to kick the guy in the head if he tried anything funny. (Hey! No laughing! What would you be ready to do in that situation?) Once we were settled, we took off. Literally.
Visiting the Bazar in Hurghada was something Savannah really wanted to do, so we went ahead around 6 o'clock or so and got a Taxi out the front gate. Here, we went against all guidance and common sense and got an un-registered Taxi. That is, we got an independant free-lancer. This guy's car was definately unique. After we negotiated a price (70 pounds round trip- very steep, as we'd learn later), he showed us to his car. Timmy and Savannah sat in back (without functioning seatbelts) and I sat in front, ready to kick the guy in the head if he tried anything funny. (Hey! No laughing! What would you be ready to do in that situation?) Once we were settled, we took off. Literally.Egyptian driving is absolute anarchy. The Egyptian government doesn't install traffic lights because nobody would heed them any way. There are lane markings on the road from time to time, but again, nobody pays them any attention. The honking that, a couple days prior, Savannah and I thought were cabbies trying to get a fare from us, turned out to be the cars on the road constantly honking at each other every time they approach, pass, or turn. Speed limits aren't paid attention to, and pedestrians in the road, should they be too slow, will be run over. You'd think that driving in a straight line was illegal in Egypt judging from the weaving and bobbing the cars do. It turns out they do this so much because Egyptian road maintenance is so bad that some parts of the road are simply impassible. The cabbie took us down the road past the airport and into downtown. Instead of taking major roads, though, he started to drive us down alleyways and side streets. This is when my butt started to majorly pucker and I thought for sure we'd be on the 11 o'clock news. Turns out, though, he really was taking a short cut and got us to the "bazar" rather quickly. Of course, the "bazar" was a souvenier shop run by his friend (who undoubtedly provided the cabbie with a share of the profits from Savannah and I). Any way, we went into the souvenier shop with the intention of buying a couple of things. This is where I bought Tom's souvenier and Savannah picked up a medium-sized papyrus painting. This was our first experience buy papyrus and we got royally fleeced on it. I won't even mention how much we paid for this first one because it's so embarassing.
After leaving the bazar, we walked up and down the streets of downtown Hurghada, just to get a look at what an Egyptian city looks like. Just like by the strip mall, all the store owners were in-your-face and doing and saying anything they could get away with to get you in their store. By this point, though, we had no cash again and weren't willing to listen to the song-and-dance. We ignored most of the shopkeepers and bushed off the rest. 
Before long, we got tired of it and walked back to the cabbie (who was still waiting for us- a good indication that you overpaid your cabbie) and rode back to the hotel. The ride back to the hotel, we took pictures from inside the cab. The picture of the cabbie is while he's "driving" down the road at 100kph.The next major event in this part of the vacation was the trip to Cairo. This was a 2-day trip we signed up for, including the bus ride (7 hours) to Cairo, the "5-star" hotel, and the bus ride back. As it turns out, the trips to Cairo are all synchronized because the tour buses require police escorts to keep the "safe". I got the impression that this was very much like mafia tactics where the mob will sell you "insurance" which, if you don't have, you'll most certainly need. Nonetheless, we made for Cairo in the caravan of tour vans and police vehicles. We made a couple stops along the way for restroom breaks. Egyptian restrooms require a tip to use and a tip for toilet paper. Yes- you pay to crap and you pay to wipe. This was the point where I got religious about using disinfectant on my hands after touching any bills. I found it likely that someone along the line realized it was cheaper to use a 1 pound note to wipe their ass that it was to use it to pay for toilet paper. It's a wonder they don't make you pay to leave the place, too. You'd think with all this paying they'd be nice and clean and tidy, but no no! You're tempted to burn the shoes you walk into the place with.
Along the way to Cairo we met a couple friends on the bus. They were a couple- Simon and Manuela. Simon's from England and Manuela from Germany. Manuela had visited Egypt 4 times previously, so she taught us a great deal about bartering in Egypt and how not to get screwed. 
The first stop in Cairo was the Mosque of Mohammed Ali (Yes, after a 7-hour bus ride starting at 2 in the morning, we jumped right into the tourist attractions instead of checking into the hotel). The lesson the tour guide gave about Islamic customs was interesting, but I didn't think the building itself was particularly impressive. It wasn't ancient (only a couple hundred years old) and wasn't particularly architectually impressive, either.
The first stop in Cairo was the Mosque of Mohammed Ali (Yes, after a 7-hour bus ride starting at 2 in the morning, we jumped right into the tourist attractions instead of checking into the hotel). The lesson the tour guide gave about Islamic customs was interesting, but I didn't think the building itself was particularly impressive. It wasn't ancient (only a couple hundred years old) and wasn't particularly architectually impressive, either. Our next stop was the National Museum in Cairo. Timmy had a rough time in the museum because it was a lot of standing around, waiting for the tour guide to explain this or that. Although we asked for and paid for an English tour, the tour guide didn't speak a lick of the Queen's Tongue and we were relying on Manuela to translate for us. It wasn't long in the museum before we took off on our own and looked at the cool stuff. We figured out quickly the exhibits all had captions in English any way, so we were better off. The only real cool thing of note from the museum was the sarcophogus and headdress of King Tut. Everything else seemed pretty nondescript.
After the museum we ate lunch at a restaurant in Cairo as a group. This was included in our tour, but the food was pretty bad. It was a selection of chicken, lamb or beef with rice and fries. Yuck.
The next stop was supposed to be a Papyrus factory. Manuela had been on the Papyrus tour a few times before, though, and suggested strongly against it. Based on this, we were able to convince the tour guide to bring us someplace else. He took us to another souviener store where Savannah bought a head scarf.
Finally we got to the hotel. It was a 5-star hotel, but as Manuela explained it, the star rating in Egypt means nothing compared to the western world. The hotel was probably a 3-star or high 2-star back in the states. The water was (like all the other non-bottled water everywhere) non-potable. The shower was hot, fortunately, and they were able to provide us with a crib for Timmy. Instead of spending the evening winding down, though, the 5 of us (Simon, Manuela, Savannah, Timmy and I) went to the *BIG* Cairo Bazar. The tour guide strongly suggested us not to go, and this scared us a bit, but we went any way.
The Cairo Bazar was crazy. The taxi took us to the edge of it. It was like walking though Cedar Point on its busiest day where everyone is shoulder-to-shoulder. We opted to carry Timmy instead of using the carrier as we thought it'd be safer for him. Here, Savannah bought a woven wall hanging and this is where Manuela schooled us on bartering. We got a deal on the wall hanging and Savannah bought a couple stone statuettes later on in the bazar. The bazar itself was a lot like you see in movies. Very loud, very smelly (both good and bad odors) and very dirty. We wove though a lot of the small, back streets that are about as wide as a person and big streets that, despite being almost 20 yards wide, were still jammed. This bazar wasn't the tourist bazar, though. The cabbie hooked us up with the bazar for the locals. It was a lot of fun and a big learning experience.After the bazar we went back to the hotel and got a little dinner in the hotel's restaurant (also included in the package). The next day began with a trip to the pyramid at Sakkara- the oldest Egyptian pyramid. It's known as the "step" pyramid because of its shape. We also got to go down through some of the tombs here which were pretty cool.
The next stop on the second day of Cairo was to Memphis, an ancient city of the Egyptians. Here they just had a few statues left, one of which was a huge statue of the Pharoh Ramses II.
The third stop was the one that I had been looking forward to since Savannah first said we were going to Egypt. This was the Plateau of Giza on which stood the Pyramid of Cheops and the "second Pyramid".
The Egyptians don't seem too concerned about the state of their ancient sites, however. People can just walk right up to the pyramids- climb them, if they wish. The archaeological ruins next to the pyramids you can walk though, too, without any supervision. There is trash everywhere. Although they're not "allowed" to be there, there are bedouins on camels offering rides. These guys are real slick, too. They'll come up to you and say you can sit up on their camel for free to get a picture- and they mean it, too. They'll dismount, let you get on, the camel will rise and you can get your picture, all for free. When it comes time to get off the camel though- that's when you have to pay.
Back to the pyramids. Savannah and I bought a couple tickets to crawl down inside the second pyramid. We went one at a time because we didn't want to bring Tim down there- we heard it was terribly damp and dank. It was good we didn't bring Tim. Being under the pyramid (you had to go down a steep ramp for quite awhile, then back up into the center of the ediface) felt like being in a Sauna. Only you knew that the moisture in this "Sauna" was from everyone else's sweat and not water poured over the coals. In the middle was little more than a tomb room. Not even any heiroglypics on the walls.
We got a lot of very good pictures by the pyramids, and then in front of the Sphinx. We even got a couple of funny pictures with the Sphinx, too!That's enough for one night- the football game is on. Part 2 comes tomorrow!
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