Cairo, Egypt

Day 35 - Port Said, Egypt (for Cairo)

This morning we joined our tour of 17 people to the Pyramids. We took off from Port Said for the three drive to Cairo. Cairo has a population of 23 million people. The population of Egypt is around 80 million. We drove by the former President Mubarak house on our way to The Egyptian Antiquity Museum; his house was two city blocks long. Before he was kick out of office, the public was not allowed on the road and it is a major through fare. Our guide was very happy the road was opened up. The Egyptian Antiquity Museum is located on Tahrir Square were the revolution took place. You can see the pictures some of the burn out buildings. No Pictures are allowed to be taken in the Museum. Don't worry; I bought the CD of 1000 pictures you can see when we get home. What can I say, we did not have near enough time in the Museum. I can't begin to describe what we saw in the museum. It was fabulous and I am not just talking about King Tut's treasures. The Gold and jewels, such fine art it is unbelievable. We can all be thankful that the army and citizens of Egypt protected the museum from the looters during the revolution. When we were leaving I felt emotional like I was suffering a loss, I did not want to leave. Next stop was the Nile River. It is the longest river in the world. It is over 4000 miles long and is the only river that flows north into the Mediterranean Sea. We took a ride on a Felucca the traditional boat of the Nile. We cruise down the Nile to a Restaurant and had a Middle Eastern lunch. We then went back to the bus for the ride to Giza (our guide pronounced it Jiza). I was not surprised having heard that the town was right next to the Pyramids, it was so exciting to see the top of the pyramids peeking out over the buildings. Oh what a sight! The Great Pyramid of Cheop's and the two smaller pyramids. The sole survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. We were able to walk and climb around the Pyramids amid the camels and their drivers. The Great Pyramid covers 13 acres and is 455 high by 755 ft in length. Next was a ride to the viewing area to get more pictures of the three pyramids. Last stop was The Sphinx, the guard of the Tomb of the Pharaoh Chephren and where they have found embalming chambers. Back to the bus for our 3 hour drive to Port Said and the Dawn Princess. Tomorrow is Port Ashdod, Israel for Jerusalem.