It isn't an archaeological site if it isn't in scaffolding!

---

On our second day in Egypt we went to see the PYRAMIDS!

I still can't believe I was in Egypt. Anyway, we took a tour through our hostel where we had a private driver take us to all the sites. We started by going to the Pyramids of Giza, then we to Dahshur and finally to Saqqara.

At Giza we took a camel ride around the pyramids. We stopped at multiple excellent photo places and took a good number of entertaining pictures of ourselves in front of the Pyramids! Our tour guide let both Sarah and I drive the camels for a while, which was really fun. We got to go up and touch one of the pyramids. While we were there it started to rain, but it actually was really nice because it cooled us off in the heat of the desert. Next we stopped at the Sphinx which was really cool, despite the scaffolding.

Then our tour guide took us to a shop where we watched them blow glass and make perfume bottles. Then they talked about the essences they sell and let us try out a good number of them. We also learned the medicinal aromatherapy uses of some essences.

Then we headed out to Dahshur. We could only see the bent Pyramid from a distance, but we were able to go inside another pyramid. It was a long shaft to climb down and it was quite difficult to breathe inside, but it was so worth it!

We were a bit short on time, but we made it to Saqqara without any problems. We got to see the museum at Saqqara and go inside another pyramid (not the step pyramid) as well as go into some other tombs.

There isn't really a lot to say about having gone to the pyramids other than we went. But it was completely and totally amazing and I cannot describe the excitement we felt and the fun we had while there!

In the evening we tried Koshari, an Egyptian dish of noodles, rice, and lots of spices. Then we went to see a Sufi dance, which was also really cool, but again a bit difficult to describe. There was some great hand drumming and the men who danced mostly twirled in these giant skirts and then would do super neat things with them like pulling the skirt over their head into a balloon like shape and so on.



On our last day in Egypt we first explored Coptic Cairo, or the early Christian parts of Cairo. We found a number of neat underground churches and explored the Coptic Museum. The best part, though, was stumbling upon the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo. According to tradition, it is located at the site of where Baby Moses was found.

That afternoon we went back to the Khan al Kahlili bazaar to look around. We found the fabric bazaar and explored the tourist market. Then in the evening we took a boat ride on the Nile which included dinner. It was quite tasty and a lot of fun and we were also graced with belly dancing and more sufi dancing as entertainment.

---