After arriving in Cairo we checked into our hotel, the Cairo Marriott. Our guide told us the building used to be a palace in the 1970’s which made sense once you saw the architecture. Everything was over the top, gilded gold, archways, spectacular in every way. We had a beautiful room with a balcony that overlooked the Nile. We took a nap before the welcome dinner where we meet our travel mates for the next 3 weeks. Peggy and I are the only 2 single females and the youngest by far. Just a little strange.

Breakfast was at 6:00 AM because the bus was leaving at 7:00. Our guide, Tarek, believed in an early start to beat the crowds at the Giza Pyramids. Breakfast was wonderful. There were more vegetarian dishes than I could count. Wasn’t sure what many of the things were but they sure tasted good. They even had a whole section of the buffet for Indian foods!

When we arrived at the Giza Pyramids we were almost the first ones there. Two hours later I could not believe what I saw. Apparently it was basically a holiday and what the Egyptian people do is pack a picnic lunch and bring the whole family to the Pyramids. I swear there were 1000’s of them by the time we left.

It is almost impossible to describe the enormity of these pyramids, which are the largest in the world. They were built between 2600 and 2500 BC for the Pharaoh Khufu. To put it in prospective, the base of 1 side is the length of 3 football fields and the height is 450 feet.

The Pyramids were all built on the west side of the Nile because it is where the sun sets and to them, death is your sun setting. Because they believed in an after life, they were buried with everything they would need to continue their life

After a great lunch of all things Egypt and a sweet potato dessert to die for), we went to Sakkara which is the home of 100’s of tombs. The main attraction, however, is the step pyramid of Djoser. It is the oldest pyramid in Egypt, dating back over 4,000 years. What is unusual about this pyramid is that the entire structure is solid. To find the tombs, archeologists had to dig under the pyramid to find the hidden burial chambers. They have yet to find the burial site of Pharaoh Djoser.

The next and last stop of the day was at a rug making school. We watched the artisans knot the rugs. For a silk rug it takes 900 knots to make one inch. It is no wonder it takes years to make some of these rugs. We also saw a demonstration of them getting the silk threads from the silk pods.

Now I know you are all wondering. Did she or didn’t she? She did! I am the proud owner of a very small but VERY expensive silk rug to use as a runner on my dining room table. My problem was that I looked at the best first and then nothing else compared. Our guide told us not to expect more than 10 or 15%. I got the salesman down to 20%. I went to pay the owner and he asked me how much and I told him with a straight face, free. He laughed so hard he gave me an extra 5% and a free rug. A little flirting never hurts.

Back to the hotel for dinner and a wake up call for 4:00 AM for our flight to Luxor and our cruise down the Nile for the next 5 days.