A Riddle Seems Appropriate

What has four triangular faces, a square base, and five verticies? If you don't know, this won't let you by:

That's right! A pyramid! Two weeks ago, we saw not one, not three, but six of them up close and personal. I've seen them in pictures, on TV, in movies, and nothing - NOTHING - prepared me for what I was about to see.

We decided that the pyramids were a must when we arrived. After much hemming and hawing, we decided to go on a Friday since most people would be at Mosque. Smart move. We arrived at about 9:30 in the morning so we could beat the heat. First stop, the camel guy. Yep, we had the name of a camel guy. He helped us buy our tickets and took us to meet the beasts. The were T.A.L.L. To get on them, they would sit all of the way down and we could cimb on like on a horse. Then the drivers had us lean as far back as we could. The camel would climb up into the standing position as we rocked back and forth. The threat of a face plant seemed very real to this girl! I've never been so thankful for Jackie Hutton teaching me to stand in a saddle. However, once we were up and moving, it was smooth sailing for us. The camels were tied together in groups of five. Here is my camel who I lovingly named Clyde.

The nice thing about our camel guy was that they took us in the back way. We couldn't see anything for a while. In fact, it looked like we were getting further away from where the pyramids were. Then we turned the corner and there they were. The driver stopped the group, we leaned back and everyone avoided falling off. We got off and the pictures began.

The guys - Gavin, Marco, Colton, Adam, Matt, and Brad

The girls - Denise, me, Jen, and Anne

On a side note, notice the difference in the clothing of the guys and girls. In Egypt, we are definitely the more covered of the two. I miss shorts. Alot. However, on this day, guess who got sunburns and who did not. :) Ha!

After everyone got a few pictures that we were wanting, we got back on the camels and started moving closer. The pyramids looked big from a distance but this was unreal. The closer we got, the bigger they seemed to grow. We went by the smaller one first but didn't get off. And just to be clear, small is a very relative term. However, as we came around the corner, I got this shot. It is probably one of my favorites of the day.

There it was, the biggest of the pyramids. It was massive. We were advised not to go in as everything inside had been moved to the museum. Instead, we decided to enjoy the lack of people there.

First thing we did was climb the pyramd. We didn't get very high but still - we climbed a pyramid!

It was tiring so I decided to take a seat. Check out the size of those "bricks"! But this one just doesn't do it justice.....

so we zoomed out a bit.

(Can you imagine how loud it was when those bricks fell off of the pyramid?)

As we were at the pyramids, the Friday mid-day call to prayer sounded. However, since it was Friday, their holy day, it wasn't just the call to prayer. It was the hour long reading of the Qur'an. We were at the pyramids, overlooking the city of Cairo, and from speakers all across the city, we could hear men reading the Qur'an in Arabic. It was so surreal. There we were, standing overshadowed by the past and listening to the present. How much has changed, how much has remained, and how much is to come. I felt very small.

After playing at the pyramids, we decided it was time to go see the Sphynx. We started walking over before we remembered that we had camels. So we went back and rode them down.

Just so you know, riding camels on sand is great. Riding camels down rock pathways is scary! They were sliding and slipping all over the place and we were a good 8 - 10 feet in the air. I was riding the lead camel and was thinking I was over-reacting to the sliding I was feeling. Then I noticed the other nine got silent as we went along. Needless to say, we were all pretty nervous. However, we made it down and saw the Sphynx. Not quite as big as I had always imaginged but there it was in all of its glory.

Me and Denise in front of the Sphynx (which I apparently think of as a girl because I keep wanting to type "her"). While we were there, several people were taking fun pictures of them "kissing" the Sphynx. All around us were children giving us advice and moving us around so we could get the perfect shot. It was a bit annoying - not only because they were in the way but also because they wanted tips for their "help". So, we got our pictures, remounted the camels, and went home. Two and a half hours of sun, sand, and wonders of the ancient world.