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Thursday 11th April
Overnight we have sailed north to our second port in Egypt, Sokhna. From the port it is a 90 minute drive into Cairo, through the desert, on the toll road that looks fairly new. There were no hold ups on the toll road but once in Cairo the traffic was manic. They weave in and out of each other, take no notice of lane markings and seldom signal. It's quite fascinating to watch from the relative safety of a coach. Fortunately we didn't have to cross any roads in Cairo as that looked very daunting - they just walk across and let the cars dodge them, there is no such thing as a gap in the traffic. Our guide told us that if a car knocks down a pedestrian then by law they have to take them to hospital so they try not to!
We were in Cairo to see the Pyramids at Giza. This is on the outskirts of Cairo and although you expect the Pyramids to be in the middle of the desert they are right next to the city. If you look to the right of the photo you can just see the city in the background. The pyramid to the left is the largest one even though it doesn't look like it. It is the pyramid of Khufu and took over 20 years to build around 2560BC. Close to this are 3 small pyramids for his wives. The pyramid to the right was built for his son Khafre and from higher ground looks larger than his fathers even though it isn't. We went into Khafre's Pyramid - you had to crouch down to go first down a tunnel, along a corridor that short people like me could stand up in and then into some more tunnels (lots more crouching) that went up until you came to the burial chamber. This room had a very high ceiling and was somewhere in the middle of the pyramid. There are no wall paintings here but it was quite an experience to actually go inside one. After being in there it was lovely to be back outside in the fresh air. There is another pyramid here (not in my picture) that is a bit smaller than these two that belonged to Khafre's son, Menkaure. We then went down to see the Sphinx which stands guard over the Pyramid of Khafre. It has been an amazing day seeing the only remaining one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
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