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Night Location: Sleeper train en route to Luxor
Mummysode of the Day: Mum hid cutlery underneath a teacup today at breakfast to prevent the waiter from clearing it away before she had time for seconds. Nothing will keep Mum from the Diplomat's pudding. In addition, while eating dinner this afternoon, we were plagued by a pesky bee. Mum decided she was going to deal with it, first knocking it into Gemma's sprite and then squashing it with a serviette. A waiter quickly came to take the offending insect away. All the waiters were smiling and nodding at Mum, clearly impressed with her intrepid spirit.
This morning we woke up early to take full advantage of the exotic breakfast. No sign of gastro yet so Amber and David dared to eat an apple. Fingers crossed!
We have been looking forward to today for a long time as today we got to see the pyramids up close! First, however, was a 45 minute bus ride to Saqqara, home of the oldest pyramid in the world- the step pyramid. Surrounding the pyramid are the remains of a magnificent limestone wall. The blocks were perfectly sanded and then placed on top of each other using a water vacuum to seal them together. No mortar required here. Once the wall was finished it was entirely covered with bees wax and this could be very clearly seen at the opening of the festival hall, where the blocks were reminiscent of shiny bathroom tiles.
From the top of the wall it was possible to see the Bent pyramid and the Red pyramid. We definitely know that we are on a tour as we stop at lots of tour endorsed rest areas. The first one today was a carpet school where we learned the fine arts of making carpets from silk, wool and cotton. We were then assisted in case we were interested in purchasing said carpets. No sales were made. The workers make between 10 and 40 Egyptian pounds a day or between 2 and 6 dollars a day for such intense and repetitive work.
After a short stop for 'lunch' (pringles and an ice-cream - Egypt's version of the Magnum Classic) from a petrol station we were on to the pyramids of Giza, the same pyramids that we have been admiring from the pool. Needless to say they are enormous up close, far bigger than any of us imagined. Interesting fact, courtesy of the guide, the pyramids never make a shadow, no matter the time of day. Because of the multiple layers of granite and limestone the burial chamber was more than 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature. Perfect for a mummy.
Have a guess how many big pyramids there are in Egypt? Any takers? 97! Who would have thought! David was the only one of the group to venture inside and loved it. The rest of us remained outside with the hasslers. Fortunately we had been given two half-hour lectures about the tricks these hasslers try to get your money. Some favourites were:
Carrying you to their donkey, horse or camel and then making you pay for a ride. Mum said at this point, "They're not going to get me!"
Saying that it was free to ride the camel. Once you were on you have to pay to get off.
Pretending to be a tour guide and then leading you into the desert, only to make you pay for their time and run away.
Asking you to hold a stick that is used to direct a camel, then leaving you for five minutes. When they come back they get you to wave it in front of the camels eyes to force it to the ground, then blame you for hurting their camel and making it cry. Something you have to pay handsomely for!
Proudly, we avoided all of these traps. We took some amazing pictures. Gemma almost had another Pisa incident, but gave up in advance.
Next stop was the sphinx and the valley temple. It was so incredible to see such a huge lion with the head of a pharaoh sculpted out of one gigantic piece of limestone guarding the pyramid over 4000 years after construction.
Last stop was a papyrus factory where we learnt the ancient art of making papyrus. Papyrus is the oldest paper in the world. Amber and David bought a beautiful piece depicting Tutankhamun and his wife on the first day of their honeymoon.
We are currently relaxing beside the pool waiting for our 6pm pick up to the overnight train. Our guide has recommended we buy something to eat here as food on the train is somewhat dicey. We shall update you on the train adventure tomorrow. Tomorrow is another big day, Valley of the Kings!
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