The Great Pyramid and Sphinx Day

Driving around Cairo is pretty depressing. Besides an aversion to picking up trash (Except in front of western hotels like ours that are guarded by private security forces with automatic weapons) There is trash and starving dogs everywhere. My only comparison is my trips to Israel where the guards are present but a total absence of trash anywhere. I don't know if it is the corrupt government, lack of pride of its citizens who live with garbage on their doorsteps, or a general malaise that nothing can be done about it. I didn't take any pictures of the trash laden streets that are impossible to ignore. I felt that it would be rude to take pictures of people without them knowing it. So here are the pics of Saqqara and Giza including the Sphinx. The Step Pyramid is thought to be older than the great Pyramids of Giza. Built sometime in 2700AD it has remained somewhat untouched. It laid buried in the sand until 1851.

Then on to Giza which is amazingly close to Cairo as far as seeing them from our lunch location, but on arrival you begin to believe in the mystical powers of myth and the underworld. The site is amazing and even crowded with tourists, you can imagine the 100,000 people that worked 20 years to build them The Father, the Son, and the Grandson each have pyramids, each a bit smaller in size but line up perfectly in their apexes as well as Orion's Belt and every few thousand years, three planets line up exactly at the top of each one for one night only.

The country is quiet, noisy, colorful,bland, hot, cold, friendly, obnoxious. But I would not trade any place in the world right now. To see, hear, smell Egypt is a once in a lifetime event for me. More tomorrow.