Visiting Giza, Memphis and Saqqara

Today we finally saw the Pyramids, Sphinx and the most ancient step pyramid. We started our day at Memphis, founded in 3100 BC. It was once the capital of Egypt. We then headed to Saqqara where the first pyramid was built. There are other tombs around the area as well. The first glimpse of a pyramid was so fun! After Saqqara we went to a rug manufacturer where we saw people weaving rugs of cotton, silk and wool.

Onto the Giza plateau where the most famous pyramids and the Sphinx are located. Wow was this amazing! We walked around the Great Pyramid first and took lots of photos. It was so overwhelming to be there. You can't imagine the size of these things! We couldn't get far enough away for awhile to get the whole pyramid in the photo. We then went to an area where we could overlook the whole plateau and see all the pyramids.

After that we entered the second pyramid. Ok, so we walked into the entrance, down a little and then we had to bend in half to go down an angled shaft. It was very closed in and of course there is no air circulation. Melissa almost couldn't do it, but then she took a deep breath and kept going. We got to the bottom of the shaft and had a place where you could stand straight. We walked down a corridor that was only a couple inches above our heads and we could walk side by side with our arms brushing the walls. Then came another shaft going up where we had to bend over and climb - going up was easier. At the end of that we came to a large open space where the granite sarcophagus is located. Of course the pharaoh was long ago stolen from his tomb. It was so strange being in the middle of a pyramid!

When then went to where the Sphinx was and took many photos. This was such a great day and the best way to wind up our trip! We plan to do some shopping and a little more site-seeing tomorrow and then we head home on Tuesday.