We also took a look at some of the tombs near the pyramids, where a lot of the kings and queens were buried. For Egyptians, death was seen as only the beginning of resurrection. The walls in all the tombs are filled with detailed hieroglyphics and these statues represent the ideal form they should be in when they come back to life.
We went inside the tomb that Obama visited when he came to Egypt. Obama actually pointed this hieroglyphic out and said it looks like him. He was right.
After viewing the rest of the pyramids, we headed over to the Sphinx- on camels! We each got our own camel, and it rode them for about a half hour. Few things about camels:
1) They pee a LOT. And everywhere.
2) They snort often and have quite large teeth.
3) They have no sense of personal space. I'm not comfortable having camel breath in my face.
4) They are VERY tall! Like a mix between a horse and a giraffe.
5) They make for a fun but very bumpy ride.
This was my camel (I named it Pooka), and it definitely was a character out of the bunch. It started doing some weird jiggly dance while I was on its back. At one point, it started running really fast and bumping so high up and down that I was scared for my life, but I managed to not fall off. Overall it was a lot of fun, except for the smell of camel manure everywhere. Gross.
The Sphinx was pretty cool too, though not as impressive as the pyramids in size. We learned that the Sphinx is meant to be a manifestation of the Egyptian sun god in human/animal form. The Greeks believe its because he has the strength of a lion and the intellect of man.
After taking a bunch of goofy pics kissing the Sphinx, we headed out. Did I mention we were haggled by people selling souvenirs every bit of the way? Didn't buy anything though, since it's the ultimate tourist area. I'm saving my shopping for Khan-el-khalili. But overall it was a great day.
