(okay, so you've skipped and returned or just like to read on ... great! ... here's some more):
Around 9:30 am today, 38 camel riders and 2 who prefer horses (Joyce and Mary) set out from our favorite stable (yes, a camel stable) next to the pyramids. We made our way through the dusty streets of the town adjacent to the pyramids, to the very beginning point of the Sahara desert, up to the "panorama" (the best point in the desert to view the "big 3" pyramids), then disembarked (what other word best describes the act of getting down from our "ships of the desert", our camels?), and took our first group shot (below), with our NU flag!
Then, we literally ran from the panorama to the pyramids themselves ... and we climbed a few rows of the smallest pyramid and generally hung out on and around one of the ancient world's "wonders". Back to our "ships", and rode the rest of the way to the Sphinx. The Sphinx area was absolutely mobbed with tourists - French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Americans -- including several from New York and from Boston University: our NU "Dialogue" t-shirts allowed for great conversations while we were all squeezed in between representatives from the great expanse of humanity, who all decided that today was their day, too, to share our visit to "Abul-Hool" (the Egyptian name for the Sphinx).
After we shook paws with the Sphinx, we posed (see picture below) in front of one of the most photographed sites on the planet. Our "3-hour tour" (yes, I am "the Professor" in search of Gilligan) ended there. Then, it was off to a wonderful papyrus shop (they call it a museum, because there is education there about how papyrus is made) - and based on the purchases of our students, I presume that many of you reading this will be recipients of some of their efforts today. Finally, an outdoor lunch/buffet on the Sakkara Road.
Then, 40 very tired NU "huskies" made it back to the hotel ... for much-needed showers, naps, food ... and blogging for some.
2 comments:
awesome! thanks so much for posting this. You're my only reliable connection updated trip information at this point. I understand that internet connectivity from the hotel is not "free" as was expected. I'm sure you're working on it. Looking forward to your next installment. Thanks!
Gorgeous pictures! Thanks so much for keeping us up to date, I will look forward to reading your blog daily.
We too were disappointed that internet access is not as easy as we thought it would be--we all rely on it so much these days.
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