House of the Purple Worms: Day 3 part II The Weaving School, lunch and the Pyramids at Giza

So the bus took us back aways along the canal and then stopped at the Sultan Carpet School so we could see how Egyptian rugs are woven.

Of course they were hoping we would all buy something too!

The students demonstrated their speed and abilities for us...

... and we got to take a look at the equipment for various kinds of weavings.

The store room had many kinds of rugs in a variety of materials from cotton to silk and with designs that ran the gamut from traditional to pharaonic to abstract modern.

When we left we saw this guy outside with his own little loom weaving away.

Our next stop was lunch at the Steigenberger pyramids Hotel, but on the way we saw our ultimate goal out the bus window.

It was kind of weird to see a pyramid as the backdrop to an urban street scene.

Lunch was pleasant and filling with lots of buffet options as usual.

Then back into the bus and speeding past the pyramids again so that we could stop

...at the pyramids.

It was pretty cool to actually get to climb on the real pyramids, but we weren't as adept at it as some.

There is a pigeon in this shot:

If you look hard, you'll see there is a dog up near the top in this close up section (right under the big dark point right of center about 1/3 down in the photo).

Here is an enlargement of that same shot in case you are having a hard time finding him!

While I was pondering him, he decided to come down.

There are like 5 pyramids in this pyramid complex, but we are most familiar with the two medium-sized ones the pyramid of Khafre and the pyramid of Menkaure and of course the Great pyramid (of Cheops or Khufu). (Remember that tiny little ivory figure of Khufu in the Egyptian Museum?)

The pyramids were built in the fourth dynasty between 2600 and 2500 BCE.

From left to right you have the pyramid of Menaure, of Khafre and of Khufu, with the sphinx in front.

We also had the opportunity for a camel ride here, so I availed myself of the opportunity.

My camel's name was Michael Jackson and I have to say for me it was a kind of scary experience. You sit really high up in the air and the camels are SO tall! You climb on while they are kneeling, but then you have to lean back while they get up on their hind legs and lean the other way for the front legs. About half way through the ride I finally began to relax, but I only had one stirrup and a saddle horn to hang onto, so I wasn't sure I wouldn't fall off at any given bump.

After examining the pyramids we went around to the area with the Sphinx.

The sphinx is kept in an enclosure by itself.

He is constructed of limestone and believed to be modeled on the face of King Khafre. (Probably constructed between 2558-2532 during Khafre's reign.) During the first intermediate period sand blew in and covered the statue which probably protected it from damage.

The story about Napoleon's soldiers harming the nose is completely untrue. 15th Century historian al Maqrīzī recorded the damaged nose hundreds of years earlier.

Here's our group inspecting the sphinx.

You get a nice view of the great pyramid from the sphinx area.

I didn't know the sphinx had such a long tail.

We took our souvenir photo shots and then it was time to say Goodbye.

On the bus out we passed this interesting place. I have no idea what it was all about, but it had naked lady sculptures along with naked giraffes and elephants!

We went back through the city safely.

Our bus driver was amazing and we were sad to bid him adieu when the time came.

Soon we were back at the Nile and then turned into our hotel (which we had to reach by doing a u-turn each time).

We had a few minutes to freshen up in the room and then a big buffet dinner in the Hotel restaurant.

We needed sustenance for our big journey the next morning when we would get up very early so we could fly to Luxor and get to see (and board) our ship.

The food offerings were so colorful and varied, I just couldn't resist taking pictures of just some of them.

The waiters were extremely attentive and kept us in drinks and cleaned our dishes almost as fast as we could finish our food.

On the way back to our room we passed the swimming pool (which wasn't terribly deep, so laps would have been difficult.) It was however pretty and they had changing light colors so that it was a different color each time you viewed it.