Egypt

We spent 2 days in Egypt. The ship ported in Alexandria and then we took a 3 hour bus ride down towards Cairo.

 The traffic there is crazy! They have some interesting transportation. Egypt was very dirty and there was garbage all along the river and roads. We had to take water from the ship because even their bottled water isn't sanitary. We also couldn't eat any fresh fruits or vegetables to prevent us from getting sick.

 

This picture gives you a good idea of how Jake felt about the bus ride.

We first saw the alabaster sphinx in Memphis.

The fallen colossal statue of King Ramses II.

Going down inside a pyramid. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside. At this site we also visited what is believed to be Joseph of Egypt's tomb.

They raise lots of pigeons in these houses.

We didn't take any camel rides because we were told that the camels are cheap to get on, but really expensive to get off. My cousin also had a horrible accident a few years ago when riding a camel in Egypt, so we thought we would pass and just look from a distance.

The Pyramids of Giza

The Egyptian in our family picture below was really obnoxious! They try to get in your pictures and dress you up and then demand money. They were really pushy trying to find any way to get money from you. No worries though, we had a security guard with a machine gun with us the whole time so we were safe and sound.

The Sphinx

 There was a little girl about 8-10 years old that grabbed us and started posing us. She was quick and did a good job, but we only had a $20 bill on us. I felt really bad we didn't have a dollar on us, but then again we never asked for our help. Next time I will be prepared with lots of $1's!

This guy gave us a demonstration on how to make real papyrus.

There were mosques EVERYWHERE! It was really interesting to hear their calls to pray throughout the day.

We were really glad we were able to go to Egypt. The cruise ship the week before us was not allowed to stop due to safety reasons. There was a demonstration held in Cairo when we were there, but we didn't see any of it except on the news. In general the people were really friendly and would wave and smile as we would drive by. The people who make their living at the tourist sites were really obnoxious, but we were warned about that. Overall, we felt really safe (we would never go out alone without our security guards and tour guide!) and had a great time!