Pyramids and sore feet.

After nearly a month in Egypt we finally made it to the Pyramids. I think the time actually worked in our favor. In that month we learned how to deal with touts and how to avoid being over charged as tourists for just about everything.

We arrived at the pyramids around 4 in the afternoon. We were told not to go any earlier or we might actually burst into flames. Shit is hot in Egypt. What we weren't told is that the Pyramids close at 6pm, so we had 2 hours to get our history on and quick.

Stopping for a pre-pyramid meal at the KFC located literally across the street from the entrance, we fueled up for our adventure and then headed out.

After haggling with a tout for nearly 30 minutes we finally reached a deal on two camels. Totally psyched to be riding camels through the desert we headed with the touts down a deserted alley. "we're certainly going to die" I thought. Where are we going? Why are the Pyramids behind us? Why are there heroin needles all over the street and how successfully will I be able to leap from this camel and drop kick this tout if things get a little hairy?

Luckily for the touts I didn't have to drop kick them. No shennanigans took place. They were merely leading us to an illegal entrance where we could bring our camles after paying the police a little baksheesh.

The pyramids were amazing. Especially when they appear right in front of you as you cross over desert hills. They're huge. They're impressive. They're everything you think they'd be. It was unreal. I couldn't believe I was there. I mean I literally never thought I'd see the Pyramids in my lifetime. They seemed so foreign. Almost as if they didn't exist. But here I was, riding on the back of a camel thought the desert. Heading right towards them.

If you haven't been, I suggest you go. Without sounding cheesey there really is something in the air there. You can feel the history. It's pretty damn cool. Oh yeah, and the Sphynx is ALOT smaller than I thought it would be. I blame my misconception of their size on the Never Ending Story. I always thought the sphynx was at least as big as the Oracle staues Atreau stumbled upon. I mean their boobs were bigger than he was. So naturally I imagined the Sphynx being roughly the same size. It wasn't. Much smaller than the pyramids, and much smaller than those statued boobs.

As the sun set and the moon rose, we gathered at the foot of the Sphynx for a laser light show. Maybe the cheesiest thing I've ever seen. I seriously found myself laughing throughout most of it. Amidst the cheesiness there was one point of interest. The narrator spoke about how long the sphynx has stood guard over the pyramids and the centuries, sunrises, sunsets, and rulers its seen. Pretty cool when you actually think about it.

Onto Moses and Burning Bushes!

Our next adventure, after diving in the Red Sea of course, was a hike up Mt Sinai at 2 in the morning. Why 2 in the morning? Because it be hot here, and well because Egyptians don't sleep. After a two hour bus ride from Dahab we jumped out of our van and laced up our hiking boots. Off we went into the pitch black night, to tackle 7,000 feet in the Egyptian night.

Stumbling past camels, camel shit, rocks, and touts we slowly made our way up hill. For two and a half hours. I'll just get this out of the way now, we completely underestimated this hike. Having conquered Machu Picchu and Fitz Roy we figured we could walk up Sinai backwards. But Macchu Picchu was a long time ago. Many beers ago. Many bags of McDonalds ago. Many gallons of coke. It was hard. We're really out of shape.

There were times we thought we wouldn't make it. Sabrina contemplated getting a camel. Then we got to the stairs. 700 of them. Up. At 4 in the morning. Who's idea was this again?

We made it within minutes of sunrise. Collapsing on a rock formation we awaited the sun rise. Here it was. Mount Sinai. Moses. 10 Commandments. The Lord our Father. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ... sorry I fell asleep. Literally.

The sunrise came and went. We were high up on the mountain. For a minute or two I took note of how cool it was to be somewhere with so much historical importance. I imagined God and Moses chatting. I thought about how old the mountain was. And then I fell asleep again.

After our catnap of oh 15 minutes it was time for the 2 hour hike down. Joy. While it was fun watching elderly Japanese tourists slip and fall down the mountain, the thing I remember most is feeling like my feet were bleeding. We made it down the mountain around 8 am. The sun already blisteringly hot. We found shelter under a fig tree and proceeded to fall asleep again. Are you sensing a pattern here.

All in all it was a great trip. Even though I may make it sound like it wasn't. Being in the middle of this history was humbling. Would I do the hike again? Probably not, but I'd defenitly wait at the bottom for people who did do the hike to finish and tell me all about it.