#70 The pyramids and more…

At dawn Halloween morning, we bundle against a cold desert wind and watch the sun rise behind the pyramids in Egypt.

Four hours later when we leave the pyramids, we can check these things off the life list:
• See the pyramids
• Touch a pyramid
• See a policeman riding a camel
• Hear a policeman yell Andele’ to make his camel run faster
• See the sphinx
• Sit in a metal folding chair and take pictures of the sphinx in the foreground and pyramids in the background
• Obtain a thin layer of windblown sand over every square inch of our persons

One odd thing about Egypt is 92% of the land is desert. And the line between desert and non-desert is striking. On one side of the street are grass and palm trees, and on the other side is endless desert that stretches as far as you can see. Now the pyramids are really in the desert, but they are just across the street from non-desert. So if you stand just east of the pyramids and look west, all you see are pyramids and endless desert. But if you stand just a half-block farther east, then you are in our hotel parking lot looking across the street at the pyramids and endless desert.

Had Mary written this blog entry, she might have put our personal tour of the Greater Cairo Public Library ahead of the pyramids. Sure, a personal tour of the historic library led by the long-time library director in a magnificent former palace building on the banks of the River Nile is for sure no weak sauce. But I put it second.

Yours in saving the best for last,
Kelly