Day 11 at Cairo

We were off by 7 am to visit the pyramids of Giza before the crowds got there, Indeed, we were the second coach to arrive, out of the hundreds that arrived later. It was all very familiar from our visits in 2007 and 2012, and just as impressive. We had about an hour there, walking around the largest pyramid and then viewing the second one after the coach had moved a little. As we had been into the interior of the Great Pyramid before, we did not go again, but a few of the group did venture inside the pyramid

After this we moved on to the Sphinx and spent an hour there. When we had finished this at 11 am, we had half an hour in the Papyrus House where they showed us, how papyrus was made and then tried to sell us various pictures. Very much a tourist buy stop, but interesting. We had been there on a previous visit to Cairo

Then on to the Marriott Mina Hotel for lunch. This was right beside the pyramids and it’s position seemed very similar to the Marriott hotel where we had overnighted in 2007 - later inspection of our photos from 2007 showed that it was indeed the same hotel. where stayed when on the Star Flyer from Phuket to Athens with a memorable Egyptologist who escorted us round Saint Catherine’s monastery and Cairo. The lunch here was really good and of a much higher quality than on the ship.

After lunch we went on to the really tired Egyptian Museum in the centre of Cairo. A new museum has been in the offing for the last decade but is still not open. However some of the contents of the old museum have already been taken there, leading to many gaps in the displays available to us. . The treasures of tomb of Tut were are stunning as ever and Amr pointed out several other masterpieces from Antiquity. But the rest of the museum was a dusty disgrace with so many objects not even labeled.

Back on the ship by 5 pm, Chris finished the packing and we went down to listen to a singer in the lounge. This was followed by the managers cocktail party where a decent piña colada was to be had. Then dinner and bed by 8:30 pm as we had to be up again at midnight for our 3:30 am flight to Valencia via Munich: When we booked it, the flight had been at the reasonable hour of 10 am but had been changed by Lufthansa to this ungodly hour. Anyway we managed a few hours sleep in bed, before the alarm went off. The representative of Jules Verne in Cairo accompanied us to the airport and got us through the chaos there. Once through the petit burocracies of security and passports, we went into the business lounge which might have graced a 1940s airport. The flight itself was fairly uneventful and we got at least two hours sleep during the 4 1/2 hours it took to reach Munich.

The breakfast was really good on Lufthansa. We landed in Munich by 7 am and then had a nightmare passage through security, where they seem to be working to rule and went through everyone's’s possessions. It took took ages to move cases a couple of yards through their machine. Also there was a high-tech x-ray machine for people but they still gave us a good patting down. Then a really long walk and train journey to the departure area for Valencia by which time we had a mere 15 minutes available to spend in the business lounge, this one was perfectly respectable though. The time was just long enough to enjoy a cup of coffee and a croissant Then a second pleasant breakfast on the 2 1/2 hour flight to Valencia all this in business class for a lesser price than economy class would’ve cost had we travelled via Madrid.. And we received a glass of champagne before we left the flight, which was a really nice gesture. But our experience of Munich airport was certainly not good

Back in Moraira by 2 pm but all the supermarkets were shut because it was May Day holiday. So it was a limited diet for the rest of the day. We discovered three super books that we had on the Nile and the pyramids and had not read for many long years. It was a really interesting holiday, even if many aspects were not perfect, especially the Wi-Fi for Chris.

The Giza pyramid complex is home to the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx. All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt, between c. 2600 – c. 2500 BC. The site also includes several temples, cemeteries, and the remains of a workers' village.

The Giza pyramid complex consists of the Great Pyramid (also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu and constructed c. 2580 – c. 2560 BC), the slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred metres to the south-west, and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred metres farther south-west. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex.

The Sphinx dates from the reign of king Khafre. During the New Kingdom, Amenhotep II dedicated a new temple to Hauron-Haremakhet and this structure was added onto by later rulers.Consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre.

An interesting visit to the Papyrus House. Their selling technique was as informative eye opening, as the actual making of papyrus. It was a well lit and decorated showroom, though the entrance was scruffy, and a well oiled sales operation swung into motion. A demonstration was laid on that showed the cutting of reeds into strips, the laying out of the strips in a grid, pressing the grid, drying it, and some days later the finished papyrus is ready to use

Interestingly you can buy blank papyrus for under a dollar a sheet on Amazon. David was expressly forbidden to buy any papyrus here, though he did like their Tree of Life. It was difficult to know how which of the artwork on the walls was really hand painted, and how much was Chinese printed

Short of bringing your own sandwiches, you will not get lunch closer to the pyramids than this. And it was an excellent lunch as well

The Grand Egyptian Museum is still not open - over budget and late on completion, they have stopped giving an opening date for the new museum

The net effect is that the old museum soldier's on, in its previous chaotic state, and now with a lot of empty display cases as much has already been moved to the new museum. I think the guides were a bit embarrassed about it state, and they omitted to enquire on the bus whether we had all enjoyed the museum



		The Narmer Palette. King Narmer unified upper and lower Egypt	Note the decapitated bodies of his enemies

Seated statue of King Djoser (2630-2611 BC)	This statue depicts Cheops, the builder of the Great Pyramid. This small, 7.5‑cm‑tall, statuette is the only one of him, It was first discovered, the head was missing, but later found		Khafre Enthroned

	Seated Scribe. 200 Egyptian pounds banknotes have him		Rahotep and His Wife Nofret

Seneb was a high-ranking court official & family	Mentuhotep Nebheptre		Arkhenaten

Arkhenaten

The majority of the contents from Tut's tomb have been moved to the GEM. His golden masks remain, and I guess that is what most come to see.