Day 71 Cairo - Very hot and dusty!!

OK this wasn't pleasant at all to begin with, we were up at 03.35am, what more can I say! After a long tender trip to Suez (I think) we boarded coaches in convoy and were escorted by armed police to Cairo, which took about two hours. We had breakfast in Le Meridien hotel then visited the Pyramids of Giza. These three Pyramids are about 5000 years old and are one of the remaining Seven Wonders of the World. What amazed me was just how close they are to the city of Cairo, but if I think about it, we have ancient monuments and buildings near us. The Bargate for instance, in Southampton, is in the middle of our high street and must be at least 2000 years old. We boarded our coaches again and drove a little way to the site of the Sphynx; this monument is very impressive as it was carved from one piece of stone. I hope my photo does it justice! We then went on to visit the oldest town in civilisation called Memphis (not where Elvis is from!), here we visited ancient tombs, then back to Cairo for lunch before being taken to a Papyrus factory. Then the long drive back to Port Said where our ship was now docked. The Aurora, whilst we'd been to Cairo, had moved up the Nile and through the Suez canal, so unfortunately we didn't get to see the passage, ah well, another time maybe. Cairo is everything you imagine it to be; busy, filthy, full of beggars but also exciting.