Another hot night's sleep and up at 7:00 am. We wanted to do a lot so that's just what we did. Our driver, Mohamed, and our guide were both outstanding. There were no stop signs, no lanes, no rules and, from what we saw, no real road rage (lots of honking, though; and a few loud words exchanged between drivers). Our guide had arranged a lovely cultural array of activities so we looked forward to it all. First we went to Sakkara, the site of the oldest pyramids in Egypt. Our guide explained the scenes inside the tombs which depicted the ancient times and culture of 4000 years ago! After that, we visited the Sphinx Carpet School. We learned about the three types of carpet made there, and watched them being made. The kids even tried it out for themselves. We would love to buy a carpet like this, especially a silk one, as they were amazing. After that, we went to a papyrus art store. We were given a demonstration on how to make papyrus paper and why it lasts so long. Afterwards, we walked through the studio admiring the artwork, and the kids each bought a piece with their astrological sign and their names hand-painted using the hieroglyphic "alphabet". Next, we were taken to a stable to decide if we would take camels to the pyramids or drive. After Margaret's experience with donkeys, she wasn't too keen to double the height of her next ride. However, when Tessa hesitated, Margaret decided to be a positive female role model. After all, she can't continue to avoid four legged transportation if she wants to travel the world! The girls were able to share a camel, which helped their comfort level mentally but hurt Tessa's legs a lot because she rode in the back where the saddle was much wider. Nevertheless, we started off down the road, enjoying the rocking motion of the camels and dodging branches and the occasional low roof. Suddenly, a group of horses and one rider galloped by at full speed and spooked the camels. Our guide had stopped to talk to one of the stable boys and was off of his horse. Connor's camel took off running down the road. Barry's sidestepped, lost its balance and started to go down on one leg. When it lurched sideways, Barry slipped off the saddle and landed on his feet but got his hand caught up in the saddle blanket, just as his camel started to run. Luckily, the guide stopped Barry's camel, but Connor was down the road and away!!! Fortunately, a car stopped and a man jumped out and grabbed the reins of Connor's camel. Margaret and Tessa's camel decided to ignore the entire scene and stood stock still, thank goodness. One of Barry's fingers is already blue and he'll probably lose a nail, but it makes for a pretty good story.

After this opening adventure, the rest of the ride was brilliant. We saw the pyramids from the backside with a perfect view and nary a tour bus in sight!! The sphinx was equally cool and our guide was chatty and fun. We asked him a lot of questions and he asked us a lot, too, so it was a fun trip the whole way round. When we returned, our guide and Mohamed, our driver, were very happy we'd had a good time despite the shaky start. However, we all smelled like camels and our guide arranged a visit to a perfumery. We left there with seven different scents on each of us! Back in the car, Mohamed gave the kids gifts of perfume bottles and little stone scarabs which bring good luck. Our drive home was just as wild as before but Mohamed navigated his way perfectly. At 5:50 pm, we were working in the Internet room when the hotel receptionist came in to get chairs. He explained that they were going to break fast (Ramadan). We felt bad because we were using two chairs, so we brought them to the reception area and were immediately invited for supper (breakfast for them). There were about 10 or 12 of us and everyone had brought food from home. It was all different and delicious and we enjoyed it very much! Egyptians are wonderful!

After supper, Mohamed invited us upstairs for tea and we visited some more although he spoke no English. Emab from the UK joined us and a wonderful man named Abduellh, who had been in a terrible accident, was also there. He is in Cairo recovering through surgeries and physiotherapy. In his home country of Saudi Arabia, he is an obstetrician. We exchanged E-mail addresses and had a great evening. At 9:00 pm, a new driver arrived to take us to the train station, which went well despite having our bags thrown on the top of a taxi with no ropes or anything to keep them safe! We were escorted right to our train car which was very nice. Daniel and Paul from New Zealand joined us in our car (they'd never met each other, but were both well seasoned travellers) and we began our 10 hour overnight train trip to Aswan.