Here's the ship, all parked and waiting for us!
We were picked up at 7am by our guide Waleed and driver Akeem. We experienced our first bit of Egyptian traffic craziness trying to get out of the port. Everyone was queued up to get out, and they decided the busses needed to go first - so everyone else had to drive around the traffic circle again, with everyone jockeying for position. Then, the port police had to check the names off the list (not sure why!) but they did and since it was a handwritten paper list, there was a lot of paper flipping on the clipboard. We finally escaped into Alexandria and had our first experience with Egyptian driving (or should I say, racedriving) because everyone drove like it was a race with no rules. It was the Cannonball Run, except in Egypt, with way more cars and EVERYONE was playing, including the police. The pedestrians played Frogger on every street and highway we drove on, which combined with the Cannonball Run on the driving side made for a very interesting experience.
It was about 3 hours to Giza plateau and the Pyramids, and Waleed was determined to make sure we were not ignorant fools when we showed up. About 1 hour from Cairo, he let us take a rest, and I literally fell asleep on the way to the Pyramids. We pulled off the highway, and were getting up the the plateau and Chris had to literally poke me awake. I think he enjoyed it actually, since I'm never asleep in a car.
OMG, it's the friggin pyramids! We made a fateful decision to buy the extra ticket to go inside the Great Pyramid and walk up to the burial chamber. 
See the line of people? That's the only place they let you stand on the Pyramids, and it's the entrance to the inside as well. We don't have any pictures unfortunately, because anyplace that is really interesting, you can't take your camera. But I have a nice guidebook I picked up with some photos, so I'm sure I can scan or take a picture and add some later.
Anyway, back to our inside the Great Pyramid story- we went up there, and went inside. The first part isn't to bad, just some uneven rock stairs. The 2nd part, where you basically have to ascend up a wooden walkway with a crossbar about every 2 feet so you don't slide down - and you are hunched over while doing it, since the passageway is only about 4 feet high - inside the WARM, HUMID brick oven that is the Pyramid. Oh, and there are other people climbing down, so you have to stop and each scrunch to the side when passing, since it's only about 3 feet wide. Awesome. So, we made it to the top of the Great Gallery (YAY!) and we are standing there catching our breaths, when the lights flicker and go out. Nope, not kidding, we are at the top of the inside of the Great Pyramid and the friggin' lights go out. Imagine the darkest place you've ever been, and about 10 times that dark. We waited a few minutes to see if the lights came back on (Nope, not a chance, this is Egypt) and then I dug around in my backpack to get my hand operated flashlight. Yes, I had prepared for just such an occasion. We cranked it for about 30 seconds and had some nice bright lights to help other people get started down the stairs. We then proceded thru the last part (still bending over, but at least level!) and ended up in the burial chamber, which was very neat to see, at least as much as we could without the lights....the Egyptian guy in the burial chamber had a flashlight as well, so that was a good thing.
We walked crawled back out, and started out trek back down and out. We noticed the Egyptian guy from the burial room was walking down backwards down the passageway, the complete opposite of all the tourists, so we tried it that way. MUCH easier, and we were barely winded when we made it out into the sunlight again. Quite an adventure, I will say. We were trying to compare the walk to like a stairmaster, but I think the best is that automatic ladder workout machine in the Bo, except you have to be completely doubled over as well. (Tami, aren't you glad you showed it to me, so now I have a point of reference??? LOL.
We then went off to the plateau behind the pyramids so you could see the whole complex except the Sphinx. Here's some fun photos.....
Here's me leaning on the pyramid, in my safari suit.
After this fun bit, we went down to take in the Sphinx and the Valley Temple. Chris looks like he's ready to take on the world in that hat
After we were walking out of the Sphinx complex towards our car, I took this photo. I think it's my favorite one, and this was the FIRST TIME I had ever tried the panorama feature on the camera.
Wow. That's a cool shot. Sometimes the best things are totally random.
Off to see the Papyrus Institute, it was actually kind of cool because I hadn't ever seen the plant before, and it's amazing how they make that paper. After a few purchases, we hopped back in the car for some lunch along the nile. 2nd ever use of the panorama function.....
And here's a photo shot of my lunch. Please note the diet Pepsi since we all know it's a Garren staple. I was thrilled to see it available.
We had chicken, meat, pita bread, rice and fries. The whole meal was awesome, and that was a pleasant surprise. No, I don't know what kind of "meat" it was, but I suspect lamb or goat. Either way, delicious.
Back into the car, and we headed for the Egyptian Museum to see all the treasures.
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