From the Land of the Pharohs & The Great Pyramids

Today was one of those days that you wish you could bottle to re-experience over and over again. It started early and I mean early (4 am), for private tour of the Sphinx. Under the light of the full moon, we walked around the sight of the Sphinx while listening to commentary from one of the leading authors & Egyptologists. What was special was the fact that this area is now totally closed for public access as the closet point that most other tourist can visit the Sphinx is some 100 metre away. However, we were able to literary touch the Sphinx and stand directing under the iconic face. After an hour or so we witnessed the most magnificent pink and orange sunrise, which soon lit up Sphinx and nearby pyramids. Wow was that cool...

Then it was back to the hotel for an Egyptian breakfast, followed by a lecture from Zahi Hawass who is the Chairman of Antiquities for Egypt. Zahi is a remarkable man that is in absolute control of all of the excavations and discoveries in Egypt and in fact Time Magazine voted him as one of the 100 most influential people on the planet. So to sit in room of 30 people while Zahi shared his love for Ancient Egypt along with his latest Archaeological discovers (including the mummy of King Tutankhamen) was a once in a life-time experience.

As if that wasn't big enough, we later returned to the site of the pyramids where we were given exclusive access to go inside one of the pyramids!! Not just a few steps, but all the way in, through a maze of dark corridors with long stair cases and extra low ceilings to reach the Kings Chamber, which is believed have once contained the tomb of King Khufu (2650 B.C.) Once inside the Chamber made totally of garnet, we had more commentary on the mysteries of the great pyramids and then as a group we had the opportunity to meditate for around 15 minutes. Just knowing that you were in a place only the King visited, built nearly 4,700 years ago by well over a million people - made for a was totally mind blowing experience!

Once finally outside the pyramid it was off to a carpet factory and later a fantastic restaurant for some more fantastic Egyptian food...

Here are a couple more which pics to add to the memory.