The Great Pyramids @ Giza

The Great Pyramids are something I've wanted to see since early childhood, when I decided to be an Egyptologist.  Six decades later, Shaimaa reduced their wonder to a photo op at the end of a long day.

We didn't go inside Khufu, or Cheops, the biggest of nine pyramids, but we climbed as high as the entrance for another photo op.

For thousands of years, it was the world's tallest structure.

Unbelievably, an ivory figurine in the Egyptian Museum offers the only portrait of the man who commissioned one of the seven wonders that amazed the ancient world.

The Great Sphinx continues to bewitch.

I might have left Giza mildly disappointed were it not for an add-on activity ($75) offered by Tarek, our tour manager.  You can't tell from this photo (or his subsequent behavior), but the prospect of driving all-terrain vehicles made Thom a little nervous.

Our route took us through the narrow back streets of the community that rents animals to tourists.  

Back to the stable for dinner!  Apparently labor laws in Egypt don't protect children any more than animals.

It's hard to imagine a more glorious--or unobstructed--way to watch the sun set over the Pyramids.  Tarek has repeated the experience once or twice a week for the past five years so he knew exactly how to keep his delirious clients gasping.  Notice our left-foot forward stance.  When in Egypt, do as Egyptians--after all, Thom's father told him to bring back a pharaoh!

Not my idea.  Please don't be offended, Ra.

We met a couple from LA on the excursion.

Crazy, crowded Cairo shimmered in the distance.

We pulled up at a Bedouin camp for some mint tea.  Disco played on battery-powered speakers.  Some horses hurried to get home.

Thanks, Tarek, for one of the most memorable experiences of my life!