Long day

Lordy, where do I start. It's been such a long day with so many things packed in that I can't believe this morning was the same day. I got up early for a seven am departure to the Pyramids; when I found out I was coming back to Egypt, I asked if I could go into the Great Pyramid, which I missed out on last time. My guide this morning was Hani, the sweetest man who was also the guide for my group three years ago. We did things backwards this morning, and started at the viewing platform, then to the Sphynx (we were the only ones there!), and then on to the Pyramids.

We waited in line for me to go into the Great Pyramid. (They only sell something like 150 tickets each day, hence the early morning.) I was in line behind a group of about thirty or so Japanese tourists. What happens next really needs to be experienced to be understood. To go into the GP, you walk about twenty yards in along a passageway that is about two feet wide and six feet high. Then you turn a corner and there is a ramp at about a 45 degree angle that you have to bend at the waist to make it through, with handrails on either side. (The ceiling is about three and a half or four feet.) You are like this for about a hundred yards (best guess) before the passage opens into a high chamber, and you do a bit of climbing. So I was following the slow as molasses Japanese tourists who kept stopping for some unknown reason and got about half way to the top when the lights flickered and went out. We were plunged into pitch black darkness in the middle of the Great Pyramid. I have to give my fellow tourists credit; no one screamed, no one panicked. In fact, no one did anything. I had a small heart attack and panicked that I would be trampled to death by people turning around and heading for the exit. Then I had a small panic attack because I couldn't see and couldn't stand up and couldn't understand a word anyone around me was saying. When my heart started beating again I debated heading back down (remember, this is a slippery wooden ramp in a narrow passage way in the pitch dark), when I heard American voices and saw the flicker of a flashlight. Never have I been so happy.

After some debate, the intrepid American fellow hopped over to the side and climbed up past all of the stalled Japanese tourists and called back down to his girlfriend saying, "come on up around, they're just stopped for no reason." He led the way (and by now the others in the passage had found their flashlights), and we continued on through two more low (shorter) passages on our hands and knees or a total squat, and out into the empty (and still very dark) burial chamber. All that is in it is an empty granite coffin. I remained latched to my well-lighted American friends as they walked the chamber and as the VERY LOUD group of Japanese tourists poured in, and then follwed them out. By the time we got out of the low passages closest to the burial chamber the lights were on in the rest of the tunnel, and I have never scrambled so fast out into the blazing sunshine in my life. I think I only need that experience once in my life. Total elapsed time in total darkness: Approximately 15 minutes.

The remainder of the day was fairly uneventful; hotel inspection of the Mena House Oberoi, hotel inspection of the Le Royal Meredien; hotel inspection of the Intercontinental City Stars; then transfer to the airport for our flight to Sharm, which was delayed three hours. Tomorrow is the Mt. Sinai climb and then overnight at St. Catherine's Plaza, then on to Jordan on Wednesday.