4th April - Dashur, Memphis and Saqqara

I still have not settled into this time zone yet. We woke at 4am and I had a great deal of trouble getting back to sleep. I had set the alarm for 7am but got up at 6am. We showered and went downstairs for breakfast before being picked up by our driver and guide. The driver was the same guy who picked us up from the airport. David was reminded of the scene in Harry potter where Harry caught the night bus. He was sure the car must shrink in size while we passed other vehicles. The ride was much more relaxed than the one from the airport. We travelled 20km down the Nile passing farming land. Pretty dirty, dusty and polluted land and water.
Our first stop was Dashur where we were able to go inside the first true pyramid - the red pyramid. It is called the red pyramid because the inside is made of red granite. We went inside to the burial chamber. It was hot inside and the air was dusty and choking. We took some great shots (so we think). You can see how perfectly they layed the massive stone blocks. We then drove to view the bent pyramid. You are not able to go to it though.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Next stop was Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt. We had a walk around the open air museum and took a few photos.  The collosal statue of Rameses II  was amazing. It is 18 tonne.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
The last stop on our tour was Saqqara and the step pyramid of Zoser we had taken a photo of from the plane. It is a huge complex with many buildings. Our guide showed us around pointing out the pit and tunnel leading into the burial chamber of the pyramid, the temple, the coronation platform etc.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
On the way back they took us to a papyrus factory. They showed us how the papyrus was made. Very interesting. Of course they wanted us to buy some but we stuck to our guns and left empty handed.
Once back at our hotel we set out for a quick lunch and then a walking tour. In the evening we went on a Nile river cruise, the entertainment was belly dancing and sufi dancing.