Cairo, Egypt

Seeing the pyramids in Giza has been a dream for Dennis since he was a kid and there was no way we were doing this trip without making it happen.  Luckily, they did not disappoint!  

We only saw the pyramids in Giza as the Department of State advises against travel in Egypt right now and having kids makes you do things like look up the travel advisories from the Department of State.  As a result, we had a short stop in Egypt.  That said, it was still worth it.  We got a guide (thanks to Konrad for the suggestion!) who was great at shepherding us through everything, cutting lines, and keeping things at a level that was still digestible for the kids.

Experiencing the pyramids from the outside was amazing enough but Dennis and the kids also went inside the largest one (see the 360 photo below).  It’s famously claustrophobic, especially with the crowds, so Johanna waited outside.  It was super hot inside but everyone said it was worth it and they took lots of photos and videos so Johanna could see what she missed.  We also went to a quieter spot on the other side where we could walk up to the pyramids without the crowds and people asking us to buy things.  That was particularly nice and Mira took advantage of the time to take one of the best pictures of the trip – her eating Dev.  The sphinx was next on our list to see and luckily it was right nearby to guard the pyramids.

Our guide took us to stops where we learned about how papyrus was made (and Dev taught the employees about making paper airplanes), about essential oils, and the kids got to practice blowing glass!  We also bought some jewelry and the highlight was going to the factory where we saw them make a custom piece with Mira’s name in hieroglyphics and plate the silver in gold!  They also re-sized Dev’s new ring.  It was super interesting to watch and Mira even got to help.  Overall, there was a lot of playing with fire.  

When we weren’t buying things, we also went to see several museums.  The original, older museum still has most of the items, including what was found inside of King Tut’s tomb.  We all learned for the first time that King Tut was not really an important leader and is only famous because his tomb was found before it was looted.  There are so, so many amazing things in this museum that it’s overwhelming but the conditions are really poor.  It kind of felt like Egypt’s attic.  Luckily, they are in the process of moving to a brand new museum which we went to see even though it’s not fully open yet.  We also went to a separate museum where a large collection of mummies of kings and queens are on display.  The kids were really amazed when they first saw the mummies but by the end it was, “oh, another mummy.  More skeletons and organs?  Cool.”

We walked away incredibly moved by what we saw and we were impressed with the ingenuity and beauty of ancient Egyptian civilization.  It’s really breathtaking.  Also, um, we saw a 35,000-year-old skeleton and tools from a million years ago!

The next stop is Ghana!

Below is Dev’s interactive 360 photo from inside the pyramid. Press play and the click and drag to look around.