Egypt

I just got back last night from the most hectic, fun, and amazing trip of my whole life! I don't think that any post I put on my blog can do it all justice, but just to let you all know what happened...
We left Sunday for Egypt. It is a long ride down there filled it hundreds of bathroom stops, thousands of places to stop and sight see, and millions of Egyptian and Israeli security checkpoints. The first day of traveling, we didn't even make it to Egypt. We drove south through Israel, staying as far from the Gaza Strip as possible. On that first day we visited Beer Sheeba and Kadesh Barnea, both significant places from the Bible. We toured an Israeli Socialist-experiment settlement called a Kubbutz. To finish the day, we stayed in a hotel run by a Kubbutz and a group of us caught taxis into the Israeli city of Elat of the Red Sea. We swam in the Red Sea on a great beach in the dark of night and walked the beach-side shops before going to our hotel. The next day, we spent a few hours going through security at the Israel-Egypt border. Security was really tight on the Israeli side, but lax on the Egyptian side. Israelis seem to like to keep people waiting to show them that they are in charge, while the Egyptians didn't seem to care. It was an interesting change in atmosphere from the clean, developed Israeli side of the border and the dirty, run down Egyptian side. From there, we got on two new buses that were from Egyptian tourist companies, met our new Egyptian tour guides and also two security guards toting handguns and sub-machine guns hidden under nice suits and ties. One was put on each bus and they stayed with us the whole time in Egypt to protect us. As we pulled out from the border, two trucks filled with Egyptian soldiers with AK-47s went in front and behind us. Apparently the Egyptians are really worried about their security to protect their huge tourist industry. Thus the security. Every 30 minutes, it seemed, we went through a check point where were forced to stop and tell Egyptian soldiers where we were going. The whole trip through Sinai was like that. Once we arrived at the Suez Canal and got ready to cross it via an underground tunnel, the security got ridiculous. Money from the Canal is also very important to the Egyptians. I got to see something I had been looking forward to for a long time. A HUGE shipping ship seemingly sailing across the sand. From the side of the canal, the huge ships within it look like they are sailing through the desert because you can't see the water of the canal. After many long hours of driving, we arrived in Cairo at a great hotel. That night, we went to the pyramids to see the light show. It was a great end to a very long day.
The next day was packed as well. We were on the run the whole day. We started off by going to the three great pyramids on the Giza Plateau. In order to protect the interior of them, only one is open at a time. We got lucky and ours was the great Pyramid of Khufu, the tallest and largest by far. We went inside of it by crouching through a small, dark, stinky, and hot tunnel filled with humid air from the moisture put out by human bodies. It was disgusting. Once we arrived at the large tomb, we all gathered there and sang "The Spirit of God". As soon as the song was done, I was out of there. Awesome place, but the air was gross. From there we visited the other two pyramids and the Sphinx. Then we went to the see the first Pyramid ever built by the famous, deified architect, Imhotep. (see right) Then it was on to see the ruins of the ancient city of Memphis and to see some Mastabas or tombs and the ancient writing within them. It was amazing to see. To finish yet another hectic day, we got on a plane and flew to Luxor, the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes.