Giza, Saqqara and Dahshur.
We flew from Casablanca to Cairo on Thursday. We are doing a 12-day so-called "tailor-made" tour of Egypt. This morning we had breakfast at 7am, with a pick up at 8am for a tour of the 3 Pyramids of Giza. The early start to beat the crowds was worth it. It was awesome to see the Great Pyramid of Giza for real and up close after hearing about Egypt and the pyramids since early childhood.
As you know we are reluctant "tourists" but some places you just can't see any other way. It's mostly just crowds of people rushing around with phones taking photos! Our guide was not too pushy or too waffly and gave us time to explore on our own. 
Or to find a spot to just sit for a few minutes and take it all in. To see The Sphinx was wonderful.
We stopped at a very touristy country restaurant for lunch.
And then on to the Red Pyramid of Dahshur. This one you can climb down into; only Stephen went all the way down.
Next stop Saqqara. Here the step pyramids of Teti and Djoser (BC2700) predate the Giza ones by a few hundred years. The carvings and hieroglyphics in the Kagemni Tomb were fascinating.
Traffic around Cairo is chaotic but there's lots to see from the car. We booked our trip through Djed Travel and we have a minivan with driver to ourselves. 
Saturday 11 March
Cairo
We spent the day in Old Cairo. Starting in the oldest part of the city, we visited two Coptic churches built around the Roman Fortress of Babylon.The Hanging Church dates back to the 7th Century. 
The Coptic Museum has a wonderful collection of artifacts from the Coptic monasteries around Egypt. 
Then we saw three mosques in the old Islamic Quarter. 
The view from Mohamed Ali Mosque shows how huge Cairo is. 
Traffic is crazy here so it's great to have a driver meet you outside each time and drop you off at the next spot hassle free. 
We wanted to try Cairo street food so Amr our guide took us to a Kashari restaurant for lunch. This is a dish of rice,pasta,lentils and chicken peas smothered with tomato sauce. 6 bowls full and 2 rice puddings cost 5 USD! 
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the old souk Khan el Kahlili. 
By 6pm we were at Giza station waiting to board the sleeper train to Aswan. 
By 8.30pm we were on the train and settled in our cabins. This train looks old and shabby but it's clean. It feels very fast and everything rumbles and rattles but we love a train journey and so we'll sleep well.
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