At that time of the morning the journey is quite quick. As we sped along the road towards the Luxor bridge, there were men at the roadside waiting to be picked up for work. They must have been cold, as they'd lit small fires to keep warm.
Once we crossed the bridge and turned towards Luxor the sun began to appear over the top of a hill to the east. I couldn't believe how fast it came up!
When we got to the airport there was hardly anyone around. There was the usual security at the entrance and then again at the entrance to the departure lounge. The plane was on time, but only half full.
We arrived at Cairo but had to wait to park, so we didn't get to meet our friend until 10am. He had a comfortable mini bus with a driver waiting for us. Once the luggage was stowed, off we went. Cairo wasn't as busy as I'd expected but we saw the usual mad driving, mainly undertaking.
It took about 45minutes to get to the Mena House Hotel where we intended just dropping our luggage. Just before we arrived we saw the new Grand Egyptian Museum, which is still under construction. There is no way that's going to be finished for years!
It's just underneath the underpass above.
The staff at the hotel said we could check in and just collect room keys when we returned.
I had booked ordinary rooms, expecting to overlook the swimming pool. A manager got chatting to me as I was filling out the forms and paying in advance for the room. He asked if it was my first visit, it's my fourth, and so suddenly we were given yet another room upgrade! With a 'nice view' he said.
We left everything and went out with our friend to the Giza plateau.
This is a view toward the city with the Mena House golf course in the foreground.
Although I've done this many times, it's a while since my companions have been there, so we did it all. We were also taken into some small tombs, which were very interesting and a great contrast to the massive monuments outside.
It was very hot on the plateau due to the sun reflecting off the sand. Away from there was more pleasant. We hadn't been able to get breakfast, so we flagged sooner rather than later!
Something I hadn't seen before was King Farouk's Rest House, opposite Khufu.
I don't know why I've not noticed it before. It's very big but abandoned and needs major restoration. I think it would make a great visitor centre.
Just past this is the massive boat pit another one has been found recently.
From here we went to visit Menkaure. The ARCE man yesterday had told us about the work he'd done there in the past. So we were keen to see it. I had taken photos of the pink Aswan granite lying around the base. Some of the stones had ridges in them that I couldn't understand. He explained that they were the grooves from ropes used to pull the granite up onto the face of the pyramid where it was then dressed in situ.
By now we were really tired, so we finished our trip by visiting the Sphinx. I was amazed by how few people were about. Normally this area is packed, but there were not many people at all.
This is an unusual angle to view it from.
This is more usual.
We got back into the comfort of the minibus and of course the aircon and made our way back to the Mena House. We went and got our keys then off to the lounge for a much needed freshly made lemon juice - gorgeous! I absolutely love this hotel. It's so elegant that I feel a fraud staying here! The view of the pyramids for the lounge is unique.
We went to our rooms and found that we had been given pyramid view rooms - and what a view!
We had a very late lunch and then went to our rooms to unpack and relax. Later on we had dinner and the hotel looks lovely lit up at night.
Tomorrow we have a really big day, a private visit to a closed site at Saqqara. We really can't wait!
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