Egypt Adventure

The French schools have a little "vacances d'hiver" in February, so my friend Hannah and I decided to take the plunge and go to Africa. Being so centrally located in Paris, we just figured this was the chance of a lifetime. We booked with a tour group for the 8 day "Egypt Overland Tour", not having any idea what to expect. It was such an amazing experience, I really need to get down some details to remember forever. I'll go day by day with some photos. Enjoy!

DAY ONE:
Hannah and I caught a flight to London Heathrow, then on to Cairo with British Airlines on a 4.5 hour flight. Stepping off the plane at midnight Egypt time, I was a little terrified that the Tour was a sham and that we would be completely abandoned in the middle of Cairo airport. But sure enough, there was our first agent, holding a sign with our name. We got a sweet looking Egyptian visa and proceeded to a private car; from there, it was a 30 minute drive to our hotel in Giza. Ahmed, the first agent, taught us some useful phrases in Arabic and gave us a preview of the fast-paced week ahead.
London's Heathrow Airport--nicest one I've ever seen.

DAY TWO:
First full day in Egypt, going straight for the classic day of sightseeing. We got up early and carefully selected the non-threatening carbs from the breakfast buffet, where we met the English family that we'd be spending the day with. It would actually be the only time during the whole trip that Hannah and I didn't have the whole tour to ourselves. We met our tour guide for the day, who, like all the others, was certified as a tour guide after studying Egyptology for 4 years in a university.
First stop was the great wonder of the ancient world, the pyramids at Giza. The busy Cairo skyline is an odd contrast to the stark megaliths, surrounded by camels mingling with tourists. Hannah and I took a little jaunt on a camel, something I've wanted to do my whole life. My first impression was to be taken aback by how tall they are! I almost fell right off when my camel stood up, back legs first.
From there, we went to the sphinx, another classic sight that looks surreal in person. After Giza, we were driven to Memphis and Sakkara, where we saw some a great statue of Rameses II, a larger-than-life character that kept popping up throughout our trip. While I loved Memphis and Sakkara, I especially enjoyed the drive out to them, through the countryside. We saw the real Egyptians, riding carts loaded with produce and pulled by donkeys, playing soccer in the dust, smoking shisha outside on doorstoops.
In the evening, after a full day, we returned to the hotel and relaxed for a while, smoking a hookah with our agent, waiting for our overnight train to Aswan, which I'll update tomorrow.